As far as insurance I have a Costco Amex. Amex offers a primary, zero deductible collision insurance for around $24 per rental period up to 42 days.

I can't say yet how everything will go when we turn in the car but we are driving a nicely beat up Corolla with French plates from Unity for a much lower price than I could find elsewhere. They met us at the airport with a van, drove a short distance to their place to pick up the car, which took all of maybe 10 minutes total.