The Informed Traveler
The Informed Traveler
Alberta Adventures & Car Rental Insurance
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The Canada Strong Pass is back this summer and with Canada Day coming up I thought it might be a good idea to showcase what we have here in our own backyard so on this week's show travel expert Onanta Forbes joins me to share some of the sights and activities in and around Calgary and Alberta. Then we'll talk about car rental insurance coverage from your credit card, what it covers and what you should be aware of. Rewards Canada founder Patrick Sojka will join us to give some insight.
Well, hello and welcome to the Informed Traveler Podcast, the weekly travel podcast, where our goal is to help you become a more informed traveler. And I'm your host, Randy Sharman. The Canada Strong Past is back this summer. And with Canada Day coming up, I thought it might be a good idea to showcase what we have here in our own backyard. So in a few seconds, travel expert Onanda Forbes will join me to share some of the sites and activities in and around Calgary, Alberta. And then we'll talk about car rental insurance coverage from your credit card, what it covers, and what you should be aware of. Rewards Canada founder Patrick Soyka will join us to give us some insight. But first, let's kick things
Alberta Adventures
SPEAKER_03off, chatting with Onanta Forbes, who joins us each week to talk about the latest travel news, trends, travel tips in general. You can follow her on Instagram, Facebook, and ex at Onanta Forbes. OnataForbes.com is her website. Hello, Onanta.
SPEAKER_00Hello, how are you?
SPEAKER_03I'm good, thank you. Canada Day is coming up, so I thought it might be a good time to showcase what we have to offer visitors. Uh in case people didn't know. We are located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Uh, and so we're first we're gonna talk about this Canada Strong Pass, which is I think is a good idea. Like usually I complain about the government spending money, but this time, you know, this is I think this is a good idea, gives uh not only international visitors, but uh people visiting our province from other provinces and just uh local people a chance to to get out and enjoy our national parks because we have many of them, don't we?
SPEAKER_00I think it's an amazing idea, and it's a really uh good opportunity to explore your own backyard for the lack of a better term. And it offers discounted admission to participating in museums, historic sites, parks, and its options across Canada. Now it did start June 19th and it's gonna go to uh the September 7th, so around the Labor Day weekend. So if you're planning um to visit several paid attractions this summer, it's well worth checking out because the savings can add up quickly. So be sure to visit the official website for participating locations and current offers before you travel, so you don't want to miss out. But it is a good deal. It's it started last year and um um a nice perk.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, exactly. And there's lots uh to discuss, and we won't go into all of them. I think if if people just Google the Canada Strong Pass, it takes it to the uh Government of Canada website, Canada.ca. Uh the big one though, I think, is the free admission with Parks Canada, because that can uh that can add up if you uh uh plan on visiting uh a couple of parks this summer.
SPEAKER_00Oh, absolutely. And nearby um is Banff National Park. And some of the highlights here include riding the Banff Gondola, Absalfer Mountain, walking the Bow River Trail, visiting Lake Louise and Moraine Lake. Um but a couple of things to keep in mind, especially if you're gonna go around Canada Day. Um Banff is spectacular, but it tends to be extremely busy. So book um Park Canada Shuttle well in advance for Lake Louise and the Moraine Lake, um, as personal vehicles are often turned away early in the morning. And if you're exploring the Banff town site, consider using the overflow parking lots and taking the Rome transit system into downtown and um start early. Um, you know, even even with the respect of what we just mentioned, it's uh it's a nice way to enjoy a sunrise hike or even uh evening walk after dinner can be more peaceful than the middle of the day.
SPEAKER_03Well, yeah, and uh we can't stress enough that parking uh is a issue in Ban. I mean, they're a victim of their own success, right? Um, especially during the summer. And uh so if you are planning, uh be aware of that. Take the Rome transit if you can. I think there are shuttles from Calgary, so if you wanted to stay in Calgary, you can actually take a shuttle into the parks uh there, unless you're obviously staying in the parks. But uh yeah, just be aware it can get very, very crowded. So sometimes uh you might want to wait till later in the summer to visit, like late August. Um uh then the park the uh crowds seem to uh secede or subside a little bit. Um so yeah, just take that into into uh caution. But there are actually uh five national parks that we get to enjoy in Alberta. Banpa's one of them. Then there's Jasper, then there's Waterton, which is down south along the U.S. border. Jasper is uh closer to Edmonton, and then we have uh two parks that I've never been to. Uh Elk Island, which is close to Edmonton, and Wood Buffalo, which is happens to be the largest national park in Canada.
