Alamo car hire £109 incl CDW and Taxes

[barnum42]

Been checking all the options and scouring the boards here to find the best car hire price for Orlando, one where you pay a set fee that includes the car itself, all the local taxes and assorted gaff charges plus CDW (non of that top-up insurance nonsnese).

Best price I can find is with Alamo if you book it via their UK web site:

http://www.alamo.co.uk

Follow the "Fun in the Sun" advert for £109 per week all in. They do not take your card details online, just charge for it when you pick it up. They will charge how ever many Dollars equals £109 at the time of transaction.

The price is for an economy car, which they usually have none of and you end up with a free upgrade to the next available model.

So, has anyone found a better price than that? (If so I can still cancel )


Note - edited subject title (was can anyone beat car hire £109 per week all in) as it has been argued that all in should include additional third party cover.

 

[tinksfriend]

It looks good, and I got exited!!
It also says that "CDW ISN'T AN INSURANCE"!!!!!


So what is the Insurance bit? Anyone?

 

[barnum42]

Originally posted by tinksfriend
It looks good, and I got exited!!
It also says that "CDW ISN'T AN INSURANCE"!!!!!


So what is the Insurance bit? Anyone?

The price include CDW - Collision Damage Waiver. Alamo's wording is that it "Eliminates responsibility for damage to or loss of an Alamo rental vehicle as long as terms of the rental agreement have not been violated."

The "Top Up" insurance is just a bunch of bovine fecal matter. Your holiday insurance should cover you for any other issues. They just want to pressure you into buying the top up.

 

[martina857]

To good to be true?

 

[BevS97]

personally I would be wanting the "Rate does not include Extended Protection Liability Insurance (EP)which can be purchased locally at $11.95 per day. "

it probably is a rip-off, and chances are you won't need it, but I would feel much more comfortable knowing I was fully covered and not liable to be sued for a million dollars.

Your holiday insurance almost definitely excludes anything to do with motor vehicles.

If you are comparing it to a truly all-inclusive policy then you are not comparing like with like

Bev

 

[tinksfriend]

Just investigated this.

The extra EP is for Third Party Liability. You need this in case you cause injury to anyone else and they want to sue you (which is likely in the US!!) Most Travel Insurance does not cover you if you injure somebody whilst "using a Motorised Vehicle"!!! Mine doesn't anyway!!

So not such a good deal for me!!!

Oh well, thanks anyway barnum42!!!

 

[barnum42]

Best I recal, all cars come with third party liability as standard. They then screw you for CDW, local taxes/charges and then try and sell you "Enhanced Top Up insurance" where they will pay out billions instead of millions (or some such nonsence).

 

[catherine]

barnum42 have you checked out the prices at
airline-network.co.uk
I just put in our details over on the Alamo "Fun in the Sun" site and the final cost is more than we paid with airline Network.

 

[barnum42]

Thanks for the suggestion Catherine. Just tried airline-network - £264, but they include the topup insurance so £218 is still the best price for me.

EDIT - including top up, Alamo are £266 for a bottom of the pile car. Not much in it there.

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

Originally posted by barnum42
Best I recal, all cars come with third party liability as standard. They then screw you for CDW, local taxes/charges and then try and sell you "Enhanced Top Up insurance" where they will pay out billions instead of millions (or some such nonsence).

That's not quite correct. All car hire comes with the legal minimum third party liability, but this is only $30,000. Given that legal claims in the USA can easily run into the hundreds of thousands, or even millions of dollars you would be wise to take out some form of top-up liability insurance. In my view $30,000 of cover is pitifully inadequate, and I would not consider driving without increasing to at least $1,000,000.

I agree that many hire/tour companies "screw you" with the price of top up insurance. There are alternatives to these policies: search for "car insurance" on these boards will bring up many threads discussing this issue.

Regards

Rob

 

[Red-Snapper]

Barnum

before posting such strong statements please at least do your homework first.

As Rob has said you will only be covered for the absolute state minimum which is very low without even considering the level of American court awards and astonomical private medical costs.

EP tops up usually to $1m which is really the minimum you should consider as adequate if you cause a serious accident involving injury to others (including your own passengers).

That really is not "top-up insurance nonsense" or the stuff to do with the cow you mentioned .

Supplementary covers you can also purchase will give you protection against uninsured motorists i.e if you are seriously injured by someone who hasnt got cover and doesnt have the means to pay compensation - again this is not nonsense but common sense.

Most run-of-the-mill UK travel insurance will NOT cover you for liability arising from motor acidents. The Personal Liability section of the policy may refer to an exclusion relating to "mechanically or electrically propelled vehicles" which is Insurance speak for CARS. This is well hidden in the body of the policy and is NOT in the general exclusions section that is normally at the start.

We all want cheap car deals but I for one dont want to lose my house if I havent got adequate cover for an injury I may cause while driving in the country that has the most ferocious attitude to TP liabilility claims in the world.

 

[barnum42]

Originally posted by Red-Snapper
Barnum

before posting such strong statements please at least do your homework first.

My "strong" comments are directed at the bar steward lawyers and greedy corporate suits who are messing up life for everyone else. No way will I tip toe around the truth in case it upsets these low life see you next tuesdays.

Anyhoo - Snapper and Rob make some very valid points that provide food for thought for all of us reading this thread. Thanks for that.

It still appears to be cheaper to rent from UK rather than in Florida. Did another blitz of rental sites and the USA ones, including use of discount vouchers were still a lot more expensive.

The UK based sites for the most part will do the car, CDW, Additonal liability insurance and all the assorted bovine charges and taxes for around the £265 give or take a few quid. Some you pay at time of booking, other you pay on pickup. I've found some that charge a lot more than £265, but none a lot less.

 

[Bug Juice II]

From a Florida veteran. It does seem very very cheap. I would beware of any extras and the exchange rate they give you.

As for the upgrade, forget that unless you are very lucky. I would check that you actually have 4 wheels and doors and point out any faults or scratches on the car before leaving. In fact check and double check everything. Check the insurance angle as well, remind them you are from the UK as well.

Still all the best, seems you have a good deal. Have a good holiday.

Let us know how you got on

C

 

[BevS97]

I think it is almost definitely cheaper to book a 'deal' in the UK than to book via the US. Most Americans will have sufficient insurance throught their personal car insurance, which they can transfer to a hire car, we don't have the same system, and so we need these additional coverages. Hence we have different deals on offer to us

Bev