Thomson car hire

[a_hobden]

Afternoon guys, I after a little advise, My friends and I are looking at booking a trip through thomson. Everything looks good but I just have one question for those who have booked with thomson before, does the car hire they offer you with the package include all the car insurance you need?

 

[wayneg]

They do not include insurance, you have 2 upgrade options (All inclusive or Gold) but they are to pay for ontop.
Get a quote but most people choose not to take the "free" car and rent elsewhere.
All details here http://www.thomson.co.uk/editorial/features/car-hire/car-hire-inclusive-packages-florida.html

 

[a_hobden]

Great info, I'll look into renting elsewhere

 

[sammydeville]

We took Thomson's car hire in July and chose not to upgrade the car as the car they had compared the hire car to was a Vauxhall Astra which should've been fine for my party but when we arrived, Alamo at Sanford Airport tried to give me a Fiat 500. There was no way I would have even fit my sons stroller in the boot never mind the suitcases so I was left with no choice but to upgrade. This cost me almost $400 which would've been much cheaper to do in this country or even to take out a whole new hire direct with Alamo.

I would recommend sourcing your own hire car rather than going through Thomson's, when we booked car hire only through Virgin last year this was all inclusive, included a sat nav and worked out cheaper than what we paid this year.

 

[wayneg]

We took Thomson's car hire in July and chose not to upgrade the car as the car they had compared the hire car to was a Vauxhall Astra which should've been fine for my party but when we arrived, Alamo at Sanford Airport tried to give me a Fiat 500. There was no way I would have even fit my sons stroller in the boot never mind the suitcases so I was left with no choice but to upgrade. This cost me almost $400 which would've been much cheaper to do in this country or even to take out a whole new hire direct with Alamo.

I would recommend sourcing your own hire car rather than going through Thomson's, when we booked car hire only through Virgin last year this was all inclusive, included a sat nav and worked out cheaper than what we paid this year.

Unfortunately you fell for the upgrade tactic. The first line they tell people is the car you have is not big enough.
I collected from Alamo Boston a couple of weeks ago, the agent to the left was telling someone "you have booked a Fiat 500" the agent to the right was telling someone "youu won't have enough room". Alamo Boston, Alamo MCO and I am sure Alamo Sanfrd do not stock Fiat 500's, even if they did you go out and choose your car from a line of cars, some of which will be far bigger.

I had booked an intermediate SUV, the book she showed me was a RAV4, specs underneath said max 2 small suitcases. She said you will not have have room for 3 cases, you will have to upgrade. I told her no I wouldn't, I will have no problem. She said "I would like to see that" after failing to sell me an upgrade, GPS, toll system, insurance etc etc I got my paperwork and went out to choose a car, I picked a brand new Ford Escape, 3 cases slid in no problem with room for another 2 ontop.

Do not listen to rental agents, they will tell you anything to get you to upgrade, its how they make a living.

 

[sammydeville]

I figured that it was probably a scam but I did ask for the chance to fit my luggage into one of these cars but was told once it was processed if it didn't fit I would need a whole new rental agreement so I asked to see the car So the sales guy went and pulled up a Fiat 500 which I'm sure he knew had no chance of fitting in our luggage.

When we returned I complained to Thomson who in the end contacted Alamo and refunded me $120 which i was told is half of the amount I paid minus the fees I had to pay anyway although the sales guy implied he was throwing in the fuel.

It was less than ideal but at least I got something back.

In future I'm going to book DIY again it was much easier and cheaper last year.