Petrol For Hire Car

[maria & rossi]

Hi, We are hiring a 7 seater for 10 days and have always paid for gold insurance, which includes additional drivers and a full tank of petrol. This year it is costing us an extra £50 to upgrade and we won't be using the extra drivers. It is with Alamo and if you don't upgrade when you book your car, you have to purchase the petrol/gas from them when you collect the car. Has anyone paid for their gas when collecting their car and how much does it normally cost? We are collecting the car from the Sheraton hotel opposite Wet N Wild. £50 extra seems a lot for petrol in USA but maybe this is about what they charge with hire company's. Thanks for your help, Maria

 

[Funky_dino]

when we left on saturday petrol had droppped to 2.96-2.99 disney and kissimmee, which was a 6o cent drop in the 2 weeks we were there.
I'd say $50 for a mini van is about right

 

[irisheyes123]

About 2 or 3 years ago we didn't get the Gas/ Petrol added to our Rental and the rental were charging Nearly Double for the petrol (have no clue what they charge now) it was crazy we chose to bring it back full that way we were not at a loss and it worked out way cheaper than paying them....

 

[Boss Hogg]

The last time that we paid for petrol when collecting the car, there was a sign on the counter showing how much they were charging for it and it was about the same as it was at the pumps.
Maybe a little more, but for me it was worth it to not have to worry about filling the car up on the way to the Airport.

I assume that the £50 is through whoever you're booking the car through? I suspect that if you paid for the petrol when you collected it you wouldn't pay as much as £50, but I suspect it could be somewhere between $60 and $70, the cars do have pretty big petrol tanks.

 

[Pegasus928]

Dollar have also increased their prices on the Gold option.
When we got wind of this we booked our cars for the next 2 trips to protect us against the increase, though we will have to grin and bear it in 2010.

Kenny

 

[JohnnySharp2]

I agree with Matt, to be honest it will definitely cost more to pay for a car that has a tank of fuel, it would be cheaper at the pumps.
However, after a long flight I want the extra comfort of being able to drive off in a fuly fuelled car and you return empty (or nearly empty)...be careful you have enough to get too the airport.

 

[Boss Hogg]

The other point to consider when comparing costs is the exchange rate. £50 would be roughly $85 today. We've had a couple of SUV's and they have got big tanks! The last one we had was a Navigator, so admittedly about as big as they come, and from memory it took about $82 to fill it up, so in that case £50 was worth it for the added ease.

 

[wayneg]

Have you lloked at all options, not just that 1 location?
Just had a quick look on USrentacar, they have 2 locations on Idrive.
One is Dollar other is Budget for same size car is a massive difference on price.

Dollar 10 nights £271 incl or £311 Gold (£40 for Gold)
Budget £224 incl or £248 (Only £20 for gold)

Might be worth a taxi up or down Idrive to a different location if its saving you £63

I always prepay the gold option, like above usually pay around £2/day, incl tank of gas but always add DW even though she has never driven there for extra few £ easier to add from start than if she has to be added in an emergency.

 

[maria & rossi]

Thanks everyone for all your replies. I will look at all the options mentioned and let you know. Thanks again, Maria