SPEAKER_00No, it's really good um the opportunity to go to these different parks and and maybe even um, you know, in the past we've talked about going to alternate destinations instead of like Paris, go to somewhere else. Um this might be an opportunity to do it. You mentioned one of my favorite parks, which is Watershed National Park. As you say, it's only three hours south of Calgary, and it's considered like a hidden gem. It has a relaxed atmosphere, breathtaking scenery. Some of the things that I've enjoyed is afternoon tea at the Prince of Wales Hotel, Red Rock Canyon, Cameron Falls. Um, one tip wildlife is abundant throughout the park, so always carry bear spray when hiking and maintain a safe distance from animals.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, again, uh another good tip. And I will mention too that uh we border uh BC, which uh has two parks that that it's it's it's kind of unique. So you have Banff National Park, north of Banff National Park is Jasper, right up against it. And then if you go a little further west, you've got Kooteny and you've got Yoho National Parks, which are actually in BC, but it it's it's like four national parks all in one area that you can explore.
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah, it's good. And it's um, you know, adding on to that, there's also provincial parks that you can enjoy. Um, so like Dinosaur Provincial Park, riding on Stone Provincial Park. Um, it's not a provincial park, but I really like this one. It's Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump, which is not um it's not that far. Um, just before you get to Fort McLeod, that's a great one, as well as um Cypress Hills into Provincial Park. So lots of um parks to enjoy. And also what I would um also consider kind of a little different, um, that you might want to consider is like uh Rosebud. Um it's a year-round destination, but it's a small town theater and arts in Rosebud. You can go see plays. Like we're gonna go see Anne of Green Gables this year. Last year they had Sound of Music. And then there's a Canadian Badlands fashion play where the the um actual stage is actually like it's actually part of the uh landscape, so it's kind of fun there. Um I know you've been to this, like the Jasper Planetarium Dark Sky experience.
SPEAKER_02Yes, yes.
SPEAKER_00So it's kind of fun. Um, all these little things that um you may kind of think, oh yeah, but you don't do, but might be uh something something a little different to try. Um always uh always enjoying um what we have. And in some cases, you know, like uh obviously when you go to the play or a theater, you have to pay, but it it's just a fun it it can be just a fun day out as well. You don't have to have the expense of the overnight accommodation.
SPEAKER_03Well, exactly. And if people are visiting our uh province and want to visit our parks, uh you can use Calgary as a hub because, like you mentioned, Waterton is a three-hour drive south. You can do that in a day. I mean, it's a busy day, but you can do it. I've done it. Um, and you know, like see Banff is 45 minutes to an hour, depending on you know where you are in Calgary, just to the west of us. Um, so there's lots of opportunity in the places you mentioned, Dinosaur uh Park is about an hour east. So there's lots of uh areas you can do in a day, and inside of Calgary too, there's lots of places. One of my favorite places to do in Calgary or go visit is Heritage Park, mostly because it's like a five-minute drive from where I live, but but it's unique in the in the sense that it is one of the best historic parks we have.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah, and it's a it's a charming place to go. Um, you know, it's it's got uh uh the opportunity to go on a little boat ride um it you know around the reservoir. You can enjoy the hospitality, like all they're all dressed up in in period costumes, you can enjoy the bakery that's there, and you know, um, and we've done this too. Like you don't even sometimes have to go into the park because it was a cost admission, but there's like a nice little rail um cafe outside the park and different restaurants that you can explore, um, as well as little shops, and then take a walk around um the reservoir, maybe park into Glenmore Landing. So there's lots of opportunity um to do things that are also complementary. Um, yes, as you say, it's like a living history museum Heritage Park. It offers steam trains, paddle of wheels, cruises, historic buildings, and midway rides. And I know during summer they have afternoon tea on Sundays, which is always fun. Do arrive early to avoid parking congestion and spend most of the day exploring. Another place is the Calgary Zoo, and it's become one of Canada's leading conservation focused zoo. Um, morning visits are usually best, and I would say take the C train as it's often easier than driving and parking during holiday weekends.
