Car Hire ...

cliveywolves

DIS Veteran
Joined
Sep 30, 2008
FYI ....:) This might help anybody else looking to book car hire now...

Been looking at car rental the past month for our August trip, Average cost for 14 days been around £260 for a Standard Car, but today got a good deal with www.autoeurope.com via Kayak website.

Paid £218 total cost including all charges and full protection insurance, also was with Alamo whom have a very fair toll policy if required..
 
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Will have a look later. I have 2 booked for August but can cancel if there is a saving to be made. I usually wait til about 1-2 month out but prices were rising this year so tied in with free cancellation.
 
Just checked 1st rental 9 nights SUV cost me £252.48 with Virgin hols. Price with Auto Europe via Kayak £281.97 Might help others though.
 


I've been looking at car hire again today as it is still on the to do list. Thanks for the link OP but at the moment it isn't coming up any cheaper for us. When I went on to check the alamo brits deal a window popped up saying that the prices were only for Brits guide readers and that you would have to have a UK driving licence and show your copy of the book to collect your car. I don't remember this happening before, is it new?
 
The Brits nag screen is fairly new but tbh I've never been asked for my copy of the guide and I doubt the reps at mco would bother checking
And also there is a fair cha'ce that hou may be able to complete the skip the counter thing and I really don't see the gate agent check that

No about prices I booked on the alamo french site as I pay in euros, and I will mention that prices follow the dollar exchange rate, so the same might happen with the british site
I booked a fullsize in march when the dollar was at its highest and paid 640€ for 3 weeks
In April the euro picked up and I cancelled, got refunded on my CC within 48 hours and rebooked online for 595€
Cancelled again last week and rebooked for 557€

So that's 80€ less just playing with exchange rates

So if you're able to cancel for free, online (fr site allows that, not sure about co.uk) then definitely check prices when you see the pound pick up against the dollar
Price varies according to Forex with a 48 hours delay
For example GBP rises on monday, price will decrease on wednesday
If the pound then falls on tuesday it will only reflect on thursday but won't affect the wednesday price decrease, if you see what
I mean
Not perfect science but observations ( on .FR site so it may be different on the UK site) so if you can cancel don't just think that the price is final, you might still save by checking once in a while when you hear the the pound has strengthened against the dollar
 
I have been regularly checking the car hire prices over the last few months and following the forex rate and I haven't noticed any correlation between the two. In fact the alamo price for some car types has been virtually identical the whole time. Thanks for taking the time to post the tip though, it seems strange that the French site would follow the exchange rate and the British one wouldn't.
 


Probably because the GBP doesn't fluctuate as much as the euro

The Euro should be named the ''yoyo''
 
I have been regularly checking the car hire prices over the last few months and following the forex rate and I haven't noticed any correlation between the two. In fact the alamo price for some car types has been virtually identical the whole time. Thanks for taking the time to post the tip though, it seems strange that the French site would follow the exchange rate and the British one wouldn't.

Have you cleared your cookies every time before you go on the Alamo site? If you don't the price never lowers. I discovered this last year.
 
just to update,
the Euro has taken a huge plunge over the week end

my 21 days fullsize reservation for october was at 556€ on friday, it's now 621€ ...

it definitely changes with the exchange rate ...
 
We've hired using the Brits guide for our trip in Sept but came across a better deal with holiday autos (with Alamo) recently. HA recommend something called Damage Refund Insurance for £58.99 - I couldn't see this on the Brits confirmation slip from Alamo.

Can anyone who's used HA advise what this is and if it's really required ?

Thanks
 
We've hired using the Brits guide for our trip in Sept but came across a better deal with holiday autos (with Alamo) recently. HA recommend something called Damage Refund Insurance for £58.99 - I couldn't see this on the Brits confirmation slip from Alamo.

Can anyone who's used HA advise what this is and if it's really required ?

