Cheap car hire article discussion

weby72

richardw wrote: »

Have you searched at an airport near to you weby72?

I booked a 7 seater MPV and ended up with a 12 seater minibus, apparently bigger is Ok in the car hire ts & Cs.

Yeah, I've tried to be flexible on pick-up.

WillBur82

A word of warning re CDW/Hertz:

I made a booking through Hertz for 7 days hire recently in Scotland. Total cost £135 for a Ford Focus. I declined CDW add-on as it would add £26 per day. I assumed that this was an additional CDW which would have reduced a hefty excess (say £1000) to a more manageable one (e.g. £250). [Recently I hired with Europcar and the deal included basic CDW with a £1000 excess].

On arrival at the desk it was explained that I had no protection and my total liability was the market value of the car. Since I had been upgraded from a Focus to a gutless 1.3l Fiat Tipo estate this market value had gone from £13000 to £20000.

I had the stern hard sell talk saying would I be able to cover the total cost of £20000. However the CDW at the desk had now risen from £26 to £33 per day and so would add £210.

I was pretty angry (my annual car insurance policy costs about this amount). So relying on my advanced driving course and a guess of risk, I drove away with the sword of Damocles hanging over my head, but £210 in-pocket!

After a week of careful driving and parking on the other side of the car park, car was returned in perfect shape.

I've since made enquiries with hire excess insurance policies and my warning is that the majority are capped at £6000 to £7000. So make sure you use the MoneyMaxim price comparison site mentioned in the above articles as here you can choose a policy that covers up to amounts such as £50000.

robrymond

Looking for car hire in Houston in June and Hertz are showing a pay at counter rate of £228 (at current rates) for a Large Pickup Truck (Silverado or similar). This is far cheaper than even the basic car for 1 week and 3 days hire.

I've applied CDP and discount codes and the price infact rises despite me joining as a Gold Member to take advantage of the 25% discount this weekend.

Does anyone know why the price would rise?!

wicked_badger

Hi all,

Looking for a car hire in San Francisco from 4th June dropping it back off in Las Vegas on the 7th. Driving down the coast and looking to rent a Mustang or similar convertible. Anyone have any advice?

Looking at a lot of places, they seem to charge one-way fees which are huge! Sixt don't seem to have this though, with rental coming in at around £500.

Anybody got tips or tricks for me? Do they really charge you £££ for taking a car one way?

donniedarko

WillBur82 wrote: »

A word of warning re CDW/Hertz:

I made a booking through Hertz for 7 days hire recently in Scotland. Total cost £135 for a Ford Focus. I declined CDW add-on as it would add £26 per day. I assumed that this was an additional CDW which would have reduced a hefty excess (say £1000) to a more manageable one (e.g. £250). [Recently I hired with Europcar and the deal included basic CDW with a £1000 excess].

On arrival at the desk it was explained that I had no protection and my total liability was the market value of the car. Since I had been upgraded from a Focus to a gutless 1.3l Fiat Tipo estate this market value had gone from £13000 to £20000.

I had the stern hard sell talk saying would I be able to cover the total cost of £20000. However the CDW at the desk had now risen from £26 to £33 per day and so would add £210.

I was pretty angry (my annual car insurance policy costs about this amount). So relying on my advanced driving course and a guess of risk, I drove away with the sword of Damocles hanging over my head, but £210 in-pocket!

After a week of careful driving and parking on the other side of the car park, car was returned in perfect shape.

I've since made enquiries with hire excess insurance policies and my warning is that the majority are capped at £6000 to £7000. So make sure you use the MoneyMaxim price comparison site mentioned in the above articles as here you can choose a policy that covers up to amounts such as £50000.

This was your mistake. You removed CDW. Which is different from Excess Waiver.

If you are going to remove CDW, you should at least cover yourself with a standalone CDW policy.

Bettersafe carries such a policy; https://www.bettersafe.com/Products/Car-Hire-Excess-Insurance-Protection

CAR HIRE EXCESS REIMBURSEMENT INSURANCE INCLUDING COLLISION DAMAGE WAIVER
& SUPPLEMENTAL LIABILITY INSURANCE

Travelprincess11

I'd be very grateful for any help/advice please.
We need to hire a car from Newcastle Airport to travel into Scotland and then back. I've searched and read loads of different sites, but am still a bit confused!
I'm concerned about prebooking a car and then getting charged lots of extras when I turn up!

Am I right that I can get a standalone insurance policy to avoid extra insurance costs? I still need the CDW though is that right?

I've realised that some state you can't travel crossboarder but other than that is there anything else I need to be aware of when booking that could cost me extra when I turn up?

Any help/advice will be gratefully received-including company recommendations-it's a minefield!!

Thanks in advance!

DownTime

Travelprincess11 wrote: »

I'd be very grateful for any help/advice please.
We need to hire a car from Newcastle Airport to travel into Scotland and then back. I've searched and read loads of different sites, but am still a bit confused!
I'm concerned about prebooking a car and then getting charged lots of extras when I turn up!

Am I right that I can get a standalone insurance policy to avoid extra insurance costs? I still need the CDW though is that right?

I've realised that some state you can't travel crossboarder but other than that is there anything else I need to be aware of when booking that could cost me extra when I turn up?

Any help/advice will be gratefully received-including company recommendations-it's a minefield!!

Thanks in advance!

The availability of stand-alone insurance varies with your country of residence.

Travelprincess11

Sorry I should have said, we are from and live in the U.K. and have full U.K. licences.

DownTime

Travelprincess11 wrote: »

Sorry I should have said, we are from and live in the U.K. and have full U.K. licences.

Your choice.

Usually best to purchase standalone car hire excess insurance. Otherwise called Super CDW.
If they offer the option to remove CDW and the saving is substantial, you can consider purchasing the standalone insurance option with CDW & SLI.

https://
bettersafe.com/Products/Car-Hire-Excess-Insurance-Protection carries both options. Quidco offers 10% off.

No extras should be forced on you. You'll just need to have a valid CC that allows their deposit to be ring-fenced.
The insurance covers just about everything. Even more comprehensive than offered by the car hirer.

amf

Travelprincess11 wrote: »

I've realised that some state you can't travel crossboarder but other than that is there anything else I need to be aware of when booking that could cost me extra when I turn up?

Your passport will need to be valid for 6 months after you cross the border into Scotland. Also, remember to apply for your ESTA at least 3 days in advance.

The following web site allows you to compare car hire excess policies