SPEAKER_03Well, I will say too, uh, with the Calgary Zoo, depending on where you park, it can be a bit of a walk uh to the to the zoo itself. But yeah, two two of my favorite places. And I will mention too, just getting back to the national parks and the provincial parks, uh, you were talking about Waterton. What's unique about Waterton is it's right on the U.S. border and borders Glacier National Park in the United States. So it's kind of cool. You could actually do a um uh a water boat tour and cross into the United States and cross back out. And it's it's just it's just kind of fun uh how to do that. And then um getting back to uh just some of the provincial parks you talked about, Canonascus, which is very close to Calgary. One of the great drives, like I'll mention two great drives. If you want to, if you want to rent a car, if you're visiting or if you're driving here, one is the Cowboy Trail. It's a beautiful drive, it's actually quite a long drive, goes through uh just about half the province. But in in southern Alberta, uh you can drive it from Calgary and end up in in an area called Lundbrick Falls, which is just a beautiful little spot. It's off Highway 3, uh, which uh goes east and west in the southern parts of uh of the province down by Pincher Creek. Uh so that's one drive. And then there's uh one of the most factory spectacular drives um you might ever take in your lifetime, and that's the Ice Fields uh Parkway. Have you ever done that?
SPEAKER_00Now you're talking about when you go to Lake Louise and you head up to to uh Jasper, right?
SPEAKER_02Yes, yes.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yes. It is beautiful, and you you know you have the opportunity of seeing much of the wildlife that's there that can be there, right? I'm not saying that it's you're always gonna see wildlife, but you know, keep an eye out. Um and it's it's not that far between the two destinations, and it's a good way to um go to Bath, maybe to Lake Louise, then head up to Jasper, and so you can hit quite a few parks um in in uh a little getaway, like an extended weekend and such. We know go getting back to Canonaskis Country, I just a couple of things I wanted to share to remember. You will need a Canonascus conservation pass for your vehicle.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_00And although, um, a little tip, the pass is waived on the first Wednesday of each month during uh wilderness Wednesdays. Um, also just a little um thing to keep in mind cell surface can also be limited. So download a few offload uh offline maps before heading out and pack plenty of water and snacks.
SPEAKER_03My last time I drove the Icefields Park where there was a grizzly bear on the side of the highway running along the road.
SPEAKER_02Amazing.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Amazing can be quite amazing, and and you can't be in a hurry because the uh the scenery is spectacular. You'll want to get out and take pictures and that kind of thing, just do it safely and just be aware of the wildlife. So uh yeah, pretty amazing stuff. We could go on and on, but uh people can check out uh well, especially the Canada Strong uh pass. That's where it all starts. You can get your free uh part pass and then explore not just Alberta, the whole country. If you have the whole summer to do it, do it.
SPEAKER_00So absolutely.
SPEAKER_03Onanda Forbes uh is a travel expert. You can follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and ex at Onanda Forbes. Onandaforbes.com is her website. Uh good stuff, Onanta. Thank you.
SPEAKER_00Have a good week. Happy calendar day.
SPEAKER_03This is the Informed Traveler Podcast. I'm Randy Sharman. Just want to remind you of our website, the informedtraveler.org. That's where you can find our contact page if you have any questions or comments about the podcast. You could also email me too with any questions you might have. My email address is randy at theinformtraveler.org. And you can check out our social media pages too at facebook.com slash informed traveler, Instagram at informtraveler, or an X at InformTraveler. That's where you'll find a number of videos and photos from our recent visit to Fort Lauderdale and other interviews and stories throughout the year. Plus, you can sign up for our monthly newsletter. It's released at the beginning of every month. Our June issue is available now. Just go to our website, theinformtraveler.org, click on the newsletter button, and it'll take you right there. Or better yet, you can subscribe to it and have it arrive in your inbox each month.
Car Rental Insurance
SPEAKER_03So one of the concerns that comes up often when renting a car is the insurance coverage. Some credit cards do offer car rental insurance, but what exactly is covered and what should you be aware of? To answer that, we've invited Patrick Soika, founder of Rewards Canada, to help us sort it out. His website is rewardscanada.ca. Hi, Patrick, welcome back. Hi, Randy. Great to be back on. Let's talk about car rental insurance and the quagmire of trying to understand what's covered and not covered. You do a very good job uh on your website, uh rewardscanada.ca, and explaining it all. Uh, but it seems to me, I think like uh part of uh this has been that the idea that credit card, uh car insurance, car rental insurance uh in the past wasn't all that great. Has that changed?
SPEAKER_01Um you know, I I I don't know if we could really say it was is not that great. I just don't think many people paid as close attention to it, maybe perhaps. Um and I guess how far back we go. You know, the the only incident I ever had where I actually had to use my credit card car rental insurance was probably it's been well over 12, 13 years ago, probably. Um and it worked out well then. So, so and and it uh as far as I know, it hasn't changed too much since then. So it's um I I think it's it's it's a really good um coverage, but I think people just need to know some of the quirks around them. Like it's a great coverage to have, it can save you a lot of money, but you also have to know you know when you're not gonna be saved money because that insurance doesn't cover you.
