Amount of credit needed on credit card for car hire?

[Minniesgal]

Thanks for all that info.

As I've booked a standard SUV which should be fairly new, will it have a sat nav fitted? I've booked a sat nav as an extra which is to be paid at the collection point, but if the cars have one I won't need it? Or does the fact that I've been able to add it on mean that they don't have them fitted?

It won't have one fitted if you want one you will have to pay for it as an extra. We don't usually bother as the road signs are fairly clear. It is not a difficult place to navigate so we just take our chances.

 

[wayneg]

Thanks for all that info.

As I've booked a standard SUV which should be fairly new, will it have a sat nav fitted? I've booked a sat nav as an extra which is to be paid at the collection point, but if the cars have one I won't need it? Or does the fact that I've been able to add it on mean that they don't have them fitted?

Rented around 50 cars in the US only one had a Sat Nav, that was with Hertz (since rented with them and no Satnav so I assume it was a one off)

What are they charging you to rent? as said its not difficult to find your way around, we did 20+ trips before we got satnav, only use it now if we are going away from the themepark area. I bought mine in Walmart on offer at £35 a couple of years back, I bought this model but OOS just now http://www.walmart.com/ip/TomTom-XL-335SE-TM-4.3-GPS-Unit/16116228
You can easily use for your holiday then sell on return and get your money back(or make a profit)

 

[zippy99]

I was wondering about this too as it as been a while - we are renting with Avis (via a BA flight booking).

I am sure when I rented with Alamo a couple of years back that my card was swiped and only the cost of a recovery/breakdown cover that we took out there was held and charged when we returned the car.

I can never find a straight answer on this matter - always very grey area it seems, so I may just email them.

 

[arieliwish]

Rented around 50 cars in the US only one had a Sat Nav, that was with Hertz (since rented with them and no Satnav so I assume it was a one off)

What are they charging you to rent? as said its not difficult to find your way around, we did 20+ trips before we got satnav, only use it now if we are going away from the themepark area. I bought mine in Walmart on offer at £35 a couple of years back, I bought this model but OOS just now http://www.walmart.com/ip/TomTom-XL-335SE-TM-4.3-GPS-Unit/16116228
You can easily use for your holiday then sell on return and get your money back(or make a profit)

Wayne I think it's around $149 for the rental of the sat nav. I have driven twice in Orlando but not for 8 years, and despite doing far more driving in the UK now than I did then, I'm much more nervous about driving over there than I ever was before (and no sat nav then!).

I'm sure I'll be fine but I'd rather have one than not now, DH has severe communication difficulties following a major stroke so can't be my navigator and the kids waver between not knowing where we are and being distracted by random things on the way!

 

[wayneg]

Wayne I think it's around $149 for the rental of the sat nav. I have driven twice in Orlando but not for 8 years, and despite doing far more driving in the UK now than I did then, I'm much more nervous about driving over there than I ever was before (and no sat nav then!).

I'm sure I'll be fine but I'd rather have one than not now, DH has severe communication difficulties following a major stroke so can't be my navigator and the kids waver between not knowing where we are and being distracted by random things on the way!

How long for? you can rent on Ebay for £10/wk delivered to your door or buy on ebay a very quick search shows this at £60 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TomTom-Go...ics_GPSSystems_GPSSystems&hash=item20d4f19ee6

Or wait for auctions to end, they sell for under £50 delivered http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TomTom-ST...ics_GPSSystems_GPSSystems&hash=item1c34409753

At least you can sell it on afterwards, £100 to rent is dead money.

 

[Samaya]

Has anyone used a map-app on their mobile-phone rather than use a sat-nav and could it be cheaper option for the limited times that you would use it?

 

[wayneg]

Has anyone used a map-app on their mobile-phone rather than use a sat-nav and could it be cheaper option for the limited times that you would use it?

Next month we leave relatives in Florida when we fly on to New Hampshire. They will be only there 3 days without us so they had decided to try Nav free https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.navfree.android.OSM.USA&hl=en
I tried the UK version and it was OK so the idea was for them to use that for 3 days, until last night I booked their car for 3 days, cheapest I could find an intermediate SUV was Virgin Holidays, it then offered satnav for £7.44 & upgrade to standard SUV for £6.96 so they took both options.
I would be tempted to try it myself if I didn't have a satnav, or I would at least use it to get me to a Walmart to buy.

 

[Samaya]

Next month we leave relatives in Florida when we fly on to New Hampshire. They will be only there 3 days without us so they had decided to try Nav free https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.navfree.android.OSM.USA&hl=en
I tried the UK version and it was OK so the idea was for them to use that for 3 days, until last night I booked their car for 3 days, cheapest I could find an intermediate SUV was Virgin Holidays, it then offered satnav for £7.44 & upgrade to standard SUV for £6.96 so they took both options.
I would be tempted to try it myself if I didn't have a satnav, or I would at least use it to get me to a Walmart to buy.

Thanks Wayne, we've never used a sat-nav but might this be an option for the previous poster 'arieliwish' who has two teenagers with possibly mobile phones?

Please let us know how you/friends get on with nav free app if using it as well as the Sat-nav in the States and what would the extra cost be, that's if there's one when using it?

 

[Trevski220]

Like Wayne said, buying a sat nav would be cheaper than renting, I pre ordered a garmin from Walmart last year and arranged to collect from store on arrival, $44.95 with lifetime free map updates!

To me it's a no brainer as we usually go to states every couple of years.

Certainly worth considering

 

[Minniesgal]

Has anyone used a map-app on their mobile-phone rather than use a sat-nav and could it be cheaper option for the limited times that you would use it?

Don't you need 3G to use that which would cost a fortune

 

[wayneg]

Don't you need 3G to use that which would cost a fortune

No, the one I linked to above and others similar don't need internet access for navigation, they download the maps to the phone, just need GPS switched on.

 

[arieliwish]

Thanks again guys. I think I'll opt for an ebay option like Wayne linked me to. Just a question, as I prebooked the sat nav with Alamo, will there be any problem or charge cancelling the sat nav? I've paid nothing towards it yet, only the full car hire charge.

 

[wayneg]

Thanks again guys. I think I'll opt for an ebay option like Wayne linked me to. Just a question, as I prebooked the sat nav with Alamo, will there be any problem or charge cancelling the sat nav? I've paid nothing towards it yet, only the full car hire charge.

Get in touch with them and get it removed. Make sure there are no fees involved.