Travel cards and trip/rental car insurance

Credit Cards
1

Question: Is the trip and rental car insurance you get with a mid level travel credit card worth anything? Will it actually cover a trip if a flight screws up a trip or a rental car gets damaged?

We hear from Clark a few things on warranties/insurance:

Never, never, not ever buy an extended warranty for an appliance, consumer electronics, etc.

Don’t buy rental car insurance at the rental counter.

Do consider buying an extended warranty/service contract, but only from the vehicle manufacturer, not a third party supplier, when buying a vehicle.

Consider buying trip insurance, but not from the trip supplier, but from a third party for the best coverage.

Any insurance/warranty/service claim can be very hard to get past exclusions when making claim.

I’m thinking about getting a travel credit card so I have some level of trip and rental car insurance should I have a problem on a trip (a cruise for example).

Most of the travel credit cards include some level or trip and rental car insurance. Coverage appears to vary a little. Also looks to be handled by a third party. I’ve only heard Clark discuss a claim or two.

Thanks for any thoughts or experiences.

2

For rental cars, look at the Wells Fargo OneKey card (not the OneKey+) The OneKey has no annual fee and it provides PRIMARY rental car coverage (read the benefits guide) for rental cars, unless you are a NY resident. Primary means you don’t have to involve your personal auto insurance. The best entry level travel card (but it doesn’t provide primary rental car) is the CapitalOne Venture X. It is a $395 fee but you can essentially get rebates for all of the fee. CapitalOne is very picky about who gets their card and they prefer people who don’t have many cards, so if you are going to apply for that one, do so before you open any others.