Car Hire Vouchers for the USA?

lottyburns

Hey there,

We are looking to hire a convertible for our West Coast USA road-trip in September.

Any tips/ advice on getting this cheap(ish)?

Looked on Expedia and seen a decent quote but as i'm someone who loves a voucher/discount - I won't be happy till I feel I have got a bargain!

Anyone seen any? Or have any advice on how we could knock some money off?

Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks

Charlotte

jamesbrownontheroad

Simple: shop around. You are already in a strong position, because US car rental, especially from west coast airports, is substantially cheaper for UK renters than people in the US. There is huge competition for British tourists, hence rates available on "UK-facing" websites are much lower than US websites - so much so that I have American friends who have booked using British addresses to rent cars in their own US cities.

I recently got a good deal on a week's rental from Alamo via Ebookers. I'd suggest you trawl through all the usual suspects: Expedia, Ebookers, Holiday Autos, Opodo and the others recommended on this forum (try searching for recent threads - there are a few already). California has the added perk of it being illegal to charge one way fees, so my six day trip from SFO to LAX incurred no extra charge for the drop off.

However, beware that US rental clerks work on commission, and British tourists are treated like manna from heaven. You will be arriving at SFO / LAX / wherever after a ten or twelve hour flight, and you'll likely be tired, jetlagged and just keen to get to the hotel. You will be vulnerable to their powers of persuasion - so remember any upgrades, sat nav or additional extras they sell you at the counter contribute directly to that agent's pay cheque.

On the plus side, most major US airports have a little perk that doesn't seem to exist here. Rather than signing on a specific car at the rental counter, you'll do the paperwork and then be directed to the parking lot (which at SFO is a huge multistorey garage shared by all rental firms a shuttle train ride away from all terminals). You will then be pointed to the appropriate aisle for your class of car and you can choose. The keys will be waiting in the ignition, and you'll pair the car for your rental at the exit gate.

Depending on the time of day, you should get a good choice of motors within your bracket. I even spotted a substantially larger ("full size") Chevy Impala in the "Intermediate" aisle I had booked myself into, so you may get a free upgrade that way, if you're canny.

neilbond007

As mentioned, keep looking. Prices do sometimes come down in a sale.
The convertible is one of the most expensive classes as demand is high so don't expect it to drop too much.

I've hired through netflights.com 30+ times. A couple of times I ordered a convertible and got one. But be aware even if you hire a convertible you might not get one. Search this forum for posts telling of such issues!

I always book a 2 door economy, the cheapest category. In the US they do NOT have any 2 door economy cars. The smallest car I ended up with was a 4 door Toyota Yaris on Maui. Was fine to get around in. Other than that i've had PT cruisers, Chrysler 300's, Jeep etc.

Another popular website is carhire3000.com

creditpunch

JBontheroad your post has been really useful as I think I will be mirroing (literally) your recent rental next month. I'm sorry to piggy back this thread but could I ask how much excess do rentals usually charge?

I will be hiring and driving in the US for the first time on the 27th May and I will be driving with my 6yo son. So I want it all to go hassle free. I will be picking up a car from LAX airport and dropping of at SFO airport 8 days later. I'm a bit nervous about any hidden extras, I've already decided to take my own booster seat as $17/day is crazy!! I have conceeded to the GPS. Are there hints, tips, advice anyone can give?

photome

creditpunch wrote: »

JBontheroad your post has been really useful as I think I will be mirroing (literally) your recent rental next month. I'm sorry to piggy back this thread but could I ask how much excess do rentals usually charge?

I will be hiring and driving in the US for the first time on the 27th May and I will be driving with my 6yo son. So I want it all to go hassle free. I will be picking up a car from LAX airport and dropping of at SFO airport 8 days later. I'm a bit nervous about any hidden extras, I've already decided to take my own booster seat as $17/day is crazy!! I have conceeded to the GPS. Are there hints, tips, advice anyone can give?[/QUOTE]


Yes if you are renting with Dollar, watch out for the upsell of insurances etc at LAX, its the only place I have ever had problems, just read carefully what you are signing for

ferf1223

creditpunch wrote: »

I will be hiring and driving in the US for the first time on the 27th May and I will be driving with my 6yo son. So I want it all to go hassle free. I will be picking up a car from LAX airport and dropping of at SFO airport 8 days later. I'm a bit nervous about any hidden extras, I've already decided to take my own booster seat as $17/day is crazy!! I have conceeded to the GPS. Are there hints, tips, advice anyone can give?

