Car Hire

[mark@saratoga]

Hi all, just sorting out car hire for next year and had a few questions regarding car hire.

Has anyone used usrentacar and if so have you had any problems when picking your car up.

Also through the above website I have managed to find a decent full size SUV for 7 of us, one car is with Budget and the other Alamo just wanted to know if anyone had any preferences with these two companies? Budget has come out cheaper when using the "GOLD" insurance.

Is the GOLD insurance worth having? I notice you get the tank of fuel free which makes it less stressful when returning the car but is there any other reasons for having it?

One more question - Regarding insurance, is there any more to pay once we get over to the States?

Thanks

Mark

 

[wayneg]

Hi Mark
USrentacar.co.uk is one of the most popular rental companies. They offer very competative prices but sometimes can be beaten elswhere.
I have used then 4 or 5 times now with no problems.

Alamo or Budget is personal choice, I have only rented form Alamo once amost 10 years ago and it was a disaster, no car for 24 hours but many prefer them as you get a choice of cars on arrival. Budget I find are OK but still far prefer Dollar, they have been superb for me, no pressure sales, front of line with Dollar express and lots of free upgrades. Others don't like Dollar.

Gold I like, but it is getting expensive especially on longer holidays as you pay £3-4/ day extra. on our 25 night trip in August it can add around £100 ontop. Gold/Platinum include additional drivers which I like, easier to cover DW upfront rather than add her in an emergance halfway thru the hol but now some companies incl additional drivers with their all inclusive cover, no need to pay for gold/platinum. You need to look at every rental individually and see if its worth doing.

Everything is included but they still might try pressure sales on arrival, they might try get you to upgrade, sell you additional breakdown cover, sat nav or prepaid tolls. All your choice, personally I never take anything at the desk, just say no to everything.

 

[wickesy]

I used Alamo twice this year and had no problems with them but, like Wayne, I have also used Dollar in the past and would be more than happy to use them again.

 

[orangetiggs]

have used them twice now but we use dollar with them and we always take the most expensive insurance as I dont want to pay anything once i'm there.

We will be looking at booking with them again for our sept trip

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Used them once booking a car through Dollar, no problem at all with them.

Prices not cheap wherever you look at the moment.
Booked the silver package which meant we just paid for fuel out there and returned empty, LDW (or CDW) and SLI (Supplementary Liability Insurance) are the must have's to ensure you are covered.
They may be worded differently depending on who you book with.

 

[mark@saratoga]

Thanks for all of your comments, I would have liked to have gone through dollar but unfortunately they have nothing in the size we want for August.

Looks like the company are ok though so thats good

 

[wayneg]

Thanks for all of your comments, I would have liked to have gone through dollar but unfortunately they have nothing in the size we want for August.

Looks like the company are ok though so thats good

Last time I checked USrentacar didn't have any prices for Dollar loaded yet for next year. I also checked Dollar.co.uk they would let me book 2010 yet, crazy as we are almost there. Only place I could get Dollar prices was netflights. I am wanting to book 2 trips, Easter and August but waiting until Dollar have released prices on all sites.

 

[zara]

Used them a few weeks ago. Everything went ok.
We took fully inclusive. On our return home we were charged £45 on our credit card for a tank of fuel as we were to take it back empty. We had a big car but Ithought that was a bit steep. I think if you go Gold it covers the tank of fuel so it works out about the same. We had an Alamo car and yes he tried to give us extras but we just said No and everything was ok.