Amex Rental Car Insurance: What's Covered and What's Not

Most Amex cards include secondary CDW, not primary. The Platinum is no exception. Amex Premium Car Rental Protection is the only primary option.

Written by Mark Fitzpatrick

Updated: May 7, 2026

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Key Takeaways

Most Amex cards offer secondary CDW coverage, meaning your personal auto insurance pays out first and the card benefit covers whatever remains.

Any Amex cardholder can add primary CDW through Amex Premium Car Rental Protection: $17.95 for rentals up to two days or $24.95 for up to 30 days per trip.

The Amex Platinum's $695 annual fee doesn't include primary CDW. Chase Sapphire Preferred and Reserve both do, with no per-trip charge.

Does Amex Cover Rental Car Insurance?

Start with what the Platinum card doesn't do. At $695 a year, it provides secondary CDW, which is the same tier as a no-annual-fee Amex card. Secondary coverage pays only after your personal auto insurance is exhausted. If you don't carry a personal auto policy, secondary CDW offers no protection at all.

Most Amex cards cover physical damage and theft of the rental vehicle, loss-of-use fees and reasonable towing and administrative costs, but only after your personal policy settles first. The one Amex product that pays first is Amex Premium Car Rental Protection, an optional per-trip enrollment at $17.95 for up to two days or $24.95 for up to 30 days.

To activate any Amex CDW benefit, decline the counter CDW, pay the full rental with your qualifying Amex card and be listed as the primary or additional cardholder. Authorized users are excluded on most cards. Check the Amex website for current terms before any rental, and review our guide to whether car insurance covers rental cars.

Collision damage to the rental vehicle

CDW pays to repair or replace the rental car after a collision. For secondary coverage, this applies only after your personal auto policy deductible and claim are settled first.

Theft of the rental vehicle

If the rental car is stolen, Amex CDW covers the loss up to the vehicle's actual cash value, under the same primary or secondary rules as collision coverage.

Loss-of-use fees from the rental company

Amex CDW covers the daily loss-of-use fee the rental company charges while the vehicle is being repaired, which is a gap that most personal auto policies and many other card benefits don't cover. Verify current terms on the Amex website.

Administrative fees and towing costs

Reasonable towing costs and administrative fees tied to a covered rental claim are included in Amex CDW protection.

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Coverage applies only when counter CDW is declined and the full rental is charged to the qualifying Amex card. Verify current terms at americanexpress.com before relying on this benefit.

Amex Rental Car Insurance by Card

CDW type and cost vary by card. The table below shows which Amex cards include CDW, whether coverage is primary or secondary and the per-trip cost where applicable.

Card Name	CDW Type	Per-Trip Cost	Key Limitation
Amex Gold	Secondary	$0 (built-in)	Requires full payment on Gold card; secondary only
Amex Green	Secondary	$0 (built-in)	Requires full payment on Green card; secondary only
Amex Platinum	Secondary	$0 (built-in)	NOT primary despite premium tier; secondary only
Amex Delta SkyMiles cards	Secondary	$0 (built-in)	Verify which Delta variants include CDW
Amex Business Platinum	Secondary	$0 (built-in)	Secondary only; authorized users excluded on most
Amex Business Gold	Secondary	$0 (built-in)	Secondary only
Amex Premium Car Rental Protection	Primary	$17.95/2 days or $24.95/30 days	Available to all Amex cardholders as enrollment
Cards without CDW	None	N/A	Verify which basic/co-branded Amex cards lack benefit

What Amex Rental Car Insurance Does NOT Cover

Both secondary CDW and primary CDW through Premium Car Rental Protection cover the same categories of rental car loss. What differs is the order of payment. Primary bypasses your personal auto policy entirely. Secondary requires it to pay out first.

Personal injury to the driver or passengers

Amex CDW covers the vehicle, not medical costs. Bodily injury falls under personal accident insurance (PAI), your health insurance or your personal auto policy.

Liability to third parties

CDW doesn't cover damage you cause to other vehicles or injuries to other people. Your personal auto liability coverage or the counter SLI product handles that exposure.

Excluded vehicle types

Trucks, cargo vans, motorcycles, ATVs, antique and classic cars, and luxury or exotic vehicles above a stated value are excluded from Amex CDW on most cards.

Excluded countries

Some countries are excluded from Amex CDW on most cards. Australia, Italy and New Zealand have appeared on past exclusion lists, but the list changes by card product. Check the Amex website before any international rental.

Rentals exceeding the maximum rental period

Most Amex CDW benefits cap coverage at 30 consecutive days. Days beyond that limit aren't covered.

