Thomson car hire?

[David321]

Hi folks

Wondering if any of you lot can kindly help??

Ive got a package deal booked with Thomson for Orlando in June which came with free car hire but trying to find out what additional costs are going to be involved is proving to be a nightmare!

Ive tried Thomson twice but they are very vague on what the insurance costs will be. The driver is also under 25 so we are going to have that to pay for too.

A few people have said usrentacar.com will work out cheaper than taking the free car. A quote from the website came up as £292.00 with full insurance and the charge for being under 25 included too. Is this less than what we will end up paying for insurance and the under 25s charge with Thomson?

Cheers

 

[AlanUK]

Hi David321

Welcome to the DIS

I can't offer you any knowledgable advice on this as I've never been with Thompson or hired a car through a T/O. All I can suggest if they are being vague is to find out which car hire firm they are going to be using and then contact that firm directly to find out approximate costs. Failing that just keep plugging away at Thompson for a sensible answer, it strikes me that they should and ought to be able to supply you with this.

In the meantime someone else might come along who can answer you, there are all sorts of clever people on here

 

[The Fetherstons]

Welcome
We are also going with Thomsons they advised us the free car was an additional cost of £19 per day insurance but Dh is over 25 so not sure on under 25 thing. Hope you get sorted

 

[princess jackson]

We use annual insurance through a company insurance 4 car hire, that costs just over £100, i think we only had to pay the local taxes.

We never pay up front for the petrol, we take the car back with a full tank. we do this as the first time we ever went to WDW we got hit with a hefty amount for petrol on our credit card. The car company charged us, and for the same amount of money we filled the tank twice.

 

[Jakey Rowling]

We use annual insurance through a company insurance 4 car hire, that costs just over £100, i think we only had to pay the local taxes.

We never pay up front for the petrol, we take the car back with a full tank. we do this as the first time we ever went to WDW we got hit with a hefty amount for petrol on our credit card. The car company charged us, and for the same amount of money we filled the tank twice.

For the OP, that company does not recommend this policy for Fly Drives, see the note on this link. (I'm assuming it's the same one as it's £109)
http://www.insurance4carhire.com/index.asp?sessionID=456271212&curID=1&langID=1&refID=324&pID=41

It's OK for private rentals.

You could look up the Thomson car rental page for some more info.
http://www.thomsoncars.co.uk/offers.aspx?Search_ID=523519660&Language_ID=2

 

[raph_b]

I'm going to Orlando with Thomson in September, and the total cost of insurance for 14 days for me was £19 per day too - I'm 28 though.

I've been advised that its definitely better to arrange yur insurance before you go out there (even if you insure with someone other than Thomsons).

Hope that helps!

 

[David321]

Cheers for the advice!

Im still a bit undecided on what to do. If Thomson charge £19 per day then with the under 25 charge its gonna work out at about £416 for everything.

Usrentacar.com have quoted £292 all in but as theres such a difference in price im wondering whether theres anything on top to pay.

Ideally i would like to have it all sorted and paid for before for budgeting purposes!

If i do opt not to use the Thomson car do we need to let them know or would we just not pick it up at the airport? Does anyone know if there would be any penalties for doing this?

Thanks again!

 

[wayneg]

Cheers for the advice!

Im still a bit undecided on what to do. If Thomson charge £19 per day then with the under 25 charge its gonna work out at about £416 for everything.

Usrentacar.com have quoted £292 all in but as theres such a difference in price im wondering whether theres anything on top to pay.

Ideally i would like to have it all sorted and paid for before for budgeting purposes!

If i do opt not to use the Thomson car do we need to let them know or would we just not pick it up at the airport? Does anyone know if there would be any penalties for doing this?

Thanks again!

Don't know anything about Thomson but can tell you Virgin don't charge penalties if you don't tell them. Tell them and there is a fee. I would expect Thomson to be the same.
The price difference sounds about right. Virgin quote for us in August for 24 nights over £800 (Full size) USrentacar around £450, only once taken Virgins car, it was only a 7 night holiday and with discounts was only a few £'s more to take it, every other time they have been way OTT.

