Rental car hidden fees ?

[G00fyDad]

Might I suggest an American Express card which you pay off in full and will give you the protection of a credit card.
BTW...How do you manage to reserve a car without a credit card?

With a check card or cash.

And you couldnt shove another American Express card into my hands. (bad experience)

 

[Skallywag]

We have american express cards and they used to offer top up insurance on that card for when we travelled to your country. They now tell us our card only brings this up to what we call third party liability which means the car we are using is not covered. Wonder if your cards are any different and why there should be such a difference. We always have problems with car hire because of the various top up insurances they insist we need and we are never sure what we actually do need. Our car policies here do not cover for abroad and hiring cars.

It is a minefield and feel it is time it was all sorted out around the world for us to simplify things.

 

[G00fyDad]

...We always have problems with car hire because of the various top up insurances they insist we need and we are never sure what we actually do need. Our car policies here do not cover for abroad and hiring cars.

It is a minefield and feel it is time it was all sorted out around the world for us to simplify things.

Basically, it's like this. If you rent a car here, then have an accident and you did not take the insurance they offer you are liabel for any and all cost for repair, and loss of rental. If you have insurance that covers this then no worries. But most people do not.

 

[beattyfamily]

We have american express cards and they used to offer top up insurance on that card for when we travelled to your country. They now tell us our card only brings this up to what we call third party liability which means the car we are using is not covered. Wonder if your cards are any different and why there should be such a difference. We always have problems with car hire because of the various top up insurances they insist we need and we are never sure what we actually do need. Our car policies here do not cover for abroad and hiring cars.

It is a minefield and feel it is time it was all sorted out around the world for us to simplify things.

I think the difference is you are renting in another country. MOST people here are covered by their regular car insurance and/or the CC they used to book the rental.

Insurance is a GREAT way for the rental companies to make money and some rental companies push it much more than others. I've never had National ask me if I wanted the insurance, thankfully.

 

[JollyHoliday]

Thanks guys! This time before I rent I will check my policy for rental car coverage and loss of time coverage. I am also going to check with my credit cards.Thanks Again JollyHoliday

 

[DisneyElf]

I work in the insurance business - for the last 22 years -- not to get anyone upset -- don't ever make a blanket statement about coverages on a rental vehicle coverage. CHECK WITH YOUR AGENT before you rent a car.

In New York State (as an example) rental car damages are paid out of your liability portion of the policy - but considered property damage and as the renter all that you are responsible for is $ 100. -- up to the limit of your policy (not based on what kind of car you drive). So - if you have minimum limits of coverage (in NY 25,000/50,000) you could have a problem with the total value of the vehicle. If you carry good limits of coverage - no problems.

In New York -- this coverage was added to the standard policy contract due to the issue over the excessive fees the rental car companies were charging. In fact in NY - they don't even offer the coverage at the counter - unless you are from out of state.

It is my understanding most states have this coverage - so regardles of what year vehicle you drive - you are covered for rental cars in this country & Canada (Don't drive to Mexico -- absolutely no coverage).

To add to the confusion we have one company - if you have a $ 1 Million limit of liability coverage on your HOMEOWNER policy - will cover you worldwide for rental vehicles

 

[jrabbit]

Might I suggest an American Express card which you pay off in full and will give you the protection of a credit card.

VISA cards also provide full coverage if you rent the car using their card.

BTW...How do you manage to reserve a car without a credit card?

You don't need a credit card at the time you reserve your car (unlike hotels and anything Disney ) You need it at the TIME you are taking the vehicle.

If you don't have a credit card at time of rental the few rental companies that will rent to you will accept the full payment to cover the rental period and anywhere from an extra $150 to $450 to cover "just in case" situations.

 

[jrabbit]

Thanks guys! This time before I rent I will check my policy for rental car coverage and loss of time coverage. I am also going to check with my credit cards.Thanks Again JollyHoliday

Like DisneyElf said - Check With Your Agent. Some policies have a maximum number of day per year that you can rent vehicles and be covered. Your agent will know - that's one of the reasons they get paid, to give YOU the customer service. If you buy insurance online and maybe even direct - you're on your own and good luck reading the dang policy AND ALL of the Endorsements to find out whats really covered or not!

 

[beattyfamily]

Like DisneyElf said - Check With Your Agent. Some policies have a maximum number of day per year that you can rent vehicles and be covered. Your agent will know - that's one of the reasons they get paid, to give YOU the customer service. If you buy insurance online and maybe even direct - you're on your own and good luck reading the dang policy AND ALL of the Endorsements to find out whats really covered or not!

Yep, that's what I did. I called my agent for an insurance card or something to show the rental agency (some agents do have this card) and although they told me I was covered, they didn't have any card to give me to show the rental agency. But like I said before luckily no rental agency has ever pressured me for insurance and National never even asks.

