The smell of new models is in the air, do you know if your credit card protects you?

CES 2008 is now over and the smell of new models is in the air... Should be anytime now... Everyone is just waiting for the day to jump to make their new purchase but do you know what your credit card offers you in extended warranties or purchase protection plans? These are some hefty purchases, here is some information that might be of some value to you....

I have been in contact with all of the major credit card companies to ascertain what types of buyer protection programs or extended warranty benefits (I was only looking for EW plans) they offered to the card holder after making a purchase, such as a TV. Here is a summary of what I found:

DISCOVER CARD-does not offer any extended warranties or protection plans.

AMERICAN EXPRESS- calls their service the "Buyers Assurance Program."

AMEX will double the warranty of your purchase up to one year. They also have the added benefit that if you should purchase an EW from a store, they will duplicate the manufacturers warranty up to one year beyond the expiration of the EW up until the purchase is 5 years old.

https://www124.americanexpress.com/c...&type=intFAQ#3

VISA- calls their service the "Warranty Manager Service," they are responsible for:

1. Registering your purchases. If you send your receipt, VISA receipt and copy of the original warranty, they will file the information in their system if you should ever need it or lose the originals.
2. They will double the extended warranty up to one year on purchases for free on eligible products with an original warranty less than 3 years. There are exclusions.
3. If you purchase an EW from a store, VISA will only be a secondary insurance of the EW. Once the EW expires, or the additional benefit year is up, you have no benefits.
4. Purchase an EW contract directly through VISA based on the cost of item.

In order to ensure that you qualify for any part of the Warranty Manager Service, you need to call VISA at 1-800-551-8472 and ask them. They will ask for your card number and will give you the benefits that are associated with your card. Any benefits you receive or don't receive is at the discretion of the issuing card provider. Remember, you are not talking to Wells Fargo, Chase, or Citibank, this is VISA. Nothing is guaranteed, so CALL!

Here is another advantage to use your VISA card, especially if you are going to rent a car. You know that added insurance coverage that the agents will always try to push on the public for like $15-20 a day in case of accidental damage to the car, well VISA offers the coverage for FREE!!! Yes, FREE!!! I could have used my own advice as I just paid out 2 days of rental insurance for nothing, VISA had it covered. There are some restrictions relating to how long you can have the rental car and that you can't use it for luxury cars like Porsche, etc. All they do is tell you to decline the additional insurance and if anything happens to contact them immediately, they will take care of the rest, even towing charges....

Here are some links that are associated with their products, they will go into more detail about the programs and your cards benefits:

Visa Checking - http://usa.visa.com/personal/cards/b...ebit_cards.gif

Visa Signature Credit Card - http://usa.visa.com/download/persona...aSignature.pdf
http://usa.visa.com/personal/cards/b...earchQuicklink

Visa Signature Business Credit Card - http://usa.visa.com/business/cards/benefits/index.html
http://usa.visa.com/business/cards/b..._security.html

Warranty Managers Service link- (This will explain the service, and give the costs of the EW they offer)
http://usa.visa.com/personal/cards/c...ager%20Service

MasterCard- very similar to VISA. I found the link to their site but it doesn't provide that much information. It does give the benefits for a Gold or Platinum Mastercard. MasterCard does have an EW program but I couldn't find any printed details and varies depending on the issuing card provider. Contact 1-800-MC-ASSIST (1-800-622-7747) to check to see if you are eligible for any of the benefits. Again, your benefits vary depending on who is your card provider as well as other criteria. MasterCard actually said you had to have at least a $2000 credit limit to be eligible. Call!

MasterCards EW benefits are a little different than above. MasterCard EW works similar to AMEX, after the original warranty up to one year. The difference is that you are limited to being able only to purchase a one year extended warranty from a store, then they will cover up to the third year. But be careful, if you want MasterCard's EW service, the original manufacturers warranty cannot exceed one year, if it does, MasterCard will not offer an EW at all, you'll get zip.

MasterCard- http://www.mastercard.com/us/persona...its/index.html


Again, this is the information I received when looking at their sites and contacting them by phone, please contact your card company if you have any questions or you need further information. EW are not the only benefit that comes with our cards, there are several others. These cards have many more benefits than we all realize, so why don't they just come outright and put it right in front of us to understand. So spend some time with the links I gave above, you will be amazed at what they offer.

So, are you aware of what you cards offer you???

Hoped this helped.

Good question... Something I would ask about when you call to see what benefits your card offers you. I haven't been in that situation.

Let's see.... A Large screen purchase at $3k with 1% back equals $30... Hmmm, is it worth the risk? But you can take that rebate and apply it towards an EW from the dealer you bought from or better yet, look at http://tapeworkstexas.com/mack_warranty_tv_only_.html You will find some really good EW offers for a great price. In any case, enjoy your purchase!

You will receive an additional up to 12 months beyond the original warranty that is no longer than a year. For example, product has 90 day warranty, Visa would back it with an additional 90... If one year, they would cover an additional 12 months. If the original contract covers a period longer than a one year period, you will still only receive the max additional 12 months protection. And no you don't have to register your products. Its just nice to have the information in one place.

As for contacting Chase and BOA instead of Visa or MC. You will be surprised! Any bank you contact reqarding credit card protection is basically telling it from their perspective. Many estaablishments have so many different cards and different promotional programs that you need to get the answer from the source or underwritting authority which is VISA and MasterCard who are offering the various services to these individual banks. Once you call them, give them your card number, they will be able to tell you specifically what programs you are qualified for..... Listen to Visa and MasterCard, not the individual banks and read the disclosure forms closely when you receive them with your annual renewals.