Hire cars in the USA

[Deleted member 18121]

Hi all

Am going to Disney in July for 21 nights, the Mrs booked an economy hire car as part of the package, which came with free basic insurance.

On further investigation there will be fees/taxes/waivers to pay on collection of around $960 (dollars).

The car booked is too small for the 3 of us, plus suitcases and a set of golf clubs.

If we upgrade to an SUV it's only an additional £268 which I'm ok with, but with proper insurance added it's an all in figure of £840.

These figures seem absolutely crazy to me, does anyone have experience of this scene?

 

[Lord Tyrion]

We booked via Alamo last time we went. We took out separate stand alone insurance for the hire, nothing to do with the hire company. Check out either Martin Lewis or a website called The Dib. The Dib will answer all questions, can't recommend them highly enough.

The hire company had no issue with us taking the separate insurance out, as long as you have it. Those numbers sound high to me.

 

[Crazyface]

What he said. The sensible person on here.

 

[Pathetic Shark]

Wow - in all the years I have been flying into Orlando or Tampa, I have never seen fees/taxes that high - about $100 is the limit I think I've ever seen. They always tried to "upgrade you on a special offer" when you get there trying to take advantage of people being tired after a nine hour flight. Sounds like you've been done before you even flew.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

I've hired cars many times in the USA. I always prebook the cheapest car then upgrade at the desk, you get offered a better deal than paying up front for a better car. And you can haggle with them. I once got upgraded from a basic car to a Mustang convertible for $6 a day and to a Merc C class for $8 a day.

 

[Deleted member 18121]

Wow - in all the years I have been flying into Orlando or Tampa, I have never seen fees/taxes that high - about $100 is the limit I think I've ever seen. They always tried to "upgrade you on a special offer" when you get there trying to take advantage of people being tired after a nine hour flight. Sounds like you've been done before you even flew.

I've hired cars many times in the USA. I always prebook the cheapest car then upgrade at the desk, you get offered a better deal than paying up front for a better car. And you can haggle with them. I once got upgraded from a basic car to a Mustang convertible for $6 a day and to a Merc C class for $8 a day.

Sounds like you guys know your beans...... on the schedule they've sent me the following things are not included with my basic insurance:

Extended protection (3rd party liability) $12.44 per day
Collision damage waiver $25.99 per day
Airport user fee $3.50 per day plus tax
Florida state local taxes and surcharge is 6.5%

spread over the 21 days that we're there....its a lot of money!

It's come recommended to me by a colleague to buy "hire car excess insurance" - essentially in the event of a claim I wouldnt be liable for any excess on the insurance, bearing in mind this could be $1000....the £50 fee for the insurance seems sensible.

It's a minefield!

 

[Dibby]

For those that go for the cheapest insurance option, be careful, with the coverage you get. Each state is different, but legal insurance minimums in Florida are very low - $10k for injury to a person ($20k total) and $10k for damage to property. With the US medical system, it wouldn't be that serious an injury to go above $10k and if you damage someones car, $10k wouldn't go far if it was written off.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

For those that go for the cheapest insurance option, be careful, with the coverage you get. Each state is different, but legal insurance minimums in Florida are very low - $10k for injury to a person ($20k total) and $10k for damage to property. With the US medical system, it wouldn't be that serious an injury to go above $10k and if you damage someones car, $10k wouldn't go far if it was written off.

I've been twice and taken separate insurance. I take out the best cover for the reasons you suggest but it doesn't have to break the bank. The policies are designed specifically for the US system and costs involved. As always, insurance is not worth skimping over but the OP was getting screwed over in his original post/quote.

 

[fudgeukraine]

Hired 4 times in Florida. 3 times same pickup/drop off, the 4th was different pickup/drop so slightly more (minimal though).

Checked through my receipts and it worked out between around £19 and £27/day for each trip. Each of those was all-in though; it included colission damage waver, all fees, insurances etc. The only thing we had to pay (aside from Fuel) was for the tolls; each car has a 'sunpass' system that you can flick down and drive through the detector lanes, if you do it you get charged something like the fee & $4.50/day each time you get a toll and just get invoiced it a month or so later (it's never been more than £20-£30 for a couple of weeks) but you can counter this by manually paying at the booths.

First 2 trips I went with Alamo: if you book via https://www.alamo.co.uk/usa/ you get a 2nd driven included, the other 2 I booked it through British Airways; their site uses Avis and if you're an executive club member (free to sign up) you get a 2nd driver included as well as only paying 5 nights for every 7. Most times as well we went with the 'medium' size and when you get to the airport garage, there's a row of cars and they let you jump in any from a line and drive away; the 1st time we got a great Fiat 500XL with Sat Nav, warning sensors, cameras etc all included, but there wre trucks, picks ups etc.

