My husband and I reserved an auto from Thrifty in Frankfurt Germany but after reading review comments about their Loss Damage Waver (LDW) policy and refusal to honor the insurance provided by using a MasterCard Gold/Platinum credit card in place of the LDW, we requested a policy statement from their home office and a copy of the benefits from MasterCard.
In the MasterCard benefits statement it clearly states the insurance is effective in all countries except Ireland, Israel, or Jamaica. I emailed Thrifty quoting the statement from MasterCard and asked if this was acceptable by Thrifty. Rick Moss of Thrifty responded that Thrifty accepted the Master Gold/Platinum in lieu of LDW. I then requested that Mr. Moss send me a statement that I could take with me to Germany confirming that Thrifty accepted the insurance provided by the Gold/Platinum MasterCard. I did not receive a response to that request or another request a few days later.
We took the MasterCard benefits booklet with us in case we had problems. Upon arrival at the Thrifty counter, we were told the MasterCard was not acceptable in lieu of the LDW without a specific letter from MasterCard stating that we (by name) were covered by their insurance in Germany and we would have to buy their LDW or put up a very large deposit. We immediately cancelled the Thrifty reservation and went to Hertz who had no hesitation in accepting the MasterCard in lieu of the LDW.
It appears Thrifty is playing a con game. Since Thrifty refused to provide a written statement confirming they accept the MasterCard insurance, they are obviously aware of the Thrifty Germany policy. The day may come when they make this a company wide policy, don’t get caught. After making a reservation and arriving at your destination, they feel they have you cornered and can force you to buy their LDW. Don’t accept this blackmail. There are other auto rental companies that will accept the MasterCard in lieu of the LDW.
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We used Sixt in Munich (booked through gemut.com in The U.S.) and were thrilled with the service. I saw in Travel and Leisure Magazine that Sixt was the highest ranked car rental agency in the world.
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If you search this forum for Thrifty you will see lots of complaints about this car rental service. Too bad--great service when we have rented in the US.
We are using Hertz -- got a great rate through AAA.
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Avoid Thrifty at Frankfurt Airport. They require a CANADIAN issued Platinum Visa card in order to accept the credit card insurance. Cost us a half day finding an alternative. We ended up renting from Hertz at the Frankfurt Main rail station and saved money by picking up and dropping off downtown. You save about 19% airport tax. It is easy to get to and from the airport by train anyway. And driving to and from the train station is easy. My advice, chose Hertz instead. Make your reservation online if you can. The Hertz people were very accommodating, and friendly. Thrifty guys are sleezeballs.
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