Thomson Orlando car hire

ruear

Hi

I have booked a week's holiday in Orlando with Thomson and part of the deal is that it incudes "free" car hire.
The terms state that you must buy CDW insurance either via Thomson (which seems expensive - £130 ish) or when picking up the car. The booking is with Alamo.
I have declined Thomson's but I am now wary that I could face a hefty charge at the airport.

Has anybody had any experience of arrangement?
I would appreciate any advice.

Obviously_the_best

The whole idea of free car hire is that it costs as much as it normally would anyway, so expect a charge of equal or greater magnitude to Thomson's at the airport.

*Trouble*

I'm off to Orlando with Thomsons for Easter and also have the 'free' car hire.
Been looking up the extra car hire insurance in the UK and think it's gonna cost an extra £100 (just under), but this does then insure the tyres etc too.

Whilst looking all this up I realised that I'll also have to get a International Drivers Permit for Florida.

atro1

*Trouble* wrote: »

I'm off to Orlando with Thomsons for Easter and also have the 'free' car hire.
Been looking up the extra car hire insurance in the UK and think it's gonna cost an extra £100 (just under), but this does then insure the tyres etc too.

Whilst looking all this up I realised that I'll also have to get a International Drivers Permit for Florida.

Been 23 times never been asked for international licence!

pompeyrich

*Trouble* wrote: »

I'm off to Orlando with Thomsons for Easter and also have the 'free' car hire.
Been looking up the extra car hire insurance in the UK and think it's gonna cost an extra £100 (just under), but this does then insure the tyres etc too.

Whilst looking all this up I realised that I'll also have to get a International Drivers Permit for Florida.

atro1 wrote: »

Been 23 times never been asked for international licence!

Florida did bring in a law that required all non-US residents to have an IDP, I think it was meant to apply to those with non "Roman" licences, maybe Chinese or Arabic etc.

It did lead to some renters from the UK, Canada and Australia being refused car rental, however it was quickly withdrawn and there is currently no need to have an IDP and a UK licence is fine.

LINK

ruear

*Trouble* wrote: »

I'm off to Orlando with Thomsons for Easter and also have the 'free' car hire.
Been looking up the extra car hire insurance in the UK and think it's gonna cost an extra £100 (just under), but this does then insure the tyres etc too.

Whilst looking all this up I realised that I'll also have to get a International Drivers Permit for Florida.

I am not sure the UK insurance will be acceptable!
The Thomson terms & conditions state:

Compulsory extras - paid locally

• Florida State Surcharge of $2.05 per vehicle per day
• Airport operating fees $3.00 - $3.50 per vehicle plus 10% on all optional extras
• Airport handling fees $3.00 - $3.50 per vehicle
• State and local taxes 7%
• Collision Damage Waiver (CDW): If you are involved in an accident CDW relieves you of all responsibility for the collision and covers you for all damage to the rental vehicle up to its full retail value regardless of fault. Alamo reserves the right to refuse a replacement vehicle to anyone who has had as a result of their negligence an accident, breakdown or contravened the law.

I read this as you HAVE to purchase the CDW locally.


Has anyone had any experience of the Thomson "free" car ad used the UK insurance?
Or any idea what Alamo charge locally?

Thanks for any reponses.

meer53

Been to Florida many times and hired a car each time. There is no way i would drive a car there unless i had full insurance booked at the time of booking the car with the car hire company. You might save a few quid but it's really not worth it.

Never needed an International Licence.

Backbiter

Last time I booked a Florida package with 'free' car hire (with Virgin), I declined the free car, and fixed up my own. There was an admin cahrge for not taking their car, but I still saved money sorting my own car.

In recent years I've found very good prices going direct with Dollar.co.uk, National and Alamo, which include full insurances and a free tank of petrol, which avoids the hassle of having to return the car full.
You can get cash back with National and Alamo, I think.

FLO-RIDA

Hello! I really hope you can help?

I will be traveling with Thomson holidays to florida on June 28th, the Holiday includes car hire with basic cover, to upgrade cover they tell me i need to pay £294.00, The car is supplied via Alamo, If i go direct to Alamo the Car and FULLY INCLUSIVE insurance is £236, How is this now a 'free car' from Thomson if they are charging me more than the cost Alamo will charge for both the car AND insurance, also would I be able to use a third party cover company to insure my 'free car' ?

I was also told by Thomson on the 'pre flight' line that I must Upgrade to a bigger car at an even greater cost if I was to benefit from FULLY INCLUSIVE cover that first call I made suggested it would be £436 extra - Ive paid over £3000 already and I can't afford to pay out anymore for this holiday, I feel totally mis-led and let down....I hope you can give me some advice?

Regards

*Trouble*

FLO-RIDA wrote: »

Hello! I really hope you can help?

I will be traveling with Thomson holidays to florida on June 28th, the Holiday includes car hire with basic cover, to upgrade cover they tell me i need to pay £294.00, The car is supplied via Alamo, If i go direct to Alamo the Car and FULLY INCLUSIVE insurance is £236, How is this now a 'free car' from Thomson if they are charging me more than the cost Alamo will charge for both the car AND insurance, also would I be able to use a third party cover company to insure my 'free car' ?

I was also told by Thomson on the 'pre flight' line that I must Upgrade to a bigger car at an even greater cost if I was to benefit from FULLY INCLUSIVE cover that first call I made suggested it would be £436 extra - Ive paid over £3000 already and I can't afford to pay out anymore for this holiday, I feel totally mis-led and let down....I hope you can give me some advice?

Regards

Don't bother with the Thomson 'Free' Car. I went in April/May and in the end it was much cheaper to hire a car myself ( i got a good deal with Virgin Atlantic at the time). :cool:

Greenbyker

I am travelling to Orlando on a Thomson flight in June, the holiday includes a "free" hire car for the duration of the holiday. Thomson's terms and conditions state that there are compulsory extras to pay, taxes, handling fees, which I calculate at about $80 give or take. What is less clear is if the CDW insurance is compulsory. On basis most cautious travellers will want the reassurance of CDW for driving in the US, it's not really optional apart from you chancers. I did a bit of research as I fall into the cautious rather than chancer camp. Thomson use Alamo as the supplier of hire cars, Alamo confirm (via email to me) that their CDW is optional not compulsory and I or any other customer is free to decline it (it will be offered), and to arrange my own CDW insurance. I certainly plan to follow this route and use a supplier ( as recommended on MSE elsewhere on this site), I calculate this option to be significantly more economical than declining the free car and arranging a hire car from scratch, or taking the hire company's CDW. Food for thought on this thread which has not had any new posts for some time.