Car hire California USA

malid

Hi

We are holidaying in California in August (7th time!) and I am trying to find the best deal for car hire. We usually have a people carrier/van but may go for a SUV this time. Dollar are normally the best deal but there are so many links - airline network, yescarhire etc. which are sometimes cheaper as opposed to booking direct. So advice would be welcome.

Cheers

eslick

http://www.fifteen02.com/ give good prices and free upgrades with Budget and https://www.dollar.co.uk have started to do fully inclusive and also platinum rates.

Any other out there

amf

Apart from the ones already mentioned you could also try;-

http://www.usrentacar.co.uk/
http://www.carhire3000.com/Home.do
http://simplycarhire.com/simply_country.html?Discount=simplycarhire&c=1&mc=n
http://www.allstatescarhire.co.uk/

Fruitcake

Just a word of warning, cheapest is not always best. We found Dollar were cheapest for our USA hol last year, then found a better deal through Airline Network but still with Dollar. At first destination (Phoenix airport) a very pushy rep tried to get us to pay for an upgrade which we declined. Picked up the car and found they didn't have any cars in the group we had booked. They just wanted us to pay for an upgrade they were forced to give us anyway
Went to pick up a car at our second destination (Cincinnati airport) to find they didn't have any cars at all despite booking months in advance. Had to wait nearly an hour for one to come in. Not a happy pair of bunnies.
Next time we will go with one of the bigger outfits even if it costs more. However, the pre-paid options through a .co.uk website seem to still be the cheapest as all the loss damage liability stuff is included.

Fruitcake

You Only Listen To Me When I'm Wrong

malid

I think your response Fruitcake highlights the different service even within one orgainisation and a car hire company depending on time and place! We booked Dollar through Airline Network in 2005 and had no problems at all. Previoulsy, we have used Dollar, Alamo and Budget; we have had problems with all of them om occasions but not enough to stop us re-using them.