Chase Sapphire Rental Car Insurance: Preferred vs. Reserve

Chase Sapphire Preferred vs. Reserve rental car insurance: both cards include primary CDW with no deductible.

Learn what's covered, what's excluded, and which card makes sense for renters.

Updated: May 7, 2026

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Key Takeaways

Both the Chase Sapphire Preferred ($95 a year) and Reserve ($550 a year) include primary CDW: no deductible, no personal auto claim required and no per-trip fee.

To activate the benefit, decline the rental counter's CDW and pay for the full rental with your Sapphire card.

The CDW benefit is the same on both cards. The Reserve's higher annual fee is justified by its broader travel perks, not a stronger rental coverage benefit.

Does Chase Sapphire Cover Rental Car Insurance?

Chase Sapphire Preferred and Reserve both include primary CDW as a built-in benefit. No per-trip enrollment, no personal auto policy needed. Primary means the benefit pays first: no deductible, no claim against your personal policy, no rate impact. That's what separates Sapphire cards from most Amex products, which carry secondary CDW and require you to exhaust your personal policy first.

CDW covers physical damage to and theft of the rental vehicle. It doesn't cover liability to third parties, personal injury or personal belongings. To activate: decline counter CDW at pickup and charge the full rental to the qualifying Sapphire card. Excluded vehicle types and countries apply to both cards, so verify the current exclusion list at chase.com before you rent. Car insurance covers rental cars differently than card CDW does. Know which applies before you decline coverage at the counter.

Collision Damage to the Rental Vehicle

Primary CDW covers repair costs for collision damage to the rental car, with no deductible and without requiring a personal auto policy claim. Coverage extends up to the actual cash value of the vehicle.

Theft of the Rental Vehicle

If the rental car is stolen, Chase Sapphire CDW covers the loss up to the vehicle's actual cash value under the same primary terms as collision damage.

Loss-of-Use Fees Charged by the Rental Company

Chase Sapphire CDW covers the rental company's loss-of-use fees, the daily charge imposed while a damaged vehicle is being repaired. This is a gap that many personal auto policies and some card benefits do not cover.

Administrative Fees and Towing

Reasonable towing costs and administrative fees associated with a covered damage claim are generally included in the Chase Sapphire CDW benefit.

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Coverage applies only when counter CDW is declined and the full rental is charged to the qualifying Chase Sapphire card.

Chase Sapphire Preferred vs. Reserve: Rental Car Insurance Compared

The CDW benefit is functionally the same on both cards. Primary coverage up to actual cash value, no deductible, no per-trip fee, same activation requirements. The comparison table shows the full picture. The case for Reserve's $550 annual fee over Preferred's $95 comes down to the broader travel benefit package, not a stronger CDW.


Annual fee	$95	$550
CDW type	Primary	Primary
CDW coverage limit	Up to actual cash value	Up to actual cash value
Deductible	None	None
Trip delay reimbursement	Up to $500/ticket after 6-hour delay	Up to $500/ticket after 6-hour delay
Trip cancellation/interruption	Up to $10,000/trip	Up to $10,000/trip
Activation requirement	Decline counter CDW, pay full rental on card	Decline counter CDW, pay full rental on card
Authorized user eligibility	Generally eligible; confirm current terms at chase.com	Generally eligible; confirm current terms at chase.com

What Chase Sapphire Rental Car Insurance Doesn't Cover

Personal Injury to the Driver or Passengers

Chase Sapphire CDW covers the vehicle, not medical expenses. Health insurance or a personal auto policy's medical payments or PIP coverage is the relevant protection for bodily injury.

Liability to Third Parties

CDW does not cover damage the cardholder causes to other vehicles or injuries to other people. The cardholder's personal auto liability coverage or counter SLI covers this exposure.

Excluded Vehicle Types

Trucks, cargo vans, motorcycles, antique or classic cars, luxury and exotic vehicles above a stated value, and certain other vehicle types are excluded.

Excluded Countries

Certain countries are excluded from Chase Sapphire CDW coverage. Countries that have historically appeared on exclusion lists include Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Israel and Jamaica, but this list is subject to change.

Personal Belongings Stolen From the Rental

CDW covers the vehicle, not items inside it. The cardholder's homeowners or renters insurance is the relevant coverage for personal property theft from a rental car.

