First time car hire in Italy - how can you reduce desposit??

alstemp

Hi - yes I am posting on same subject again!

Never hired a car abroad before and it's all rather cofusing. I am flying to Perugia, Italy this Thursday and looking to hire a car from Thursday to next Friday, 9 days. I have found an economy category deal with Holiday Autos/Budget for £190. HOWEVER - they want 1100 Euros to cover desposit! There is no way my credit card will take that especialy with other holiday costs on it etc. Holiday Autos rep did say for another 140 Euros cost (ie Budget's addtiional insurance) the desposit would then drop to 800 Euros. Still seems high to me.

I may sound naive but I am first timer when it comes to hiring a car abroad.

Is there any way I can get a good deal on hire car and not have to pay a sky high deposit? any tricks of the trade I should know about? I don't mind paying around £250 car hire cost if deposit reduces to a few hundred Euros but not the 1,000 Euro mark!

as I say, probably being naive, but to me this all seems a lot of money ref the deposit especially when I want to use the card for other holiday items such as hotel, eating out etc.

thanks for any advice on this . . .

deary65

Have a look here: https://www.moneymaxim.co.uk/comparisons/reference/420c1b086f2482ff02326a2343ffeda3/
You ask them to increase you limit for a month.

InsideInsurance

Normally the hire car companies want you to authorise, not pay, the excess for the car up front in case you bring it back with a big dent in the side. If you buy the CDW/ excess insurance from them themselves which reduces the excess (often to £0) then they will normally equally reduce the deposit you have to authorise in line with the reduced excess with a floor of a couple of hundred pounds to cover late return/ low fuel/ parking tickets etc.

Needless to say the CDW/ Excess insurance from hire car companies mus much higher than the cost of the same from a third party company but third party options dont reduce your authorisation requirements and you have to pay the excess and claim it back in the event of damage.

Are you hiring from a large company or a small local firm? Hiring directly or via a broker?

NiftyDigits

alstemp wrote: »

Hi - yes I am posting on same subject again!

Never hired a car abroad before and it's all rather cofusing. I am flying to Perugia, Italy this Thursday and looking to hire a car from Thursday to next Friday, 9 days. I have found an economy category deal with Holiday Autos/Budget for £190. HOWEVER - they want 1100 Euros to cover desposit! There is no way my credit card will take that especialy with other holiday costs on it etc. Holiday Autos rep did say for another 140 Euros cost (ie Budget's addtiional insurance) the desposit would then drop to 800 Euros. Still seems high to me.

I may sound naive but I am first timer when it comes to hiring a car abroad.

Is there any way I can get a good deal on hire car and not have to pay a sky high deposit? any tricks of the trade I should know about? I don't mind paying around £250 car hire cost if deposit reduces to a few hundred Euros but not the 1,000 Euro mark!

as I say, probably being naive, but to me this all seems a lot of money ref the deposit especially when I want to use the card for other holiday items such as hotel, eating out etc.

thanks for any advice on this . . .

That seems like incorrect advice. If you take the Super CDW from the hire car company, it should reduce the deposit to a nominal amount or nothing.
However, if they just 'pre-authorise' the amount, whilst it theoretically reduces your credit limit, it does not actually appear on your statement. So it is unlikely that if you went over your limit that you would get an 'over the limit' charge(perhaps £12).

Even if you did, £12 is a lot less than the cost of insurance from the car hire company.

Of course, you should make sure that you at least have a suitable stand-alone policy to cover any excess in the event of an incident.

Of course there is also the possibility that transactions might be declined if you go over your limit.

So the idea of a credit limit increase, even if temporary, should also be considered. If you can reassure them that you will have a standalone policy to cover any access, they may look favourably upon your case.

alstemp

Thanks everyone for the follow up advice. Latest situation is this. I am looking at a deal with Europcar. Basic car rental cost is £205 with a 2,300 Euros deposit for CDW/Theft. However if you get one of their zero excess plans the deposit reduces to £400. So I have been assured in total all I need to ensure is on my credit card is £605. Also they say the card will only be authorised for the additional £400 and refunded in full if no issues with the car on return. If I go for this I will also get independent protect your excess insurance as well. To be honest this sounds an OK deal - not the greatest as still need to find the funds on my credit card so I will try a short term credit increase as well. Any feedback on how this sounds? To be honest, I probably need to just take it as flying out Thursday morning so left it all a bit late! Thanks everyone

iandc

Be careful booked my car hire with alamo paid upfront with full insurance. Got back 2.8.14. Was forced by local agent to pay for extra insurance as they insisted we were not insured. Alamo refusing to refund as they say we agreed to the extra insurance. We had no choice. Be very careful and never book with Alamo. :mad:

alstemp

Thanks iandc - this whole car hire thing is a minefield!! It seems like you are at the mercy of the local supplier once you have given them your credit card details. I think I am going to do the Europcar deal, zero excess package and take out additional excess protection insurance independently.

to be honest there doesn't seem to be any car hire company who doesn't have a bad review! It's all so precarious - especially your first time. You so don't want to get your fingers burned!!

NiftyDigits

A shame that you left it so late. Perhaps next time.
Are you booking directly with Europcar? If so, if you take their insurance. Don't book with a Broker and take the Broker's insurance. That is useless.
If you take Europcar's insurance, you won't need anything else. It's not cheap, but then there should be little to no deposit and less stress.

zenmaster

Is this a recent thing?

I've hired cars all over Europe in the past and not come across this before.

The last time was about 4 years ago, in Italy as it happens.

PS: Never taken the insurance waiver.

NiftyDigits

So to be clear, do not book with a broker. Book direct with Europcar and take their Super loss Damage Waiver. Likely added cost; GBP 151.13.
But it reduces your liability to zero with Europcar.

If you buy insurance via a broker, such as Auto Europe, it is just a stand-alone policy. You could get that cheaper for yourself. You have been warned.

NiftyDigits

zenmaster wrote: »

Is this a recent thing?

I've hired cars all over Europe in the past and not come across this before.

The last time was about 4 years ago, in Italy as it happens.

PS: Never taken the insurance waiver.

Is what a recent thing??