Car Hire Confusion

[neewee]

Hi everyone. I'm new here so apologies if this is not in the right place or has been asked before (search function not working at the mo)

It is my first time to Orlando in a couple of weeks and i am getting really confused with car hire. For example if i take out the Platinum package with Dollar does this cover me for everything i need or will i still need/be sold extra insurance when i get there?

Ideally i would like everything to be sorted out before i leave, is this possible?

Also can anybody recommend a good car hire company for a family of four!!

Thanks in advance for any help.

Neil

 

[Claire L]

Dollar's Platinum package covers everything you need, we have now used Dollar 5 times and have a 6th and 7th booked with them As for 4 people will need a full size at least to be comfortable when you have luggage in the car.

Claire

 

[martina857]

Hi neewee,

For someone in your situation I sugest you call Elle at Florida Homes and Travel on 0500 50 50 87 She will give you all the information you need and they are competitive with rates. I have used them for some time and the level of service is great.

Basically you have the choice of around 4 or 5 major car hire companies, of these Dollar and Alamo are probably the most widely used, you can either book direct with them or book through an agent as they sometimes have better deals. If you book a "platinum" type insurance as with the Dollar one you mention then you should not have to pay anything else at all. Although they will probably try to sell you stuff at the desk when you pick the car up, however you have to be strong and politely decline as the extras are not needed. Its best for your first time to give an expert a call hence the suggestion you should call Elle.

M

 

[neewee]

Thanks for your help guys!!

Really appreciated because i can't wait to go but this car hire malarkey was really stressing me out!!

N

 

[tartangirl]

Hi,

There are plenty car hire companies recommended on these boards. We use www.uscarhire.co.uk but I notice www.dollar.co.uk have started giving good prices and airline-network always seem to be recommended. I would certainly book the car before you go as it'll be much cheaper - a couple of weeks is plenty time to do this as with uscarhire they immediately email you the reservation.

We are a family of 4 and take the full size car although we've had an intermediate before and it was fine - although we dont travel with a huge amount of luggage - just 2 large suitcases.

The Platinum package will have everything - we go with the Silver package from UScarhire as the gold is just the Silver + a tank of petrol.

Large year Dollar didn't try and sell us anything else - we got upgraded to a Premium car as they had no full size left. I thought they would have tried to get us to pay for an upgrade first but they didn't.

 

[Shooby doo]

Check out Holidayautos as well their prices are about £100 cheaper than anyone else for us this year
SD

 

[Tron[ADS]]

Holiday Auto's were good for us this year (via co-op travelcare), our 7 seater minivan was £456 for 3 weeks for the all inclusive package.

The all inclusive packages normaly cover pretty much all you need. The only optional extras that you might be offered (pushed?) when you get there are :

1. The tank of fuel (ie you dont have to fill it up just before you return it).
2. Upgraded vehicle.
3. Excess Insurance. This is a top up insurance that covers the insurance excess you might have to pay in an at-fault accident. The excess is maybe something like $100, so basicaly they charge you something like $5 a day to cover you against paying this. I think its a bit of a rip-off, so I never bother with this.