Confused about car hire... please help!

[Debsi]

I thought this part of my booking would be easy! I have tried looking through the previously posted messages on this subject and, although I love reading the boards, it would be much simpler to ask my questions directly and get direct answers, so I hope you don't mind covering what is most probably old ground.

Firstly I have been to Orlando 3 times and on each occasion we have bought a fly-drive package, to which an insurance package has been added. My understanding of how to do things independently are as follows:
1. Book through UK companies such as uscarhire who are fully inclusive.
2. Book on a US website and arrange insurances here.
3. Book through company like Hertz, with whom I have a number 1 club membership.

I have looked at all these options and must be doing something wrong because the cheapest quote I have got is from Hertz, 235 for 2 weeks in August - but will there be any extra insurance charges to add to this? All the UK companies like holiday autos seem cheaper than doing it the US way, so I must be missing something.

Your help will be greatly appreciated.

Deb

 

[disneyholic family]

I thought this part of my booking would be easy! I have tried looking through the previously posted messages on this subject and, although I love reading the boards, it would be much simpler to ask my questions directly and get direct answers, so I hope you don't mind covering what is most probably old ground.

Firstly I have been to Orlando 3 times and on each occasion we have bought a fly-drive package, to which an insurance package has been added. My understanding of how to do things independently are as follows:
1. Book through UK companies such as uscarhire who are fully inclusive.
2. Book on a US website and arrange insurances here.
3. Book through company like Hertz, with whom I have a number 1 club membership.

I have looked at all these options and must be doing something wrong because the cheapest quote I have got is from Hertz, 235 for 2 weeks in August - but will there be any extra insurance charges to add to this? All the UK companies like holiday autos seem cheaper than doing it the US way, so I must be missing something.

Your help will be greatly appreciated.

Deb

if you need to add the Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) it usually doubles the price. Make sure you're comparing apples and apples.

 

[angel659]

But I have heard if you dont have CDW then the hire company swipes your credit card £1,500 and refunds it back when the car comes back?

Have you looked at Airline network? Funnily enough Virgin fly drive with car hire was much cheaper pespecially booking late at night. You get a bigger discount. I think it was something like £275 for 7 seater for 16 nights platnium insurance. I am impressed.

 

[Hilary]

Firstly I have been to Orlando 3 times and on each occasion we have bought a fly-drive package, to which an insurance package has been added. My understanding of how to do things independently are as follows:
1. Book through UK companies such as uscarhire who are fully inclusive.
2. Book on a US website and arrange insurances here.
3. Book through company like Hertz, with whom I have a number 1 club membership

Deb

There is also another way to go about it - book a fly drive with the free car rental, but decline the insurance offered. Then arrange your own insurance through one of the companies specialising in this (www.insurance4carhire.com. is one, although I haven't used them. We have used NatWest in the past). You will pay around £75 - £100 for an annual policy, so this works out especially cost effective if you plan more than one trip within 12 months.

However, having tried various ways of sorting out rental and insurance over the years, we've found the cheapest way to do the car rental with a flight only (as opposed to a fly-drive) is usually a fully inclusive package through a UK agency. The most expensive deal we've ever had was when we left arranging it until we were in Orlando in the (mistaken ) belief that we'd get better rates out there.

 

[Hilary]

Just found this article which may be of interest:

http://money.guardian.co.uk/cars/story/0,11944,1445724,00.html

 

[kristieuk]

Just found this article which may be of interest:

http://money.guardian.co.uk/cars/story/0,11944,1445724,00.html

Thanks for posting that Hilary - it's really helpful and interesting.

 

[Debsi]

Thanks for your comments.

Hilary thank you especially. I gather my Holiday Autos quote is fully inclusive at £292 including petrol and extra driver. Uscarhire are competetive at £282 without fuel. Hertz however, I am still confused about. They are much cheaper at £235, but the quote says it includes LDW! However when you check their t&cs it is charged at $22.99 per day! I have e-mailed them and will post the outcome!

Anyone have any better suggestions?

Deb

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

Debs,
are you booking on the UK or USA car site for Hetrz?

I also book with my Hertz No1 and it alwyas includes CDW/LDW Collkision damage waiver and loss damage waiver are the same insurance.
My last booking had the following information:

APPROXIMATE RENTAL CHARGE: 377.64 GBP
377.64 GBP (base amount) is guaranteed and was charged to your credit card when you reserved. Any additional amount is paid at the counter and is calculated based on current daily exchange rates.

