Can anyone cut through the cr*p for car rental insurance please?

[diberry]

We will be hiring a car next month (with Alamo) and have pre-paid but every time we do this they persuade us to buy more insurance when we pick the car up. I always get the feeling that they're just making more money out of us and we don't really need all the stuff we buy, but we do it just to be on the safe side. Does anyone know what are the essentials that we really need and what are extras we can do without?

 

[Netty]

are you booking with a UK company? If so all the insurances will be included, you wont need anything else. Dont be conned into buying the breakdown insurance either - you dont need it
Alamo always try the hard sell

 

[diberry]

Hi Netty! How are you these days?

I booked with "Alamo Rent a Car (UK)" and it says Full Collision Damage Waiver, Extended Protection, Concession Recoup Fee, Customer Facility Charge/rental, Florida Surcharge, Tire/battery Fee, License Recoupment Fee & Sales Tax are included. It's just that I know when we get there they'll say we need x, y & z as well and I never know if we really do or not. We always end up paying more and I suspect it's just as you said - the hard sell!!

 

[wayneg]

You have everything you need. Its their job to try sell you more, its upto you to say no.
They could try sell you roadside assist, not something I have ever bought but some like to pay extra for it, it covers you for locking your keys in the car, leaving your lights on etc. at $5/day it would have cost me over $2,000 over the years for nothing.
Another is Satnav rental, cost about same to rent for 14 days as it does to buy outright from Walmart.
Last I can think of is toll device, pay a daily/weekly fee to allow you thru the express lines on the toll roads rather than stopping to pay in cash, some like to take it and save time paying tolls but its not cheap.
Only other thing is upgrades, I always book the car I want so no hassle on arrival, if you do accept an upgrade make sure the total cost often you will hear a fee but then find out it was a daily fee not total.
I have never accepted anything on arrival, just say no.

 

[Type A Tim]

If you have an annual travel insurance policy check what it covers. We have an excellent one with American Express Platinum card that covers ALL rental car insurances so I decline every single bit of insurance they offer and know that I'm fully covered. Saving us £500 on 2 weeks car hire this summer

Tim

 

[Netty]

Hi Netty! How are you these days?

I booked with "Alamo Rent a Car (UK)" and it says Full Collision Damage Waiver, Extended Protection, Concession Recoup Fee, Customer Facility Charge/rental, Florida Surcharge, Tire/battery Fee, License Recoupment Fee & Sales Tax are included. It's just that I know when we get there they'll say we need x, y & z as well and I never know if we really do or not. We always end up paying more and I suspect it's just as you said - the hard sell!!

Hi !!!
I have just checked through their website, and you do have what you need.
As Wayne says, if they offer you and tell you that you need more insurance, just stand by your guns and firmly say no, however many times it takes to get through to them, they will do the hard sell after you have just got off a 9 hour flight...

 

[diberry]

Thank you very much Wayne, Tim & Netty. That makes me feel a lot better, knowing exactly where I stand. I noticed in the Booking Confirmation it says "Some taxes, fees, and surcharges are payable locally and are subject to change". This is what makes me nervous but I shall do as you all advise and "just say no"!!! (Having said that, DH will now no doubt upgrade to a bigger swisher car that we'll probably use twice all holiday!!)

 

[j9000]

Isnt there an airport surcharge of $12 or something payable locally these days?

last time i rented (alamo via yes car hire - rip) they looked at my booking, and the bloke said
"well you have all the insurance and stuff.....if you want to upgrade we've got a Hummer you can hire? "

um no, planning on driving about 500 miles, that thing does 1 mile a gallon, will stick with the toyota thank you!

 

[wayneg]

Isnt there an airport surcharge of $12 or something payable locally these days?

Has anyone actually been charged the Customer Facility Charge at the desk. It was introduced 1st Oct 2008, done 5 rentals from MCO since then and never been charged it so assumed the UK rental companies included it in their rates. $2.50/day max/rental $12.50.

 

[disneyholic family]

i just rented from alamo a few weeks ago...

they tried to get me to upgrade - really hard sell, but i didn't give in..

and they tried to get me to take the roadside plus or whatever they call it...
i didn't fall for that one either.

it was funny....i reserved an economy - their smallest car...

when i got to the desk, she showed me a picture of a compact and said that the economy i'd rented would be even smaller than the compact...

she said the economy would only hold 2 adults and 2 small children .

i ignored her and kept the economy..

when i went out to the lot to pick a car, the girl out there pointed me to the row marked compact to pick out a car.....turns out that economy and compact are the same thing and picked from the same row in orlando..

as it turned out, i picked a chevrolet of some kind...pretty nice size compact and with power everything...power windows, power door locks, power side mirrors, remote key operated door and boot locks..
and it drove really nicely too!!!

 

[diberry]

Thank you Beth. I always wait outside the car rental office while DH goes in to sort out the paperwork. He invariably comes out having upgraded! We always use Disney transportation around WDW and only use the car for going to Seaworld, Universal and a couple of trips to Pirate's Cove or Crossroads. But it's a man thing - they do seem to love their big American cars with all the fancy controls! Ah well, he works hard and deserves his treat! I get mine in the World of Disney Store!
Anyway, that was a bit OT, sorry. At least I know now that we are fully covered as far as insurance goes and don't need to fork out any more than we already have. Thank you everybody for your help!

 

[paulfoel]

If you have an annual travel insurance policy check what it covers. We have an excellent one with American Express Platinum card that covers ALL rental car insurances so I decline every single bit of insurance they offer and know that I'm fully covered. Saving us £500 on 2 weeks car hire this summer

Tim

Tim,

I've got an amex platinum too. Is this free? Or cost?