I'd like to have confirmation too

On my booking voucher (direct through Alamo) the first line reads :
"CDW (USA Zero Excess)"

the DRI (or whatever third party rental companies call them) is supposed to bring the excess to $0 ... but it's also supposed to be included in US rentals (made by non US drivers)


Also, when you go to the US Alamo site to make a booking, you need to state that you're a citizen of the UK, and get the UK rates.
Your booking will then automatically include CDW and Extended Protection (I think it's mandatory for non US residents)

But if you look closely, there is no option to purchase an excess coverage. (only the personnal coverage and the roadside assistance)

if you look at the details of CDW it states

If you purchase CDW, we agree, subject to the actions listed on the rental agreement that invalidate CDW, to contractually waive your responsibility for all or part of the cost of damage to, loss or theft of, the vehicle.

"for all part of the cost", if I read this right, there cannot be any excess applied here.

So, (please confirm), as far as I'm concerned, HA sells that 0 excess coverage when it's already included in the price of the rental. So I'd call that a rip off

Am I missing something ?
 
We've hired using the Brits guide for our trip in Sept but came across a better deal with holiday autos (with Alamo) recently. HA recommend something called Damage Refund Insurance for £58.99 - I couldn't see this on the Brits confirmation slip from Alamo.

Can anyone who's used HA advise what this is and if it's really required ?

Thanks
If it's the same as what they offer you at desk it's to cover you for things like leaving your lights on all night or losing your keys etc. in other works anything your fault rather than the cars fault.
If you take out the policy in UK I would expect you would have to pay for any work then claim back on return to UK. Take the policy out at the desk ($5/day) and the rental company would sort it for you.

Personally it's not something I would buy. I have rented cars in the US totalling around 2 years. 730 days at $5 = $3,650 which would have been wasted, never needed to claim once.
 
I think damage refund insurance is the excess insurance offered by Holiday Autos, where you have a separate insurance so you can get back any excess you might have to pay in case of an accident. From what i can gather, reading up about it, this insurance (ironically) has an excess of its own, so we just didn't bother. We figured, if we end up paying the excess, so be it.
 
Thanks guys. Maybe wasn't too clear about the cover. It's provided by AXA and this how it's described on the HA website.

The Collision Damage Waiver and Theft Protection included in this hire do not fully cover you in the event of damage and theft. You are still liable for an excess of up to €3,000 if you damage the car, you have an accident, the car is stolen, or you lose your keys.
Yes, I want to reduce my liability to £0 for only GBP 63.24 and I have read the Terms and Conditions.

If you want to reduce this potential liability to £0, be sure to tick the box above.

  • Great value – Eliminate potential liability of up to €3,000 for just GBP 63.24.
  • Best protection – In the event of damage or theft to the car and you are required to pay the excess, it will be fully refunded.
  • Peace of mind – You are fully covered for your excess when things go wrong.

I usually just take the Brits Guide package but is the standard HA insurance (without the above) just as good ?

Garry
 
GarryK see my post above. All this does is offer to claim your excess back for you in the case of an accident where you are liable for excess. It's a call you have to make. As I said above, everything I read seemed to suggest it wasn't worth it so we didn't bother.
 
The Collision Damage Waiver and Theft Protection included in this hire do not fully cover you in the event of damage and theft. You are still liable for an excess of up to €3,000 if you damage the car, you have an accident, the car is stolen, or you lose your keys.

As mentionned previously, these terms seem to contradict those on the Alamo website where it says that CDW m

waive your responsibility for all or part of the cost of damage to, loss or theft of, the vehicle

so in my book, if you're not responsible for any part of the cost of damage, loss, or theft, then you can't be charged for an excess, which is, basically, part of the cost. (or there are fine prints somewhere, but so far it seems quite straightforward)

now, in your case, and in light of Wilma's answer above, if the cost with the brit guide is £63 (or less) more expensive than HA, I'd go with Alamo/brits and stop worrying about it.
 
I usually use USRentACar for a Dollar Car and am signed up to their Express system when you can go direct to Garage to pickup car. No issues at MCO yet!
 

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