SPEAKER_03Mm-hmm. Exactly. Well, I think that's it. Like uh car rental insurance is very expensive. And if you can save, you know, like sometimes it's twenty it's more than the actual rental itself.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, absolutely. It is. It is. Yeah, you can there are some really good deals out there on car rentals, and then you know, if you want their collision damage waiver insurance, it's like $30 a day or something. You know, you might your rental might only be $150 for uh a week or who knows, and then the insurance is $200 over $200.
SPEAKER_03So yeah. So walk us through uh what is covered basically, and um what should you have extra coverage for or outside coverage for?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, absolutely. So so all the credit card car rental insurance coverage is collision damage waiver. So what that covers you for is you know, to the your rental vehicle, it it covers, you know, if there was an accident, uh, vandalism or theft of the car that you're renting. It's not third-party liability or property insurance for third-party insurance. You need you know more coverage from your personal auto insurance, or you'll have to buy it from the car rental company. Um, you know, some countries it's required by law and it'll be in the rental price to have the extra coverage and things like that. Um, but yeah, so basically it's it is um damage to your rental car vehicle. That that's what it's what it's covering. Um, and that and that that really is it. Um and that was you know, my my one incident. I was lucky because it was not another vehicle a hit. I hit a concrete pole in a parking lot, and the pole survived nothing.
SPEAKER_03People can read about it too, by the way. I did read that story on the story.
SPEAKER_01Quite the story, yeah, yeah. Um, so so luckily there was no, you know, I didn't have to pay for damage to anything else. But yeah, so that you know, so this is even covering things like, you know, if if you are out and you know, door dings, you know, you're in the parking lot and somebody dings your car, your rental car, and then you're dropping it off, and you know, your rental agency says, hey, this door ding wasn't here before. And and they and that's the thing, the rental agencies now are using things like lasers and and pictures, so they they have a better idea of what the car looked like when it left and returned. So that's I guess my recommendation to everybody as well now is when you rent a car, take pictures or videos of your car before you leave the rental office. Yes, so that you can tell them. Um, you know, usually rental cars with small scratches, they're there are rental car companies. When you have small scratches, they don't really worry. Um, they they understand those things are gonna happen. But yeah, any you know, significant damage, something that you would be probably upset about if it was your own personal car, you know, typically the rental car agency will be upset with that as well. So that is that is what these this coverage you know covers. That's just damage to to your rental car.
SPEAKER_03So basically what you're looking for is the liability, and you should probably check your own uh personal uh auto insurance first to see if you're covered under rentals. And then and then, of course, uh if that's not the case, then you can go with the car rental liability, right?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, because yeah, you're there is no liability insurance with this. So I said um I know yeah, the liability, I'm pretty sure majority Europe, you know, liability insurance is that is the one that is required by law, and that's always going to be included in your car rental price. But yeah, you can always check with the rental company what what insurance is included and what isn't included. Um and then yeah, and then check you with your own uh insurance company. I know my insurance company, I have like there's some deluxe plan or something which covers a whole bunch of things, and it includes you know rental cars. I believe in Canada and the US, I'm not sure if it does Europe, but again, Europe, you know, for the most part, you should be covered. Um but again, that's just something you need to be aware of.
SPEAKER_03One thing you do point out that people should be aware of too in your uh write-up on your website, rewardscanada.ca, uh, is the value of the vehicle, like the maximum that you're covered for, and it's only up to a certain amount. Yes.
SPEAKER_01Uh yeah, most cards in Canada will cover up to $65,000. The ma uh MSRP or maximum suggested retail price, uh, or sorry, not maximum manufacturer's suggested retail price is $65,000. Some cards are $85,000. And recently we had a couple cards bump up to $100,000. Um, and and I'm glad to see those couple cards went up to $100 because one of the things I've been pushing for or writing about is that those $65,000 and $85,000 limits, they're in Canadian dollars. Um cars are getting very way more expensive.
SPEAKER_03Yes, they are.
