Virgin - Car Insurance - does this sound right to you?

[tracymiami]

Hi guys

I called Virgin yestruday about the holiday I want to book and had some additional questions from when I called the first time.

One of the questions was about car insurance I was told the first time that I did not need to take there car insurance.

However yesturday when I called I was told I had to take Dollar car insurance which works out for 3 weeks £546 (martin is under 25 so it would be the dearest package).

I would be silly not to take the car as it is included in the price and the 3rd week is only £20 but the insurance is a joke, I dont even pay that over here???

I have not read the small print but wondered if anyone else has come across this before.

Cheers

T

(so close to booking)

 

[Homer Timpson]

Welcome to "Free car hire" T

You don't say what size of car your hiring, but it doesn't sound an unreasonable quote - as far as hire car charges go.

If you don't have to take the Virgin hire try http://www.choiceair.co.uk , they have been very competetive for several years - and it will be a good comparison to your initial quote.

Insurance is an absolute must in Florida - hospital bills and the "sue for anything" culture demands it.

Brian

 

[tracymiami]

hI Brian

It is just the very basic car could have had an upgrade FVC but the car price would have gone upto £40 as opposed to £20 for the extra week. I think the car is an excellent deal.

The thing is people have posted about american express insurance and it is like £300ish. so i was not sure if the Virgin insurance was a rip off.

Cheers

T

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

Yes Tracy, this sounds about right. All of the travel companies seem to charge extortionate prices for insurance for car hire, so that 'free' car that often comes with your holiday might not be such a great deal! There are ways around these prices, especially if you are going for a long holiday of three weeks. Car insurance is often discussed here, so try the search facility to see what you can find.

A cheaper alternative (certainly in your case) is to buy the American Express Premium travel insurance policy. As travel insurance goes this is expensive (£280 for a couple) per year but it includes cover for car hire in North America. You do not need to have an Amex card to buy this travel insurance. More details at www.americanexpress.co.uk However, having passed the magic age of 25 some time ago I have never looked to see if young drivers are covered, so check with Amex before you opt for this.

Regards

Rob

 

[BevS97]

Tracey -

we have found that it is cheaper to hire a car independently, rather than to take the 'free' car.

we have used choiceair in the past, and found that it is cheaper to hire a car from them with fully inclusive insurance, than to pay the insurance only portion on the free car.

I think it was £290 for 2 weeks in June picking up at Orlando airport.

Bev

 

[Hilary]

We're trying one of the other 'alternaitve insurance' deals mentioned here on the boards - with NatWest. I haven't done this before, so can't tell you how Dollar deal with it, but others have reported no problems.

We have declined Virgin's car insurance package (no probems there, they just seemed to accept that we didn't want it) and will be taking out the NatWest policy for North American hire cars. This costs £75 for one year's cover of any number of trips to a maximum of 30 days (?) per trip. You will still have to pay for the local taxes and airport charges at the pick-up point (around $10 per day, I think). Drivers must be over 21.

The car hire and the insurance have to be paid for using a NatWest card. Because we bought a fly-drive which includes the car hire we had to pay for that with our NatWest card.

telephone NatWest on 01273 765340, ref NWCRI, for more information.

 

[caroley]

Well I've paid the extortionate Virgin insurance for the last time this year. Next year's holiday will be paid for with our shiny new Nat West card and I'll be using their insurance (as detailed so well by Hilary in the post above )
When I booked the flydrive, I declined the insurance and was told they only had two options on their screen,
1. customer takes insurance with Virgin
2 customer sorts out own insurance on arrival with Dollar.

I explained that I'd be using someone else, so she just opted for no. 2. No problem at all.

We may start to go twice a year soon (for shorter holidays) and then I may go to the amex annual and get all the insurance in one go.

Thank goodness for the internet!

 

[rache]

i was just looking on the dollar web site and it actually works out cheeper to hire the car your self as it comes with insurance included. The other useful thing is hire the car from dollar say on intl drive if your staying there as it was 200 dollars cheeper than the airport. You can get the free virgin shuttle to your hotel any way.

 

[Hilary]

If you book a Virgin holiday / fly-drive and decline to take the 'inclusive' rental car (rather than just declining their car insurance) I believe you'll be charged £30 per person per week.

I'm sure I read something to that effect in their brochure, but I don't know what would happen if you 'forgot' to collect their car on arrival at the airport........

 

[Goofyish]

I have been reliably informed by another large gentleman on the boards that as long as you pay for any extra weeks car hire, you can just not pick the car up. You have paid for the car so it's up to you if you use it or not

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

What's the difference in price between a flight-only ticket and a fly-drive ticket?

Last time I flew with Virgin (a Virgin Holidays flight, booked via Worldwide Travel) the difference was £25 per person for the two of us (we had a compact grade car for 2 weeks). At that rate we would have been mad to go for a flight-only ticket and make independent hire arrangements.

Regards

Rob

 

[BevS97]

your only better off taking the car if you have access to a cheap insurance deal like AMEX or Natwest.

I don't have natwest or Amex, and I've found that it's cheaper to decline the 'free' car and book my own independently. Even if the car is only £20/week, if they are going to sting you for £350 for insurance, you can do better yourself.

bev

 

[madmouse]

I booked car hire from Avis and got a fully inc rate for economy car and all insurance,2 weeks £266.00.
Not a bad deal
Sarah.

 

[tracymiami]

Thanks for all your advice, it does sound like the free car is a bit of a rip off.

I think I will take you advice and shop around and opt for the free transfer and then pic my car up when I am there. I did not realise what the differences were in price, the only thing that could bumb it up would be the age.

Cheers again for all your amazing advice

Hugs

T

 

[tracymiami]

oops not bumb LOL

 

[BevS97]

tracey

I was just looking at
http://www.floridacarhire.com/

and they have no surcharge for drivers between 21 and 25 so might be worth a look.

My 2 weeks next June came to £298 for a compact 2 door car with Dollar collecting at the airport

Bev

 

[tracymiami]

That is really kind of you. Added it to my faves and will check it out. That is so much cheaper than virgin sounds like a good deal

Hugs

T

 

[tracymiami]

Just done a quick quote for the 3 weeks it is coming up at £289 have not looked into anything else about ages etc but that is with the full insurance package on the most basic car.

thanks again

T

 

[WebmasterPenny]

We used the Natwest Insurance for the first time this trip. We hired a car from Dollar direct on their US website (using a discount code from Mousesavers) and picked it up from the Courtyard by Marriott (they have shuttles to pick up and drop off from local hotels, though we didn't use them). He said "Insurance?", we said "We already have it thanks." End of conversation - he didn't even bat an eyelid.

It cost $398 for 2 weeks Intermediate (but we were upgraded a level to a rather nice Dodge Intrepid) including extra driver, and tank of petrol (I didn't want to do this, but Simon is like - I don't want the hassle - so we pay $30 for a tank of gas and send the car back nearly half full - ick!) which works out about £265.

One thing I was thinking about though - if anyone knows....I wonder whether it might be possible to get the Virgin 'free' car, but pick it up at LBV the next day. I mean, the only reason we don't like it is because a) you can get stuck in a long line at the Dollar desk at the airport (like I don't have to queue for anything else on my vacation!) and b) we never feel like driving after a long flight. However, if we could pick up our car say, the next day at Downtown Disney.....

Penny