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Exclusions vary by card product and may change. Always review the current benefit terms in your card's benefits guide or on the Amex website before relying on CDW for a specific rental.

Primary vs. Secondary Amex CDW: The Difference in Practice

With secondary CDW, you file a claim with your personal auto insurer first, pay the deductible and wait for the insurer to settle with the rental company. Amex then covers what's left up to its limit. The process takes weeks, puts a claim on your policy record and can raise your rate. Primary CDW skips all of that. Amex Premium Car Rental Protection pays first, no personal claim gets filed, no deductible applies and your rate stays untouched.

Frequent renters and anyone without a personal auto policy will find the $17.95 to $24.95 per-trip cost worth paying for primary coverage. Renters with a low-deductible full coverage policy who rent occasionally can get by with secondary CDW because the personal policy absorbs most of the exposure. To see how other card issuers handle this distinction, review our guides to Chase Sapphire rental car insurance and Capital One rental car insurance.

Should You Rely on Amex for Rental Car Insurance?

If you don't carry a personal auto policy, don't rely on standard Amex CDW. Secondary coverage needs a personal policy to exhaust first, and without one it may not pay at all. Enroll in Amex Premium Car Rental Protection at $17.95 to $24.95 per trip, or look at Chase Sapphire cards, which include primary CDW as a standard benefit at no per-trip cost.

If you carry full coverage with a deductible under $500, secondary Amex CDW is workable for occasional rentals. Your personal policy absorbs most of the exposure and Amex handles what's left. Drivers who want primary protection without switching cards can enroll in Premium Car Rental Protection at $17.95 to $24.95 per trip, which is worth it any time keeping a claim off your record matters. Before your next rental, review whether to get rental car insurance to weigh all your options.

FAQ: Amex Rental Car Insurance

Does American Express automatically cover rental cars?

Most Amex cards include secondary CDW automatically, with no enrollment required, but only when you decline counter CDW and pay the full rental with your Amex card. Amex Premium Car Rental Protection is not automatic and requires a separate per-trip enrollment.

Does the Amex Platinum card offer primary rental car insurance?

No. The Platinum's built-in CDW is secondary despite the $695 annual fee. It pays only after your personal auto insurance is exhausted. Getting primary CDW on any Amex card means enrolling in Premium Car Rental Protection at an added per-trip cost. Verify the current annual fee on the Amex website because fees can change.

When does the primary vs. secondary distinction actually affect a claim?

It matters the moment the rental company seeks payment for damage. With primary coverage, you call Amex directly, the claim is processed without touching your personal auto insurer and no deductible applies. With secondary, your personal insurer goes first, the deductible applies and the claim lands on your policy record before Amex covers anything left over.

How do I confirm my Amex card's rental car benefit before a trip?

Log into the Amex website, open your card's benefits section and search for "car rental loss and damage insurance" or "premium car rental protection." The benefits guide will tell you whether coverage is primary or secondary, which vehicle types are excluded and which countries are excluded. If the online guide isn't clear, call the number on the back of your card.

Can I upgrade from secondary to primary Amex CDW?

Yes. Enroll in Amex Premium Car Rental Protection before any rental to get primary coverage instead of secondary. It costs $17.95 for rentals up to two days or $24.95 for up to 30 days. Enrollment is per trip and doesn't carry over automatically. Check current pricing on the Amex website before enrolling because rates can change.

How does Amex rental car coverage compare to Chase Sapphire?

Chase Sapphire Preferred and Reserve both include primary CDW at no per-trip cost. That's a real advantage over standard Amex cards, which top out at secondary CDW unless you pay for Premium Car Rental Protection each trip. For frequent renters who want primary coverage without a per-trip fee, Chase Sapphire wins on this dimension.

Review how much car insurance you need to figure out which card to choose.

About Mark Fitzpatrick

Mark Fitzpatrick, a Licensed Property and Casualty (P&C) Insurance Producer in Connecticut, is MoneyGeek's resident insurance expert. He has spent nearly a decade analyzing the market, first at LendingTree and now at MoneyGeek, where he has produced original research on hundreds of carriers and millions of rates across auto, home, renters, health and life insurance.

He writes about economics and insurance on MoneyGeek so people can make coverage decisions with confidence. His insurance insights have been featured in The Washington Post, The New York Times and NPR, among other media outlets.

Like all MoneyGeek analysts, he draws on independent cost and consumer experience data, and no insurance company partnership influences his recommendations.

Fitzpatrick earned his degrees from Johns Hopkins University (M.A. Economics and International Relations) and Boston College (B.A.). He began his career in financial risk management at State Street. He's also a five-time Jeopardy champion!

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