The car hire tips thread

[TunnocksTeaCake]

Just booked a first time February 2025 trip to New Zealand and trying to put together an itinerary. We are thinking about hiring a car on two separate occasions (once on the North Island and once on the South Island). First hire would be Auckland to Rotorua (probably 2 day hire – price may be prohibitive with separate drop off fees). Second hire would be Christchurch to Queenstown (7 day hire).

I have looked through the HfP forums but can’t find any NZ car hire threads. Just wondering if anyone has any tips / recommendations for car hire in NZ as there seems to be a lot of small independent companies available.

[AndrewT]

I haven’t explored to see what dates it extends to, but Budget in Miami are offering extremely low prices on all vehicle types in January – possibly in the too good to be true category, but it’s been like it for some time.

Just booked a Group C Corolla for ten days for £236, way less than everyone else is asking and easily beating the short notice bargain rates sometimes available. I was quite tempted by the Mustang for only £396.

[davefl]

AndrewT wrote:

I haven’t explored to see what dates it extends to, but Budget in Miami are offering extremely low prices on all vehicle types in January – possibly in the too good to be true category, but it’s been like it for some time.

There’s a reason budget in Miami are so cheap. Read the reviews on googlemaps for the location.

Tip – take a book, some refreshements and be prepared for a long wait in a cattle pen. When you finally get to the desk after 1-3 hours they’re ok. I rented from them in Dec.

[RonnieB]

I was looking at AVis from Dallas but haven’t decided yet to pull the trigger.
But I have started getting emails from Avis saying:

We’re currently experiencing high demand at Dallas/ft.worth Intl Airport, so we’d recommend booking now to avoid disappointment.

I presume this is just a complete con?

If I ‘pay now’ is it still cancellable? The new terms are as clear as mud

[davefl]

RonnieB wrote:

I was looking at AVis from Dallas but haven’t decided yet to pull the trigger.
But I have started getting emails from Avis saying:

We’re currently experiencing high demand at Dallas/ft.worth Intl Airport, so we’d recommend booking now to avoid disappointment.

I presume this is just a complete con?

Yes

If I ‘pay now’ is it still cancellable? The new terms are as clear as mud

If you prepay you can cancel for free up to 48 hours before the rental starts, otherwise there’s a change.

If you book a pay on arrival rate you can cancel anytime up to the rental start time.

[davefl]

CarhireBA portal wierdness – Been tracking a one way 15 day rental in the USA for a few months now, it’s varied by quite a lot, started at £762 and dropped to £721, but suddenly on Monday this week it rocketed to £946! Tracked it every day and it dropped slowly until this morning it’s back down to £726.

The two wierd things are that all this week, both the potential drop off locations in Chicago that I was looking at would not let me select a drop off time of later than 12pm. They’re both open as normal in the afternoon but unselectable. Today that resolved itself.

Second thing is that the Budget prices which earn 2x Avios are considerably more expensive than the Avis 5x Avios. (location at both ends have combined budget/avis desks).

Booking via Avis.co.uk is £200+ more expensive.

[davefl]

Interesting update in driving license requirements from Avis, removes any confusion about printing out the code that never seeemed to be needed (This is a USA rental, other areas may vary):

A valid driving licence – just the photocard.
Driving licence of any additional driver you have requested.
Bring a DVLA licence code if booking a van
Passport or identity card of main driver and any additional drivers when renting abroad.

[tankmc]

Just past my driving test and heading to Florida in a few months. I am wanting to hire a car while in Orlando.

I was recommended FloridaDiscountCarHire.com and so far very impressed! Been first time I had a few questions and I also needed to check licence requirements for every rental. I fired them a email and they came back with a custom quote which was cheaper than anywhere else I found.

So far so good! I will see if they are still good after the rental.

[sayling]

Any tips on how to force Avis options on the BA portal?