Should You Use Chase Sapphire for Rental Car Insurance?

Should you get rental car insurance? Three renter profiles get the most value from Chase Sapphire primary CDW. Renters without a personal auto policy get standalone rental protection with no personal policy required. Renters with a high deductible ($500 or more) avoid both the out-of-pocket deductible and any rate impact on their personal policy record. Frequent renters who would otherwise pay $15 to $30 per day for counter CDW recover the Preferred's $95 annual fee after roughly four to six rentals per year.

Renters with full coverage auto insurance and a deductible under $250 have minimal exposure even without the card benefit, as the personal policy covers most of the risk.

On the Preferred vs. Reserve question, the comparison table shows the CDW terms are identical on both cards. Choosing Reserve over Preferred solely for rental coverage isn't justified at a $455 annual fee difference. The Reserve earns its fee through the full travel benefit package, such as trip delay, lounge access, and others, but not through a stronger CDW.

Decide using our reviews of Amex rental car insurance and Capital One rental car insurance.

Chase Sapphire Rental Car Insurance: FAQ

Is Chase Sapphire rental car insurance primary or secondary?

Both Chase Sapphire Preferred and Chase Sapphire Reserve provide primary CDW on rental cars. Primary coverage means the benefit pays first: no personal auto insurance claim is filed, no deductible applies to the CDW claim, and no rate impact occurs on the personal auto policy. This contrasts with most Amex cards, which provide secondary CDW that requires exhausting the personal auto policy first.

Is the rental car coverage better on Chase Sapphire Reserve than Preferred?

The CDW benefit is functionally identical on both cards, with primary coverage up to actual cash value, no deductible, same activation requirements, same exclusions. The Reserve's value over the Preferred comes from its broader travel protections. For CDW alone, the Preferred at $95 per year is the better value.

What happens if I forget to decline counter CDW before using Chase Sapphire?

If you purchase counter CDW, the Chase Sapphire CDW benefit becomes void for that rental and cannot be applied retroactively. The counter CDW product is primary, and the card benefit is irrelevant once purchased. The duplicate coverage is wasted spend, but it does not create a coverage gap.

Do Chase Sapphire authorized users get rental car CDW coverage?

Authorized users are generally eligible for CDW coverage when they decline counter CDW and charge the full rental to the Sapphire card. However, eligibility terms for travel benefits can vary and have changed in the past. Confirm your current authorized user status and benefit eligibility at chase.com or by calling the number on the back of your card before any rental.

Does Chase Sapphire CDW cover rentals outside the U.S.?

Chase Sapphire CDW covers most international destinations, but certain countries are excluded. Countries that have historically appeared on the exclusion list include Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Israel and Jamaica. This list is subject to change, so always confirm the current exclusion list in the Sapphire benefits guide before any international rental.

How does Chase Sapphire rental car coverage compare to Amex?

Chase Sapphire Preferred and Reserve both provide primary CDW at no per-trip cost. Most Amex cards provide secondary CDW. Amex's Premium Car Rental Protection offers primary coverage but requires a per-trip enrollment fee.

For renters who want primary coverage built in without a per-trip fee, Chase Sapphire is the stronger option. Assess by figuring out how much car insurance you need.

About Mark Fitzpatrick

Mark Fitzpatrick, a Licensed Property and Casualty (P&C) Insurance Producer in Connecticut, is MoneyGeek's resident insurance expert. He has analyzed the insurance market for almost a decade, first with LendingTree and now with MoneyGeek, conducting original research on hundreds of insurance companies and millions of insurance rates for insurance shoppers.

He writes about economics and insurance on MoneyGeek, breaking down complex topics so people can have confidence in their purchase. Like all MoneyGeek analysts, Mark collects and analyzes independent cost and consumer experience data on insurance companies to provide objective recommendations in our content that are independent of any of MoneyGeek's insurance company partnerships.

His insights on products ranging from car, home and renters insurance to health and life insurance have been featured in The Washington Post, The New York Times and NPR, among others.

Mark holds a master’s degree in economics and international relations from Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor’s degree from Boston College. He started his career working in financial risk management at State Street before transitioning to the analysis of the personal insurance market. He's also a five-time Jeopardy champion!

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