Best car rental prices?

[alisonbestford]

Hi there

Does anyone know of any good rental deals at the moment?
We'll need the car between 23rd March and 13th April and don't get the 'freebie' one with our hol this year or I'd be going off to re-new my Insurance for carhire policy

I'm getting quotes of around £410 - £420 from Budget, Dollar and Alamo, for a full size- through www.USrentacar.co.uk.

Can anyone tell me whether there is much difference in size between the Intermediate and Full size? I drive a Vauxhall Zafira at home which is perfect for us

There will only be myself, DD (7) and DH but we're driving to the beach for the middle week and always carry around so much rubbish (plus we're travelling with Virgin so get the 'supa dupa' luggage allowance ) - I don't want to spend hours trying to cram everything into the boot when we move on
Also, DH will have plenty of room to take a nap in a bigger car if he's feeling tired or not too well

Anyone, or should I hold fire and book nearer the time?

Thanks

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Hi Alison,

My second reply of the day and another partial response I am afraid - sorry we book our car through Virgin on a fly-drive so cannot really help regarding the prices.

I have in the past had both an Intermediate and a Full size car - the boots are not massive, if you are not sure I would go for the F4, full size 4 doors, there isn't a great difference in price. The big differences start when you upgrade from F4 upwards.
It would be a bit like the difference between a Vauxhall Vectra and an Omega.

 

[edenlee]

These prices are good but have you tried airline network - their car hire is usually the best. As afr as size is concerned - we are a party of three adults and an 8 year old. Last time we went to Fl we had en economy two door - there was plenty of room in the car and in the trunk for the luggage. We found we did not need larger than this and it proved considerably cheaper this way!!

 

[Amyrlin]

It may be worth trying http://www.allstatescarhire.com/

 

[alisonbestford]

These prices are good but have you tried airline network - their car hire is usually the best. As afr as size is concerned - we are a party of three adults and an 8 year old. Last time we went to Fl we had en economy two door - there was plenty of room in the car and in the trunk for the luggage. We found we did not need larger than this and it proved considerably cheaper this way!!

Airline-network are coming out a little more expensive at the moment
I hear what you're saying about the car size but, if I remember correctly, we had an Intermediate last year and ended up driving to the airport with suitcases almost balanced on our heads.......
As I say, we carry around an awful lot of 'just in case' stuff
If we were only driving to and from the airport I'd definitely go with a smaller car but I think I'll go crazy re-packing 4 times


Thanks for the link Amyrlin. The quote is coming out at £399 for a 4 door full size
Have you booked through them before?
It looks as though they use Dollar, Alamo etc?
They have an offer on at the moment of book 7 days, pay for 5

 

[Stella_the_Staff]

Hi
Another good company is Uscarhire.co.uk, you have a choice between using Alamo & Dollar with them. Used them last Oct and we were very impressed.

 

[Amyrlin]

I haven't used them, although I planned to, as there are two of us I keep finding good fly drive deals. But, I do know several people thart have used them and they were very happy.

 

[martina857]

M

 

[alisonbestford]

I have doe a search for your dates on that site and it comes out at £477 ?

Its probably worth calling Elle at Florida Homes and Travel to see if she can beat the quote ) And no I have no affiliation with them I have just used them for my car hire for the past 3 years and they are magic )

M

Wow, that's shot up over the morning!
Maybe to do with US oil prices?

 

[squitty]

Hi Alison

I booked my car hire through usrentacar for our trip in Dec 05, they weren't the cheapest around. I did find cheaper but usrentacar beat the cheapest quote I got. I can't recommend them enough. I even hired a Sat Nav system from them for the same trip. Every thing was very proffesional indeed.
We got a Full size and ended up with a suitcase in the back of the car with DD.
So we have gone back to them for our trip in April and got a 7 seater mini van for £334 all inclusive from Budget.
HTH's
I have just done a quote for you and its coming up £420

 

[alisonbestford]

Thanks for that Michelle

I did find a similar quote, with uscarhire, which included a second driver (Dollar) so I'm a little undecided
I don't really expect DH to want to drive whilst we're away but he does do a lot of parking for me so it might be worth the cover..........................

I could have got an Intermediate for £315, only last week, through usrentacar but the price has shot up
I'm tempted to 'hold fire' until nearer the time but not sure whether prices will go up even more

 

[heatherbelle]

Hi Ali

I got ours through Sky deals, they are part of the TUI group. The number is on teletext.

The price was £405 for three weeks in October 2006. It's an intermediate with 4 doors.

I also got our flights from them, though everything was purchased seperately.