Alamo & Brits guide

[Penderbelle]

Have got a really good price for car hire from Alamo through the Britis guide - £218 for the smallest car you can get with 3 additional drivers ( just what we need as we are a larger group with an MPV but want the freedom to use another car).
The only problem is we had wanted to pay for it all before we go, but through the Brits deal we can only pay when we get there. What worries me is that last year we were 'done over' by Dollar stating that they did not have a booking for us and we ended up paying over the odds.
Has anyone used the Brits guide deal and did everything go OK.? I'm worried that when we get there they'll start adding more charges as the confirmation includes the caveat 'additional charges may be payable locally'. The price quoted includes the necessary insurances and taxes and it works out well as we get 3 drivers included.
Your views would be appreciated.

Only 90 days to go!!!!!!!

 

[disneyholic family]

Have got a really good price for car hire from Alamo through the Britis guide - £218 for the smallest car you can get with 3 additional drivers ( just what we need as we are a larger group with an MPV but want the freedom to use another car).
The only problem is we had wanted to pay for it all before we go, but through the Brits deal we can only pay when we get there. What worries me is that last year we were 'done over' by Dollar stating that they did not have a booking for us and we ended up paying over the odds.
Has anyone used the Brits guide deal and did everything go OK.? I'm worried that when we get there they'll start adding more charges as the confirmation includes the caveat 'additional charges may be payable locally'. The price quoted includes the necessary insurances and taxes and it works out well as we get 3 drivers included.
Your views would be appreciated.

Only 90 days to go!!!!!!!

i've used that deal several times (the last time 2 years ago - the last time we were there)..
am using it again this year...

i ALWAYS print out the confirmation page with all the details to make sure there's no problem when i get to florida...
normally, car rentals with alamo don't include the insurance, but the brit's guide deal does....so that is one thing i wanted to be sure was included...(otherwise it's a fortune to add on)..

anyway, i bring that confirmation with me....the confirmation that includes the entire quote and what's included in the price....
if you have that with you, you won't have any problem..

just one word of warning....alamo often tries to get you to upgrade when you pick up the car....
and not a free upgrade - for more money..
they'll try telling you the car is too small or all sorts of other nonsense...
ignore it and stick with your choice...

also, they'll try to get you to add on something called roadside -plus service...or something like that....i can't remember what it's called....
the last time i just said to the guy, come on....if i have a roadside problem you're going to have to come regardless of whether i take this or not...he didn't respond....
it's a scam to get you to pay another $4/day....don't take it...

bottom line, just take your confirmation page with the details of what's included and you'll be fine.....

 

[dtm316]

I've used this deal as well, it's also worth nothing that this does not include fuel so bring the tank back as full as you can or pay for a tank when you first arrive. Didn't realise this when I used them a couple of years back and was charged $170 to fill the tank

 

[orangetiggs]

have you priced it up with other places such as usrentacar.co.uk and there are laods of others that you pay before you leave and include everything so nothing is paid when you pick it up

 

[Penderbelle]

Tried a few other places and although they were reasonable as soon as we put extra drivers on the price jumped up. The good thing with the Brits deal is that you get 3 drivers included- which is what we want so that we have the freedom for any of the adults to be able to drive.
Thanks for your help and I'll check the confirmation and make sure I take it with me and not just the reference number.

 

[SimonV]

I've used this deal as well, it's also worth nothing that this does not include fuel so bring the tank back as full as you can or pay for a tank when you first arrive. Didn't realise this when I used them a couple of years back and was charged $170 to fill the tank

This is a really good point. All car hire companies SHOULD offer you one of three options before you leave as regards fuel, either

a) To bring it back full yourself (i.e. stopping to top up before you get back to the airport)
b) Letting them charge you for the empty fuel when you reyurn (at a highly exorbitant rate - $170?! Ouch - that's borderline fleecing )
or c) Buying their full-tank fill-up rate in advance, which is usually just BELOW the current rate available locally. This allows you to return the car as near empty as you can manage with no penalty at all.

If you can be fairly sure you will use up that fuel, c) is a very valuable option these days.

 

[diswix]

The only problem is we had wanted to pay for it all before we go, but through the Brits deal we can only pay when we get there.

That's a coincidence as I was just looking at this. Is there any way round the pay on arrival as we really would like to pay now and not get caught up with the fluctuating exchange rate?

 

[dtm316]

This is a really good point. All car hire companies SHOULD offer you one of three options before you leave as regards fuel, either

a) To bring it back full yourself (i.e. stopping to top up before you get back to the airport)
b) Letting them charge you for the empty fuel when you reyurn (at a highly exorbitant rate - $170?! Ouch - that's borderline fleecing )
or c) Buying their full-tank fill-up rate in advance, which is usually just BELOW the current rate available locally. This allows you to return the car as near empty as you can manage with no penalty at all.

If you can be fairly sure you will use up that fuel, c) is a very valuable option these days.

I would like to point out that the last message I posted was on the fly and it did miss some info, the full story with alamo was more a large case of crossed wires. The brits guide gold offer does not include a free tank of fuel (and in full fairness to the brits giude they don't ever advertise that it does, love these guys and don't want to get on their bad side ), whereas (at the time don't know if this is different now) the alamo gold package included the fuel. The main case of crossed wires came at the alamo desk where I wasn't informed of the fact that fuel wasn't included (I'd wrongly assumed it was) and if I was made aware of this fact then as Simon pointed out I would have either pre-paid for the tank or made sure it was full on return as I'm well aware (even more so now) of the charges they had (around $6.50 a gallon at the time).

But in the case of full disclosure and fairness to both the brits giude (Susan in particular ) and alamo they helped me sort out the mixup when I returned home (the only complaint I had was that I was not forwarned about the fuel at the alamo desk) and they did issue a refund.

Only thought it was fair that you were warned about the deal not including fuel and didn't make the same school boy error I did

 

[Chilly]

The only problem is we had wanted to pay for it all before we go, but through the Brits deal we can only pay when we get there.

That's a coincidence as I was just looking at this. Is there any way round the pay on arrival as we really would like to pay now and not get caught up with the fluctuating exchange rate?

I think you must have to pay on arrival to prove you have the book

 

[SimonV]

and didn't make the same school boy error I did

It's certainly not a schoolboy error in any sense. Hiring a car abroad is a complicated business and many companies DO try to confuse visitors by hiding behind small-print and using pressure sales tactics. Alamo are not immune at times, but we still rate them the best to deal with overall.

I think you must have to pay on arrival to prove you have the book

No, I'm pretty sure that's not the case; it's just a question of they have changed their booking policy since last year's big change in the exchange rates. We did ask why but I'm not so sure we got an answer!

 

[disneyholic family]

I think you must have to pay on arrival to prove you have the book

no, i've never had to prove anything - not even proof of UK residence...(i'm not, i have a foreign drivers license - not US, not UK - they don't care)...

i take a copy of the reservation confirmation with what's included in the rate, just in case they give me trouble..
but they NEVER have given me any trouble....
the rate is always correct and it has always included all the insurance (as it's supposed to)...

the only thing alamo sometimes does (not always, sometimes) is try to get you to upgrade (for additional money)..
but overall, we've been very satisfied with alamo, with the cars, and with the rate we get through the brit's guide...

by the way, we have also used the brit's guide rate when renting in detroit (from the airport)...

 

[SimonV]

by the way, we have also used the brit's guide rate when renting in detroit (from the airport)...

That's a very good point. The Brit Guide deal is good for ALL the USA as we also have books to New York, Las Vegas and the West, so they should be able to cover just about anywhere (including Detroit!!).