SPEAKER_01It's not hard to be driving a car worth $65,000. And once it once it's over that MSRP, you're again, you're you will not be covered. Um and you know, with a lot of rental card companies offering upgrades and people buy the upgrades, or if you're a member of you know their loyalty programs, whether it's like Kurtz Gold Plus Rewards, National Emerald Card, uh, Emerald Club, sorry, um, where you can just pick a car off the lot, you know, there might be a nice Mercedes sitting there. Hey, I'm I'm gonna grab that Mercedes, like, well, hold on a second, what is the what is it worth? Then then you need to look and say it's like, okay, well, I'm gonna buy the insurance. It's like I do want to, I do want to buy or I do want to rent the the Mercedes. They're not charging me for more for it, but I am gonna have to pay for the insurance. So they're getting some money from you for it. But yeah, um, and it's happened to me there's so many times I've been upgraded. You know, when you have elite status with these with these car rental companies, they're like, oh yeah, here's the car for you, or they sit, or they tell you, we don't have the car that you originally booked. We're out of those, we can give you this one, and it's a higher up car. Um, yeah, you have to know, you know, I've been I've been lucky enough to drive Escalades, Jaguars, Range Rovers um at no extra cost than what I what I had originally booked. Um uh and I I'm lucky in one way. I still have the Diners Club Club Rewards Master card. Um that is the only card in Canada that does not have a limit on the car value.
SPEAKER_02Nice.
SPEAKER_01So so I always put my my cars on that card. Now there are now all the cards. Do have limits on the type of cards. Like they will say exotic cars are typically not covered. So Ferraris, Lamborghinis, things like that. If you're gonna go rent one of those uh just for a day, like some people do, your credit card will not cover you. But BMW, Mercedes, Range Rover, those types are. They're not considered exotic. Um, but again, it's more it comes down to the value where you need to see what you're covered.
SPEAKER_03And the last one uh that stuck with me is the length of time that you're renting a car. Like for most people, it may be a week or two weeks or something, it's not a big deal. But if you're renting long-term, say if you're doing a long stay somewhere or something like that, you got to be aware of how long that your coverage is for. Because it and you pointed out too that uh say you're staying somewhere for 50 days, you're only covered for 48. That means you know, some people might misinterpret that, oh, I'm not covered for two days, but no, that's not the case, is it?
SPEAKER_01That's right. All the car rental uh coverages, if you exceed the the length that they provide, you're not covered from day one. So yeah, so like you're the example you said 50 days, and you think you're covered for 48. No, you're gonna be covered for zero days there. Um and then and so some and they even have a clause in there because they think, okay, well, you know, they they they're smart enough to know it's like, well, I'm gonna rent for 48 and then I'll rent again. Um there has to be typically a full 24 hours before your between your rentals. So I mean, yeah, so so I mean, if you're a snowbird, you know, and you're going down to you know, Arizona, Florida for a long time, a lot of people just own their own cars down there, but some do rent. Um, you know, rent for your coverage period, which is uh, you know, if it's whether it's 31 or 48 days, that's pretty much the the standard out there for cards. It's either 31 or 48. Rent it for those days, return the car for a whole day, you know, spend a day using Ubers or not going anywhere, and then go back and rent a car again and you'll be covered. So there, I mean, they're they're smart enough to figure those things out, but we can also be smart enough to you know to keep that coverage going. And those are just the little things you have to do. It's just that make sure you have a full calendar day between uh your rentals to restart the cycle of insurance coverage on your car.
SPEAKER_03Exactly. So in a nutshell, collision damage uh waiver, that's pretty good under uh credit card, but you want to get make sure that you have the liability either under your personal insurance or using the uh car rental company.
SPEAKER_01That's right, exactly. And yeah, and then and so I even know some countries you even have to pay, you know, you know, you do have to buy that CDW, the collision, even if your credit card covers it. Um I know Ireland uh is one of them. Um and and what what's good there though is usually the one that you get from the insurance company has a deductible. So you can usually claim that deductible on your credit card for the CDW. So you're not paying anything. Nice. And the good, you know, and the other the other kind of small benefit of the CDW coverage is for most cases it's primary coverage, so you don't have to report it to your insurance company. Your insurance company doesn't know, so this is, you know, um, it won't go on your record. Like if you have an accident and you claim, or I guess you should uh yeah, if you make a claim, it doesn't even have to be an accident, but yeah, if you make an insurance claim through your credit card company, it doesn't affect your purchase.
SPEAKER_03It doesn't count.
SPEAKER_01Got it.
SPEAKER_03Well, that's even better. Well, people can find out more information all about it. Uh Canadian credit card car rental insurance guide, CDW coverage explained on your website, rewardscanada.ca. Uh good stuff, Patrick. Always great to chat with you.
SPEAKER_01Perfect. Thanks again, Randy.
SPEAKER_03And that was our show for this week. If you have comments or questions, we'd love to hear from you. Or if you have a show idea, send that alarm as well. My email is Randy at the Informed Traveler.org. If you like what you heard, tell us right now. You can check out our website too at the Informed Traveler.org. In the meantime, thanks for listening. Travel stay forth and be an informed traveler.