Definately shop around but would recommend going with either Alamo or Avis (via BA) to get the best deal. in all cases, the price I paid upfront was the final price (barring tolls); I didn't pay a penny more for anything; would recommend that. Try moneysupermarket to get a rough guide price, but then go directly to the sites and go with a household name for £1/£2/day more to avoid any extra fees

Edit: 1st 2 trips was Alamo, not Avis

 

[Deleted member 18121]

We took out separate stand alone insurance for the hire, nothing to do with the hire company.

Can you remember who you took the insurance policy out with? Was it a "rental car excess" policy?

I ask as I've just been on the phone again with Thomas cook and to upgrade my insurance with them they have just quoted me £726.00 - yet I went on https://www.icarhireinsurance.com and can get an ANNUAL policy for £99!

I cant understand how there are such massive differences in essentially the same product.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

It must be on my home computer. I will dig things out tonight and send anything across.

 

[clubchamp98]

We use Dollar.com
Always go for the Platinum package ,
This is a no excess insurance and covers you for everything.
Last year a stone broke the windscreen but it cost us nothing.
We have never paid more than £800 all inc for a Nissan Armarda full size SUV.
Stunning motor but 12mpg was a bit of a shock.

Used Alamo last November and were excellent and similar price point.
But what your quoting does seem excessive.
Have a look at the cancellation policy of these deals and see if you can start again without to much loss if possible.

 

[rulefan]

I've used Holiday Autos off and on for decades in Europe and Florida. Never a problem except once in Gozo. For the last ten years have taken excess insurance with https://www.icarhireinsurance.com (mentioned above). Never needed them but have a good reputation.

Alamo have a Hyundai Santa Fe SUV at around £650 all inclusive (addl driver $13/day)

 

[Deleted member 18121]

It must be on my home computer. I will dig things out tonight and send anything across.

Thanks to the dibb forum I've saved myself £200 and got a bigger/better car.

I found on there a very similar thread to my situation and found that a guy called Andy at Discount Florida car hire was the man to speak to.....after a couple of message exchanges I get a quote for £675 for 3 weeks in a more than adequate Ford Edge SUV which is much more car than the quotes I was getting, with all the insurances as part of the deal.

Lets see if July all goes smoothly, but on the face of it I've really got a fantastic deal.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

I've had an Edge before out there, nice vehicle 👍

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Thanks to the dibb forum I've saved myself £200 and got a bigger/better car.

I found on there a very similar thread to my situation and found that a guy called Andy at Discount Florida car hire was the man to speak to.....after a couple of message exchanges I get a quote for £675 for 3 weeks in a more than adequate Ford Edge SUV which is much more car than the quotes I was getting, with all the insurances as part of the deal.

Lets see if July all goes smoothly, but on the face of it I've really got a fantastic deal.

Adam, really pleased for you. Nothing worse than feeling you have been ripped off, good feeling when you know you have a fair deal. That website and the people on it really is the business.

The fun bit I like about car hire there, I think they are all the same, is that they generally take you to a row of cars, each row is a certain category, and say pick whichever one you like. Kid in a sweet shop time . The Edge is a good sized car so you should have plenty of nice options.

Enjoy.

 

[Pathetic Shark]

Don't forget they drive on the wrong side of the road. Bloody foreigners ;-)

 

[Deleted member 18121]

Don't forget they drive on the wrong side of the road. Bloody foreigners ;-)

and on the wrong side of the car!

to say I'm nervous would be understating it...

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

and on the wrong side of the car!

to say I'm nervous would be understating it...

It's actually very easy driving over there. As virtually all cars are autos all you have to think about is stop and go. Plus the roads are generally huge and they have one wonderful invention which is being allowed to turn right on a red light if it is clear to do so (check though as some states don't permit it but from memory Florida does)

 

[Deleted member 18121]

It's actually very easy driving over there. As virtually all cars are autos all you have to think about is stop and go. Plus the roads are generally huge and they have one wonderful invention which is being allowed to turn right on a red light if it is clear to do so (check though as some states don't permit it but from memory Florida does)

yeah I've read that on a driving tips site.....will be interested to see how it works. I've driven twice to Paris, so have limited experience of being on the "wrong" side, but motorways are easy....local roads....we shall see.

First time I'll ever drive an auto. First time driving a LHD. Will have just done a 9.5 hour flight.........what could go wrong! I like the tip of chanting to yourself..... (drive on the right, drive on the right, drive on the right).