Holiday Autos

[harryhornet]

Has anyone used Holiday Autos for their car hire? It was suggested to me by the travel agent that they were pretty good (and a fair bit cheaper than using Virgin).

Has anyone any experiences good or bad?

 

[squitty]

Hi,

We have just booked with them for this trip. I have not used them before. So far they have been ok. Will let you know when I get back, in 2 weeks time

 

[vernon]

I've used both them and Autos abroad, I've been happy with both companies and they do offer a great deal IMHO. There are occassional stories of these companies not faxing the voucher to the rental company correctly or in time, so do make sure you take the contact phone number with you and all reference numbers etc. When this happened to me ( through Ebookers) I had to put the bill for the car on my CC until it was sorted out a couple of days later, my CC slip was torn up. It was a slight hassle, but I've had rental companies lose paperwork when I've booked with them direct so I don't hold that against them, it took me maybe 30 minutes in total to get it corrected. This is once in maybe 20 uses of the this type of company so I don't think it's unacceptable.

 

[harryhornet]

One other question... Do they have a pick up point at Orlando International Airport?

 

[vernon]

These companies are "consolidators" for the big carhire companies. It's likely that your car will be from National, Budget, Alamo or someone similar. Some of them are airport pickup and some are "offsite" and will require you to get a courtesy bus (5-10 minutes away) to the depot. You will ( or should) get a written confirmation or email that tells you the company and where the collection point is. If you prefer there are collection points all around I-Drive but if you're flying in , generally, it's easiest gfor you to collect from the airport (whether that's an on or off site collect) .

 

[peter r]

Hi

Just as a bit of background info on Holiday Autos - They have just been bought by Last Minute .COM. Up until now they were privately owned by one man (Clive Jacobs) but he has just sold up.

This seems to be good news for the company as all enquiries from Last Minute's website for car hire are now automatically diverted to the HA website so their business can only increase. As someone has said they are a broker & deal with most of the big hire companies eg, Alamo & Budget etc.

(I only know this cos we supply a lot of HA's IT programmers & support staff).

Regards
Peter

 

[MrsGrumpy]

Harryhornet - absolutely nothing to do with car hire, but are you from Watford?

 

[harryhornet]

Mrs Grumpy, Not far away - good spot

 

[ColUK]

I have used HA 6 times now with no problems. The last time they were doing 20% off normal rates via website bookings which as I get 15% off them via work wasnt bad! they will always do price matches against Autos abroad and the other big hire companies and usually beat them by £5. HA always use Alamo in Orlando which has on airport pick up and drop now (follow the National signs when returning the car!!) If you book via the website you can only book pickup and return to the same location but if you want one way hire eg. pick up car on international drive and return to the airport. just book it as the airport and then phone HA the next day and ask them to change it. This ensure you get the cheap web price but with the exact requirements you want. I was given this tip by a HA operator by the way!
One last thing, I have always booked "the max" which gives you extra driver and a free tank of petrol, you can return the car empty in other words. Booking extra driver at Alamo when you get there is about $6 per day.

Hope this helps

Colin

 

[UKPhil]

Last year we got a quote from either Autos Abroad or Holiday Autos (can't remember which now) and although they claimed to include 'all' insurances it turned out they excluded Uninsured Motorist Protection (someone else runs into your car and isn't insured - you're not covered). We got an alternative quote from Airline Network who we normally book our flights with. To our amazement not only were they cheaper but included UMP as well.

Terms and conditions and who's cheapest seem to change almost from week to week where car hire is concerned. Check the small print and get several quotes.

 

[ColUK]

Never heard of UMP but this is a direct quote from the paperwork that HA sent me regarding my last hire

"Your pre-paid rental includes all the insurances and taxes you need. HA also offers !insurance excess refund" policy. This means that if in the unfortunate event you are involved in an accident, you will be charged the insurance excess by our car rental partner on your credit card, but can reclaim this from HA. HA will refund any insurance excess that you have been charged within 28 days on production of a copy of a completed local supplier accident report form and evidence of the charge...... Please note that insurance does not cover damage to tyres, glass/windows, the roof, the underside, the keys, the interior contents of the car, towing charges or damage willfully or recklessly. Nor does it include personal accident cover for you or any other drivers. This is standard throughout the car rental industry. "

The only insurance I have ever been asked whether I require at the Alamo desk is the personal accident which I always decline as I have been told previously that I am covered by my travel insurance for the holiday.

Airline network use Alamo also so I am really surprised if there is any difference in the insurance cover offered but would obviously like to know if there is!.

 

[neilybealy]

we used holiday autos last year

we hired two 8 seater minivans and a full size car and it was thru alamo

best thing to do it to phone them because they'll price match

and make suer you get "the max" because we had 4 drivers on each vehicle

we had no hassle from them when we picked the vehicles up or when we dropped them off

we'll definitely use them when we go again

 

[martina857]

Just done some pricing and The Airline network has a special offer on minivan 7 seaters of £181 per week, nearly £100 per week cheaper than Holiday Autos if you need to book a car soon this is a to good to miss offer. Florida Homes and Travel are cheaper for all the other cars though.

 

[matty624]

We booked the 7 seater last week, with Airline Network for £179/week. At that price, why bother going for anything smaller!
Ian

 

[TraceyL]

Originally posted by ColUK
Airline network use Alamo also so I am really surprised if there is any difference in the insurance cover offered but would obviously like to know if there is!.

My Airline Network car hire is with Dollar

 

[snookhams]

Have never used HA but have used Auto's Abroad twice and with no problems, both times we collected our vehicles from Dollar and the first time got upgraded from 2- 7 seaters to 2 - 15 seater minivans. The last time we used them we had a slight bump with another family from the UK - not my fault - he reversed into me, and it was sorted asap, and also had a slow puncture, which we had the choice of taking to their local garage to be repaired or to go back to the airport and change the vehicle, we chose changing the vehicle because the garage was closed for the night and we wanted an early start to Busch Gardens in the morning, and the airport was only 15 mins. away, changed the vehicle with in 5 mins. no problems at all.

 

[Minniespal]

I booked with them last year, with no probs and are using them again this year. You get a discount if you book via the internet. I entered all my details on their web page last year and it saved time when we were getting our car.

 

[Pootle]

I've used Airline Network a couple of times because they were much cheaper and, more importantly before Alamo moved to on-airport location, used Dollar which has always been on-airport.

Last time (March) with Dollar at MCO was the first time - with any company - that they did not try to persuade us to buy an upgrade!