Budget.com , for car hire in USA

Meganjones

Has anybody used Budget.com for car hire in the USA?

What was your experience like ? and were there any hidden unexpected fees ?

pompeyrich

Meganjones wrote: »

Has anybody used Budget.com for car hire in the USA?

What was your experience like ? and were there any hidden unexpected fees ?

As I understand it US residents car insurance covers them to drive hire cars and therefore the prices from a .com or US based site appear to be better than booking from a UK based site. So make sure you are comparing like for like.

I have hired from Budget and most of the Worldwide rental companies and they all try to upsell extras that you may or may not need, an all inclusive package from a UK car rental site or broker, usually called silver/gold/platinum or similar usually provides enough cover.

jimworcs

We just got back from the US and rented a car at Budget at Boston Logan Airport. At the desk the Sales Representative told us that the vehicle we had rented was not equipped with a Toll Tag, allowing us to pay tolls on the bridges and highways in Boston. He also advised us that many of the toll gates do not accept cash and this could be a problem for us. He then put us under some pressure to upgrade to a larger vehicle, for a further $140. As we had already upgraded to a larger vehicle we were very unhappy, but he was adamant that unless we upgraded we could not get the Toll Tag device. Despite the pressure, I felt it was most unfair for Budget to hold us to ransom in this manner. If your cars at not equipped with the appropriate equipment to allow people to use the vehicle on the roads and bridges in the city in which you rent the car, there is clearly a problem. We decided to decline to upgrade and simply attempt to deal with any problems at the toll booths once in the city.
When we got to the vehicle, we found that in fact the vehicle was equipped with the device. The representative had been lying to us in order to “up sell” a larger class of vehicle. We also found that every single toll booth that we used in the Boston Metro area took cash, contrary to his claim and in the event never used the device. We rent cars at least 6 times a year. I know the car rental industry has reputational problems for sales techniques and additional charges and fees, but there is a big difference between trying to upsell additional products and flat out lying to customers to achieve sales. I won't be using them again. By the way, purchase an annual policy for additional insurance, not the insurance at the desk. We used Questor, which is cheaper even if you only rent once. The queue's in Boston for Budget were 45 minutes long on the day we arrived, but all the other desks were considerably shorter.