Car Hire in the USA

19lottie82

My OH and I are heading to Orlando at the weekend J and part of our package holiday deal includes car hire from Almo.

I have never hired a car before, so I have a few questions….

1) I take it I will need to leave some kind of card details with Almo. Will my AMEX Gold card be OK? And will they charge it when I take the car, then refund upon it’s (safe) return, or will they only charge if required at the end of the hire?
2) I have heard that car hire in the USA doesn’t include certain types of insurance and the car hire company will try and get you to take it out. Do I need this, and if so how much will it cost?
3) The car is an “economy vehicle”, I’m guessing this will be a 3 door small car? I’ve heard people talking about “free upgrades”, what are the chances of this? And if not free, how much does an upgrade cost (roughly)?
4) Anything else I should know?

TIA

MikeP79

Hi,

you will find that these "free" cars that are offered as part of a package are anything but. They don't include insurance and once you buy the cover it can often be more expensive than declining the car & booking your own directly with a rental company.

You would be well advised to take out the full comprehensive insurance package.

Check to see if the holiday company provide any insurance pricing for the options on offer. You can then compare that to arranging your own car.

The only time the car hire companies generally give free upgrades is when they run out of cars within the category you paid for. So it's really a case of them having no choice rather than doing something nice for nothing.

Have a great holiday, I'm very jealous. We are still saving for another Disney trip.

claire16c

Even when Ive hired compact cars in the US they tend to be 5 doors and I could count on one hand how many 3 door cars Ive seen there, so it could be bigger than youre expecting.

You can either buy your own insurance through websites which someone will probably come along and recommend soon, or through Alamo. Either way make sure you get it and check the excess.

exel1966

Your card will be swiped, but nothing will actually be deducted at point of collection. It will only be used should there be issues upon return.

Car hire generally includes basic 3rd party liability insurance, but there are optional extras such as CDW (Collision Damage Waivers) and PAI (Personal Accident Insurance) which can be taken as extras. Some quotes will include none, some one, some both. You need to check. Do NOT risk not having CDW. If you crash the car without it and it's declared your fault, then you pay ! Generally fly-drive deals DO NOT include it.

Free upgrades are common, though US cars are nowhere near as big as they used to be due Japanese import usage. With Alamo at most sites nowadays you are not allocated a particular vehicle, but do the formalities and then go out and choose one yourself from the size range. The earlier you arrive at an airport or front of queue when it's busier the more choice you get.

Having hired hundreds of cars and driven hundreds of thousands of miles in the US all I can say is that the hire process is generally very easy, driving over there is easier than in Europe and the cars are very bouncy!!! they have a completely different suspension ride to what you'll find in Europe.

19lottie82

I just called Thomas Cook, who said that I should expect a £30 per day fee on top of the "inclusive" car hire! x 7 = £210!

I did some scouting about online and found car hire inc CDW for £97


Thanks for all your advice, I'm glad I decided to investigate this before flying out now!

19lottie82

double post ...

inmypocketnottheirs

Have a look at insurance4carhire through quidco for 30% cashback.

Bennifred

inmypocketnottheirs wrote: »

Have a look at insurance4carhire through quidco for 30% cashback.

Seconded - we use insurance4carhire. If you know for sure that you are covered, it's much easier to resist all the sales talk you tend to get at the car rental desk.

gillyboss

if we want to hire a car for 1-2 days only while we're over in LA, is it best to book online in advance or will it be a good rate doing it on the day?

inmypocketnottheirs

gillyboss wrote: »

if we want to hire a car for 1-2 days only while we're over in LA, is it best to book online in advance or will it be a good rate doing it on the day?

Best deal will be booked in advance. The worst deal will be on the day.

prowla

I've hired cars in the US a number of times, and it's been quite straightforward; they're pretty familiar with British in Orlando.
I've had cashback from Quidco/Topcashback when booking in advance.
I've afraid I don't remember the details, but the price was about as expected.
A note of warning - do make sure that you inspect the vehicle before you go; I've had one that had a flat tire (US for tyre) and another whose seat belts did not work.