 

[Stimpy]

Former rental car agency CSR chiming in...... the CSR receive a commission for selling the insurance (& the fuel packages & upgrades at the counter). Also, sometimes they have quotas to meet. Since working for rental agencies is not the best paying job (certainly not the worse either) you will find some of the CSR's are very hard sell. You will also find a small percentage that will "unintentionally" enter YES when you clearly declined the insurance, fuel etc. I've had it happen when we rented cars. You need to double check the contract at the counter, once you walk away and take the car, it is a real hassle to the renter to change anything on the contract.

BTW, a lot of times when the CSR offers you an upgrade for x amount of dollars, they really do not have the car you reserved available. If they are really pushing the upgrade it might be just to get the commission on the upgrade you would have gotten for free. (I've had that happen numerous times too. We are offered an upgrade, I say no and the CSR will give us the keys to the upgraded car)

 

[G00fyDad]

Just to see for myself, I called my auto insurance carrier and asked about it again. They told me that they do not cover another vehicle for anything above liability. So I called Geico. (I know, I hate the lizard too ) Anyway, they quoted me a rate of about $60 less per month than what I am paying now. Jumpin Jesus! I switched. But to top it off, they cover rental cars no matter what year the rental is! Hooray!!!!!

So not only am I going to be saving $60 extra a month, I am going to save the $180 extra for the collision insurance.

Oh yeah!!

 

[dis-happy]

Another dirty little secret about rental cars and insurance:

Even if you buy their insurance, if you also have personal car insurance at home, it will kick in first (up to its max) before the additional insurance you purchased at the counter kicks in.

Needless to say, we always decline counter insurance. It also makes me mad to hear those rental car people talking customers into buying gas like it's some great benefit. Unless you were to turn the car in fully empty (you are charged for the full tank regardless), you do not save any money, no matter how much they try to scare you with the rising cost of gas. I look them in the eye, tell them I'm a frequent renter, and say no thanks. That usually stops the spiel. But sheesh, are they paid on commission or what????

 

[dis-happy]

Congratulations GoofyDad. Geico is a good company. Second only to USAA, which we have.

 

[G00fyDad]

Upgrade Option
Full SUV Automatic with Air Conditioning

(Ford Expedition or similar)

Only $1,099.08 more... TotalPriceSM = $1,451.27

This is only funny because the car rental quote I got for the 8 days is $352.19.

"Yes. I would love to upgrade for a mere $1099.08 more." LOL

 

[maelcu]

thanks for saving me the phone call. I have Geico and after reading this thread this morning I was going to call now one less thing to do.
We leave tomorrow for Feb 13th wonder cruise

Beth

 

[Pacha]

We have State Farm ins. here in Nebraska and our agent told us to be covered all we need is to have one vehicle on our policy to have full coverage.

Pacha

 

[G00fyDad]

No problem.

The CR was super nice. I guess I am still a little shell shocked from the $60 savings a month bomb.

 

[jrabbit]

It also makes me mad to hear those rental car people talking customers into buying gas like it's some great benefit

Some times it is a benefit. I've been to places where it's hard to find a gas station on the road to the airport (ie like going to MCO from WDW). I've started filling up at WDW and hoping that the needle stays on full when I get to the airport.

If I know that I'm going to be driving less than 150 miles I won't buy the prepaid fill up if I'm driving more than that I will (I'll pay a little more here ease of use at the end of my vacation).

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This thread started with the topic "Rental Car Hidden Fees". I Florida you can get a weekly rate of $150 and still pay well over $200 WITHOUT buying any insurance or gas. I've just reserved a car in California and am only paying about 6% above the stated rental amount. Florida really want us out of towners to pay all of their taxes for them!!

 

[JollyHoliday]

Here is a list of my rental fees.
1.week rate $199.99
2.Veh Lic Fee $3.29
3.Florida Surc $14.35
4.Confeerecchg $38.43
5.Car seat $41.93
6.Prepaid fuel $31.20
7.State Tax $21.40
8.Optional Insurance $146.93
9.Total Charges = $497.52

Oh ,and the car seat we paid for was all ready built in to the van.

 

[inkkognito]

Even if you are a frequent renter, some of the pushier ones won't spare you the spiel. Usually they don't bother with me (my husband says it's because my body language in approaching the counter is "I DARE you to mess with me!"), but one Thrifty agent got really snotty when I asked him to stop his insurance pitch. He insisted on going through it, even though I asked him not to. I joined Blue Chip so I don't have to deal with that.
I've had some good experiences with counter people too, most notably in the arena of free upgrades. Several times they've given me one without trying to get me to pay for it first. So they're not all bad, but I've dealt with the really bad ones too (most notably Alamo, where one of the agents always tries to trick people into buying the insurance...she was always working at the time we arrived and that really ticked me off, but we got 'em through Priceline so I didn't have a choice).
Barb