Car hire in the US - tip

MrsTinks

Having just returned from the US on holiday, we got a good deal on the car we wanted (a MASSIVE 4x4 due to number of people...) we did book in advance but had to guess a few things... like the exact point we were taking off from as it wasn't the same airport we arrived at.

1- if you need to change any location don't do it until you are there - spoke to customer service who would have charged me (think it was £25) admin fee. As it wasn't a cost that increased by doing it in person when picking the car up I decided to deal with it when we arrived. The service rep at the desk didn't bother to charge us

2 - if you don't have any changes to make then try to always aim for larger and busier collection centers if you think you might want a bigger/different vehicle. We've had an upgrade before now where we paid 25% of the upgrade cost to what it was online... But it means the car has to be there and available - smaller centers only have the cars they need with few/no extras.

3 - if you are hiring a larger car (we had a 7 seater 4x4 Yukon) do NOT pay for a satnav. If you can then use Martins tip and install NavMii for free before you go - but more than likely your car will have satnav anyway they're built in to most half decent models. If you are bored you can check and see if the options for your level have satnavs in standard builds on the manufacturers sites, we didn't bother as we were pretty sure it would have satnav (and we were right) but had NavMii just in case

4 - returning your car if you have a Full to Full agreement - words from the check in people: They really only care if the tank is near 3/4 full or less... so if you've got well over 3/4 of a tank - most places won't care or charge you (unless you otherwise upset them...) - so don't drive around in a blind panic trying to top up 4 miles from the hand over center

5 - either get the rental company $0 excess or take out a policy... although parking spaces are MASSIVE then frankly so are a lot of people and no matter how careful we were there was a scratch and a chip on a door handle which happened in car parks. :mad: As the deal I found included $0 excess etc then that saved me about $150... always check if you can get it cheaper as a stand alone police as per Martins tips though Mine just didn't have it as an option (as in it wouldn't have cost me less...)

6 - Orlando/Florida specifically - you will be offered a SunPass for the toll roads - check if this works out for you - we know the area reasonably well and knew we wouldn't be on the toll roads. So wasn't worth it for us - however if you're doing a lot of driving it could work out cheaper. A little leg work to see if you are likely to run up any tolls will potentially save you money.
If not - ALWAYS have quarters in the car - at least a few $ worth! Not all tolls are manned and there is a "fine" if you drive through. And not all Tolls accept notes... coins or nothing! Which was fun when we nearly got caught out in one :eek: (thankfully friends in car in front saved us!)

safesound

This is actually really hrlpful thank you for taking the time to write it.