Complaint Rating:

Company information:
Thrifty Car Rental
United States

My wife 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.