Assuming you book through a UK 3rd party - once you know who your rental is with - join their loyalty scheme/club (normally free)...and if possible, have your number added to the booking - it can save loads of time.

As for GPS, there's a current thread about alternatives to hiring one from the rental company that might be of help.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3190210

jamesbrownontheroad

creditpunch wrote: »

JBontheroad your post has been really useful as I think I will be mirroing (literally) your recent rental next month. I'm sorry to piggy back this thread but could I ask how much excess do rentals usually charge?

I will be hiring and driving in the US for the first time on the 27th May and I will be driving with my 6yo son. So I want it all to go hassle free. I will be picking up a car from LAX airport and dropping of at SFO airport 8 days later. I'm a bit nervous about any hidden extras, I've already decided to take my own booster seat as $17/day is crazy!! I have conceeded to the GPS. Are there hints, tips, advice anyone can give?

Re: excess... I'm not up to date, because I always buy my own excess insurance and decline extra insurance at the counter. This is cheaper up front, but you have to understand that if you do have an accident, the rental company will take whatever sum from your credit card and you will then have to retrospectively claim it back from your insurer. This shouldn't take too long, but be prepared to be out of pocket for a couple of weeks.

Secondly, I'm marrying an American, I love America, and I've been many many times. But Americans can't drive for #!*¡

Remind yourself of the principles of defensive driving, because Californian roads can be a little hairy California's finances are in dire straights, so many older roads are overdue for a good re-surfacing. Also, stopping distances between cars are not respected on freeways (if you drop back to a safe distance, someone will just pull in to it) and on multi-lane highways faster drivers will pass on both sides of middle lane drivers.

Re: specific traffic laws, the only one that may surprise you, if you've not driven in America before, is that with the exception of only a few cities, it's legal and perfectly acceptable to turn right on a red light, if there is no oncoming traffic or crossing pedestrians. This relieves congestion at intersections, and may explain why people start honking behind you if you're waiting to turn right on a red light.

Good call re: the booster seat (if you can accommodate it in your luggage) because rental agencies must, by state law, ensure renters have appropriate child seats before allowing someone to drive away with one of their cars. In my recent experience most American made cars don't feature (the EU standard?) Isofix fittings for car seats, so if your child seat is designed to clamp on to these you should make sure it can be held in place by just the seat belt. Sorry if that info is garbled, but I don't have kids myself, I've just helped my sister-in-law-to-be load her sprog into an American car a few times.

creditpunch

Thanks all that is so very helpful and thx for the GPS heads up Ferf1223 I have looked into this and I think I will hire a SatNav of Ebay for about £35 all in which is a good saving.

I have decided (I think) to go with Alamo for circa £159 (gold cover) this includes a tank of fuel. What's the deal with fuel am I right one returns the car empty as opposed to UK rules returning full? The fuel bit in my price is an extra £24 pounds is this worth it.

Also how much deposit is typically held on credit cards?

p.s. JBontheroad congrats on the pending nuptials.

ferf1223

creditpunch wrote: »

I have decided (I think) to go with Alamo for circa £159 (gold cover) this includes a tank of fuel. What's the deal with fuel am I right one returns the car empty as opposed to UK rules returning full? The fuel bit in my price is an extra £24 pounds is this worth it.

If a tank of fuel is included in your rate (or you opt to pre-pay for a tank of fuel) you return the car empty...£24 for a tank seems pretty reasonable to me. Obviously you don't get a refund if you return the tank with petrol in it - but you'll be doing a fair amount of driving so so won't use less than a tank, clearly.

Just don't do what I did a few trips ago and tried to be too MSE about it...I kept topping up with $5 thinking that would be all we needed to get us through - must have done this 3 x...which was really a waste of time...and then, going to return the car and head to the airport - all routes from hotel to rental car facility were closed (Obama was flying out so main roads that crossed in line with the runway were closed)...so while driving around trying to find an alternate route and already panicking - low fuel warning light comes on...and we're potentially going to be stuck in traffic for who knows how long - so I couldn't risk running out so we had to stop again (and yeah, I know that the fuel light comes on quite sometime before you're actually out of fuel...but I couldn't risk it).

So the moral of my story is that there's some value in money 'wasted' on extra petrol.