Car hire in USA - help!

stevejwatts

Hi all

I am looking to hire a car in USA for 9 days from this Saturday.

I basically need to know where is the cheapest place to go to. I have gone on to moneysupermarket and got it for about £120 cheapest for a compact car.

More specifically I am unclear about the insurance required. I know that there is advice from MSE on this website not to take out the insurance with the car hire company. Where do I take the insurance out then (is it with a general insurance company over here?)

Do I have to request from the car hire company not to take out there insurance?


Thanks in advance.

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njsb14

A number of other MSEs have used Insurance 4 Car Hire to cover difference between what Car Hire company offers you and what you might actually need. (They include coverage for glass, tyres and underside damage, which most car hire companies wont cover even on their most expensive insurance add ons).

I have used them for a few years, but have never had to claim, so can't tell you how good they are at paying out.

check out their site for more info insurance4carhire.com

I think their website also tells you what you need in terms of insurance from the car hire company, from memory very little, but check out the insurance4carhire website to clarify

Hope it helps.

nej

Try https://www.USRentACar.com for car hire. I'm going to be using them soon, they appear to be a very good price, and are brokers for Dollar/Alamo so you are using a big-name company.

Hintza

Also worth trying https://www.auto-europe.co.uk/. They are US based and I use them virtually all time for Europe, never tried the US side.

steveo3002

generaly speaking if you book via a uk website /agent it includes fully comp insurance (excess still applys sometimes)

u.s sites wont include no insurance as they assume u.s drivers may have thier own deal, be aware not all rental companys will accpet other insurances that may buy online

for hassle free id book this end

iolanthe07

I rent a car in the US every year, and have done so for a long time. I find Alamo very good, but all of them will offer you insurance you don't really need (eg: roadside assistance, when it's covered in the contract already), or you already have through your travel insurance (eg: medical care as a result of an accident). Do be sure to include CDW though, especially in California. I find it best to use a reputable UK company to make the arrangements and ignore all the offers of extra insurance pushed at you when you pick up the car. Car hire is ridiculously cheap in the US as compared to Europe, and you tend to get much better cars and not to be screwed for minor paintwork blemishes which you didn't notice when you picked the car up.