To pre pay for a full tank of petrol or not?

[tonijo]

Is it worth getting an upgrade on car hire that includes a tank of petrol or are there plenty of garages about where the price of fuel is much cheaper?once again any help/advice is much appreciated!

 

[irisheyes123]

It depends on how much they are charging but for myself I only buy it If its cheeper than what I would pay to fill the tank myself

 

[orangetiggs]

We always pay for the upgrade as we dont have a credit card to leave them

 

[skelfbsfb]

Always pre pay for fuel as it saves me any hassle when returning car.

 

[catherine]

We also pre-pay because we can't be bothered with the hassle!

 

[wayneg]

All cars are supplied full on collection.

Is it worth upgrading in the UK to Gold/Platinum? if you are going to want additional driver then usually yes, if you don't want addition driver and its purely the tank of gas then it depends on cost, short rentals almost certainly worth it, longer rentals not so much.

Is it worth paying for a tank on collection? usually yes, the pre-pay rate tends to be 2-3 cents/gal less than you can buy at the garage. Most people take a car back with gas in the tank so even though the rate you pay is good they gain on part full tanks returned.

If you don't pre-pay fill the tank up around Disney (Hess or Race Trac) before leaving for the airport, don't use the garages within a stones throw of the airport they don't display the price and charge approx double http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...rt-gas-station-court-20110630,0,6705428.story

 

[paulh]

tank on a dodge caravan (7 seater were renting ) is 20.5 us gallons @ $3.53 per us gallon = $72.36 or £45 iff using a CC with no fees or £46 if usin a fee card or Trevelers checks
difference on buying pre paid and taking back empty and getting extra drivers £389 verses no paying for it and taking back full and 1 driver £408
Yes its weired but its cheaper but you get more
check out yourself http://www.netflights.com/car-hire/...e=IVAR&transm=Auto&aircond=Included&passeng=0
Paul

 

[rpbert1]

Think it depends who the company is, i ound Dollar very expensive, although only ever used them once. The car i Have now is from Budget, its a Dodge Avenger, lovely car leather seats etc. charged me $57 to bring it back empty, cost me near $50 to fill it at the gas station

 

[tonijo]

Once again...thanks everyone..this board has been fantastic!

 

[disneyholic family]

i used to prepay, but that means bringing the car back empty, which it never is...

so now i don't prepay and i fill it up at hess in WDW (the one near the BWI)...
if you fill it up there and drive to the airport, the car is still considered full (it registers full on the dash)...
it also gives us a chance to buy stuff for the plane and avoid the high airport prices...

 

[paulfoel]

All cars are supplied full on collection.

Is it worth upgrading in the UK to Gold/Platinum? if you are going to want additional driver then usually yes, if you don't want addition driver and its purely the tank of gas then it depends on cost, short rentals almost certainly worth it, longer rentals not so much.

Is it worth paying for a tank on collection? usually yes, the pre-pay rate tends to be 2-3 cents/gal less than you can buy at the garage. Most people take a car back with gas in the tank so even though the rate you pay is good they gain on part full tanks returned.

If you don't pre-pay fill the tank up around Disney (Hess or Race Trac) before leaving for the airport, don't use the garages within a stones throw of the airport they don't display the price and charge approx double http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...rt-gas-station-court-20110630,0,6705428.story

Is the pre-pay cheaper? I always thought it was more....

But like you said, it takes dedication to take the car back empty but I can manage it !!!

 

[wayneg]

Is the pre-pay cheaper? I always thought it was more....

But like you said, it takes dedication to take the car back empty but I can manage it !!!

Prepay is usually a few cents/gal lower than you can buy at the pump, what is expensive is not agreeing to prepay but then returning empty, you will then pay between 2-3 times($7-8/gal) the going rate, you must sort out at collection what your options are, some like Expedia/Alamo it is in the contract you accept to prepay with no option but it is a very good price they offer.

 

[tigger137]

These days the pre-pay cost is usually compares well with gas station prices so we pre-pay. But it's always best to check online and know what the local per gallon prices are.

A couple of years ago we picked a car up from Thrifty at Fort Lauderdale airport and automatically agreed to the pre-pay without really checking it. Only to discover that they'd charged well above the local rate.

 

[purple figment]

A couple of years ago we picked a car up from Thrifty at Fort Lauderdale airport and automatically agreed to the pre-pay without really checking it. Only to discover that they'd charged well above the local rate.

I am sorry you found out the hard way. Unforturnately in the US if you agree to pre-pay for the full tank of gas when you're picking up the car, you'll always end up paying a lot more than if you fill the tank yourself just before returning it. This is one of those situations where the UK and the US have 2 completely opposite points of view.

 

[paulfoel]

I am sorry you found out the hard way. Unforturnately in the US if you agree to pre-pay for the full tank of gas when you're picking up the car, you'll always end up paying a lot more than if you fill the tank yourself just before returning it. This is one of those situations where the UK and the US have 2 completely opposite points of view.

Confused now. Not what wayne says above.

 

[purple figment]

Confused now. Not what wayne says above.

Please ignore my post. I realize now that I misunderstood. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[ninja07]

We have opted for the pre pay Platinum package. It works out better as it gives us extra drivers + petrol + booster seats for kids.

 

[tigger137]

I am sorry you found out the hard way. Unforturnately in the US if you agree to pre-pay for the full tank of gas when you're picking up the car, you'll always end up paying a lot more than if you fill the tank yourself just before returning it. This is one of those situations where the UK and the US have 2 completely opposite points of view.

If you re-read my post you'll see that I said the pre-pay cost generally compares well with local gas stations. It was just that one time, the only time we pre-paid with Thrifty, that it was more expensive. All we "found out the hard way" was to double-check the per gallon price more carefully, especially if renting with Thrifty.

As Wayne has said, generally the pre-pay cost is a few cents less than local pump prices. Which is why we were taken by surprise with Thrifty, as our previous experience had been very different.

I was referencing tigger 137's unfortunate and costly experience of agreeing to pre-pay at the time of picking up the car or as Wayne said, if you bring the car back empty it will cost just as much. In either case it's about double the price at the gas station.

However, reading the rest of Wayne's post and through much of this thread it sounds like agreeing to pre-pay while still in the UK long before you pick up the car is very reasonable.

So what I meant was: agreeing to pre-pay when in the UK is reasonable, agreeing to pre-pay at the time you pick up the car in Florida is not.

I did not say that Thrifty charged us double the gas station price. But they did charge considerably more than the local pump price, which was not our experience with other car rental companies. We have found Hertz, for example, to be consistently cheaper than local prices in several US states.

We do not generally pre-pay in the UK, we pre-pay in the US (not just Florida). In fact when I check prices, mostly I find that pre-paying in the UK would cost more than I'd expect to pay in the US (admittedly because the price usually also covers other items, eg additional drivers, that we don't require).

I don't see how pre-paying the rental company less than the local pump price can be considered anything other than good value.

 

[purple figment]

If you re-read my post you'll see that I said the pre-pay cost generally compares well with local gas stations. It was just that one time, the only time we pre-paid with Thrifty, that it was more expensive. All we "found out the hard way" was to double-check the per gallon price more carefully, especially if renting with Thrifty.

Sorry, I must have misunderstood and I apologize. I'll back out of this thread now, before I dig myself into an even deeper hole.