I do a similar thing but pay £120 at www.insure4carhire.co.uk

 

[paulfoel]

i just rented from alamo a few weeks ago...

they tried to get me to upgrade - really hard sell, but i didn't give in..

and they tried to get me to take the roadside plus or whatever they call it...
i didn't fall for that one either.

it was funny....i reserved an economy - their smallest car...

when i got to the desk, she showed me a picture of a compact and said that the economy i'd rented would be even smaller than the compact...

she said the economy would only hold 2 adults and 2 small children .

i ignored her and kept the economy..

when i went out to the lot to pick a car, the girl out there pointed me to the row marked compact to pick out a car.....turns out that economy and compact are the same thing and picked from the same row in orlando..

as it turned out, i picked a chevrolet of some kind...pretty nice size compact and with power everything...power windows, power door locks, power side mirrors, remote key operated door and boot locks..
and it drove really nicely too!!!

LOL. rental agents are indeed scumbags....

 

[diberry]

Tim,

I've got an amex platinum too. Is this free? Or cost?

I do a similar thing but pay £120 at www.insure4carhire.co.uk

I used www.insurance4carhire.com when I went to Australia earlier this year - I have only heard good things about them. Luckily I didn't need to claim! Unfortunately that was in my name so won't apply to this trip where DH will be doing the driving (I don't do driving on the "wrong" side of the road!!)

 

[Type A Tim]

Tim,

I've got an amex platinum too. Is this free? Or cost?

I do a similar thing but pay £120 at www.insure4carhire.co.uk

It's part of the platinum charge card services. ie this is the charge card for which you pay an annual fee, not the platinum credit card that has no annual fee. But overall, with the car hire savings and other insurance benefits, it makes the fee worth it for me.

Tim

 

[paulfoel]

It's part of the platinum charge card services. ie this is the charge card for which you pay an annual fee, not the platinum credit card that has no annual fee. But overall, with the car hire savings and other insurance benefits, it makes the fee worth it for me.

Tim

Ah. I've just got the credit card. Used to have the charge card - how much is the fee these days?

 

[Type A Tim]

£300 per year

 

[diberry]

Sorry, I was going to ask if we need 3rd party insurance (Supplemental Liability Insurance) but I think that's covered in the liability cover we've already got with the car's all inclusive rates. Please ignore.

 

[steve_rob]

i just rented from alamo a few weeks ago...

they tried to get me to upgrade - really hard sell, but i didn't give in..

and they tried to get me to take the roadside plus or whatever they call it...
i didn't fall for that one either.

it was funny....i reserved an economy - their smallest car...

when i got to the desk, she showed me a picture of a compact and said that the economy i'd rented would be even smaller than the compact...

she said the economy would only hold 2 adults and 2 small children .

i ignored her and kept the economy..

when i went out to the lot to pick a car, the girl out there pointed me to the row marked compact to pick out a car.....turns out that economy and compact are the same thing and picked from the same row in orlando..

as it turned out, i picked a chevrolet of some kind...pretty nice size compact and with power everything...power windows, power door locks, power side mirrors, remote key operated door and boot locks..
and it drove really nicely too!!!

Yeah, we've been through EXACTLY the same thing with Dollar twice before now. They spent ages trying to get my wife to upgrade our booked Economy car:

Agent - "it's not very roomy"
DW - "there's only the two of us"
Agent - "there's not enough space in the trunk for all those suitcases"
DW - "we'll only have them in the car on our journeys to and from the airport"
Agent - "a bigger car will come with all these impressive features"
DW - "I drive a car smaller than your Economy size back home, a bigger car would be like driving a tank to me!"

...and so on. Then when they finally got the picture that we weren't willing to pay to upgrade, they sent us out to the desk in the garage to pick up the keys and we found we'd been allocated the next grade up for free anyway!

Speaking to one of the airport staff when we returnedthe car (who said he used to work for one of the car hire companies), he said that there was so little demand for Economy and Compact cars at MCO (maybe only the Brits want them!), that they only ever have about five of each "in stock" and once they are gone, they have to give everyone a Midsize or above. Of course, they'll still try to get you to pay for this upgrade first...

 

[disneyholic family]

Yeah, we've been through EXACTLY the same thing with Dollar twice before now. They spent ages trying to get my wife to upgrade our booked Economy car:

Agent - "it's not very roomy"
DW - "there's only the two of us"
Agent - "there's not enough space in the trunk for all those suitcases"
DW - "we'll only have them in the car on our journeys to and from the airport"
Agent - "a bigger car will come with all these impressive features"
DW - "I drive a car smaller than your Economy size back home, a bigger car would be like driving a tank to me!"

...and so on. Then when they finally got the picture that we weren't willing to pay to upgrade, they sent us out to the desk in the garage to pick up the keys and we found we'd been allocated the next grade up for free anyway!

Speaking to one of the airport staff when we returnedthe car (who said he used to work for one of the car hire companies), he said that there was so little demand for Economy and Compact cars at MCO (maybe only the Brits want them!), that they only ever have about five of each "in stock" and once they are gone, they have to give everyone a Midsize or above. Of course, they'll still try to get you to pay for this upgrade first...

i said the same thing!! about my car at home being smaller - i drive a honda jazz at home (that i LOVE by the way)...
so i'm totally used to a little car...besides, it was just me for the first 9 days of the trip and then my mom and sister with me for the last 6..
no problem fitting into the car...even with all of our luggage!!