RATE (RQ) CODE VX85
RATE IN POUND STERLING - GBP
GUARANTEED

BASE AMOUNT:
WEEKLY: 2 @ 188.82 GBP
UNLIMITED FREE MI (MI=Miles, KM=Kilometers)

THE BASE AMOUNT INCLUDES AIRPORT ACCESS FEE IF ARRIVING ON A FLIGHT WITHIN 48 HOURS, LOSS DAMAGE WAIVER, TAX, LIABILITY INSURANCE SUPPLEMENT, VEHICLE LICENSE FEE RECOVERY:, RENTAL SURCHARGE:

Additional Charges (included in the 'Approximate Rental Charge') - PER RENTAL

APPROXIMATE RENTAL CHARGE: 377.64 GBP
The rate quoted is based on available information at time of reservation. Additional fees or surcharges may be applied at the time of rental, for example, if you add an additional driver or purchase any additional products.


Optional Items (Exclusive of Tax)
PER DAY
PERSONAL ACCIDENT INSURANCE /PERSONAL EFFECTS COVERAGE: 3.02 GBP

 

[martina857]

Try Florida Homes and Travel www.floridahomesandtravel.com They are by far the cheapest for Dollar car hire at the moment and will price match if you ask them ) I booked my May Car hire with them (and Flights) over the weekend and got a fantatic deal. She also told me about some fantatic flight prices in March and I am soley tempted to go then as well )

M

 

[Travelbug12]

Ok I'm going to make a stab at this. When americans rent cars, we never take out insurance because of two things:

1. Our credit cards cover collisions after car insurance and deductibles.
2. Our home car insurance covers accidents when renting.

I would check withi your credit card companies. Usually cars in florida are about $150 usd per week. The most I have seen for insurance is $9.00 per day making it and extra $64.00 per week. You should be spending about $200 USD per week if you shop around. Enterprise is about the cheapest but you may have to call them directly. hertz gives discounts to AAA members and I think (its hotly debated) may honor your AA cards. I am having the same problem trying to book travel in europe. It seems much more expensive if you use a foreign web site. Maybe its the money exchange? try to book on an american site, call if you have to.

 

[Debsi]

Thank you all for your helpful suggestions. I have looked at them all and I did decide on Hertz. They did include cdw and, because we are gold club members, wouldn't charge for me as additional driver. The price was great at £235, but today I have looked and its gone up to £278! I gather they can change on a daily basis, so hopefully that means they can go down again! Has anyone been even more proactive than me and can tell me this is possible? I would like to book with Hertz because we a re pre-registered and also they give nectar points!

Deb

 

[UKPhil]

Ok I'm going to make a stab at this. When americans rent cars, we never take out insurance because of two things:

1. Our credit cards cover collisions after car insurance and deductibles.
2. Our home car insurance covers accidents when renting.

Very few (if any) UK credit card companies include any insurance which would apply to car hire. I believe Amex used to (maybe still does but that's not strictly a credit card) and I think there was one other that did but I can't now remember which although I seem to recall it was basic 3rd party insurance and didn't include CDW or UMP. It is not usual for any UK household insurance policy to provide any cover outside the UK, but as always I suppose it is worth asking your insurer.

I posted recently on another thread about the need for UMP cover and I see one or two recommendations on here for companies which I've found in the past charge extra for it. Please make sure when comparing quotes that you are comparing like with like.

One thing I have found with car hire is that the terms change all the time. The company who was cheapest last week may not be this week. Also many of the companies mentioned on this thread are agents rather than hire companies, and the company you actually hire from might be different from the one you hired from last time even with the same agent.

I also see one or two suggestions here for independant insurers but I've come unstuck with this in the past because some car hire companies do not recognise these insurers and may insist that you leave a very large deposit with them (or even refuse to hire) if you decline their insurance completely. You also have to consider that if you use a company like this, particularly one not based in the USA, how useful will they actually be if you do have a claim?

My own view is that, after years of trying to save a few dollars on car hire, I just don't bother anymore. I always take the hire company insurance because it is less hassle and I would expect fewer problems that way in the event of damage to the car.

 

[Hilary]

I also see one or two suggestions here for independant insurers but I've come unstuck with this in the past because some car hire companies do not recognise these insurers and may insist that you leave a very large deposit with them (or even refuse to hire) if you decline their insurance completely. You also have to consider that if you use a company like this, particularly one not based in the USA, how useful will they actually be if you do have a claim?

We've rented two or three times using an independant insurance policy (NatWest), both combined with the 'free rental' arrangement with a tour operator (Dollar with Virgin), and also with independently arranged Hertz rental. On each occasion the rental clerk didn't even want to look at our insurance document - it was just noted. Yes, we had to leave a credit card guarantee of $1,500, but this was not a payment - no money was taken from our card.

Obviously any insurance policy is only truly put to the test when something unfortunate happens, and we all hope nothing will. But I think independent insurance can be worth looking into if your holiday includes a 'free rental' car as these almost always cost dearly if you accept the tour operator's insurance offer.