 

[The Fetherstons]

Cheers for the advice!

Im still a bit undecided on what to do. If Thomson charge £19 per day then with the under 25 charge its gonna work out at about £416 for everything.

Usrentacar.com have quoted £292 all in but as theres such a difference in price im wondering whether theres anything on top to pay.

Ideally i would like to have it all sorted and paid for before for budgeting purposes!

If i do opt not to use the Thomson car do we need to let them know or would we just not pick it up at the airport? Does anyone know if there would be any penalties for doing this?

Thanks again!

Hi we are not planning on taking the car (never have) we will be using the taxi service, I queried the car when it was on my invoice and thats when I was advised of the cost of £19 pday no harm in double checking with the travel agents to see if there would be any penalties, I think I might ring again aswell.

 

[David321]

Ive tried to contact Thomson twice and on both occasions ive got through to someone who hasnt been any help at all. I emailed with the query and a week later got a reply telling me to call the sales team. The email confirmation also shows 'car hire (x2)' which to be honest i hadnt noticed before so looks like i will need to call them again and try and get some sense out of them.

My opinion of thier customer service so far isnt that good if im being truthful. Hopefully my opinion will change when we actually go on the holiday!

Im swaying towards usrentacar.com i think as even if i do manage to get any sense out of Thomson it looks like its going to be cheaper and less hassle which is what im looking for

 

[juju216]

Cheers for the advice!

Im still a bit undecided on what to do. If Thomson charge £19 per day then with the under 25 charge its gonna work out at about £416 for everything.

Usrentacar.com have quoted £292 all in but as theres such a difference in price im wondering whether theres anything on top to pay.

Ideally i would like to have it all sorted and paid for before for budgeting purposes!

If i do opt not to use the Thomson car do we need to let them know or would we just not pick it up at the airport? Does anyone know if there would be any penalties for doing this?

Thanks again!

Hi,I've not been on the boards for a while but your situation was similar ours last year. Thomson included a car in our holiday too, which comes with the package, but after getting quotes from Thomson on their upgrades, it was cheaper for us to go with usrentacar for two weeks fully insured for approx £250.
You do not have to let Thomson know that you won't be using their car, we just got to Sanford last year, saw the Thomson rep to get our villa details, then went to Alamo with our usrentacar voucher downloaded from their website.

I would recommend usrentacar, as they were certainly one of the most competituve quotes we had. Hope this helps.

 

[paulh]

as they say the car is free,but you have to insure it
You dont have to use the TA`s(thomsons)insurance.you get you own.do`nt worry about which hirer they use as every airport have all the major supyers.
We have used usrentacar plenty of times.when we have used them its alamo cars we have had
Paulh

PS my spelling is bad tonight

 

[David321]

After deciding on using usrentacar im now unsure. With myself and my friend who im going with both being under 25 the cheap deal they do means the pick up point for the car is not at sanford airport. The website says the driver would go with a rep to pick the car up and i assume then head back to the airport for me and the bags etc.

Ive been to Florida before so know my way around but my friend hasnt so it might be a bit daunting driving on her own even if it is a short distance from the car hire to the airport.

Not sure what to do now!

 

[penlanspice]

After deciding on using usrentacar im now unsure. With myself and my friend who I'm going with both being under 25 the cheap deal they do means the pick up point for the car is not at sanford airport. The website says the driver would go with a rep to pick the car up and i assume then head back to the airport for me and the bags etc.

Ive been to Florida before so know my way around but my friend hasnt so it might be a bit daunting driving on her own even if it is a short distance from the car hire to the airport.

Not sure what to do now!

The car rental would probably be with budget and they are located off airport, I really don't think they would send the rep with you back to the rental location.
You usually call budget when you arrive from the phone provided and they send a minibus to pick you up. I seriously doubt they would expect you to wait at the airport whilst the driver picks up the car.

Why don't you email usrentacar and ask them, they usually reply really quickly to emails and I think they even have a live chat

 

[David321]

Cheers i'll drop them an email

Thanks for all the info folks!