I’m looking to pick up at IAH on 26 August, returning to DFW around 12th September. I’ve played around with pick up times, even selecting a time when the Budget desk is closed, but I only get offered Budget cars – despite entering my Avis Preferred (PC) number and BA Gold status

Entering the same details directly on the Avis site brings up availability

[davefl]

@Sayling Try BA status=none on the 1st page. That brought up one way rentals when selecting silver said no cars available. But often it’s the case they’ll only let you select Budget

[sayling]

davefl wrote:

@Sayling Try BA status=none on the 1st page. That brought up one way rentals when selecting silver said no cars available. But often it’s the case they’ll only let you select Budget

davefl wrote:

@Sayling Try BA status=none on the 1st page. That brought up one way rentals when selecting silver said no cars available. But often it’s the case they’ll only let you select Budget

That worked – thanks, @davefl

Turned out to be more expensive than booking direct at avis.co.uk!

Now need to work out logistics and timings, and check T&C to see whether the double upgrade is not restricted to 14 days or less for President’s Club…

[sayling]

Jeez… what a pile of crap (my memory and Pres Club!)

I guess it used to be in the old T&C about double upgrades not being available for rentals over 14 days – I know I read it somewhere, sometime. Also, having now looked at the avis.co.uk T&C re: Avis Preferred scheme (dated 1st Nov 2023), it would appear that:

6.3 The Avis Preferred Member Discount, Additional Driver and Roadside Assistance Plus benefits are only made available:
6.3.1 on rental bookings made for the following countries: Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Germany, Netherlands, France (excluding Corsica), Belgium, Luxembourg, UK, Ireland, South Africa, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Italy (excluding Sardinia), Spain, Finland, Greece, Portugal (excluding Azores), Iceland, Poland and Turkey;

so not in the US…

and

6.4 The Vehicle Upgrade benefit is only made available:
6.4.1 on rental bookings made for the following countries: Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Germany, Netherlands, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, UK, Ireland, South Africa, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Italy (except Sardinia), Spain (except Canary Islands), Finland, Greece, Portugal, Iceland, Poland and Turkey;
6.4.2 when you book through your membership account using your membership number; and
6.4.3 when requested when collecting your vehicle at your relevant pick-up station.

so, again, not in the US. Even if it was, the double upgrade is only available on weekend rentals (though I’m sure, as I said before, there was a 14 day restriction somewhere and it was only at airport locations.

Ah well, might as well just book through avis.co.uk and hope the Houston people are nice to me

[dougzz99]

sayling wrote:

Ah well, might as well just book through avis.co.uk and hope the Houston people are nice to me

What I said to you in the Texas thread you started remains true. You really can’t expect much from a gifted CC status. On a one way rental they’ll be a move at the origin to give you a car they don’t want, now that could be a one way left with them previously, and that could be a nice luxury, but more likely a dud they’re looking to offload. Rental locations are a sea of SUVs, so upgrades typically are a larger SUV. If the car is important to you, rent the class you want, don’t end up disappointed on a trip costing thousands over a couple hundred on the rental.

At collection be pleasant and hope they’ll listen and help you out, but relying on it is a stretch.

One tactic is to pay on collection, then if all they have is rubbish you can cancel and go elsewhere. You can make a second reservation at a different company for an hour later and cancel it if the first works out OK.

[sayling]

All good points, @dougzz99, and your input is appreciated (in both topics)

[AndrewT]

Any recent experience of how long it takes for the Avis 5x avios bonus to reach your BAEC account, on a US rental if it makes a difference?

Not sure if I may have been blackballed by Avis in Denver, after they gave me a brand new car with 8 miles on the clock and I returned it 3500 miles later. Well it does say unlimited mileage.

[davefl]

@AndrewT Usually around a week for the Avios to appear.

I wouldn’t worry about the miles, that’s just a normal trip for one of my rentals and nobody ever said a word. I’ve currently got a very scratched and dented Chevvy that started with 35000 and will be fit for the scrap pile at the end of next week when I return it with 38k.

[davefl]

@AndrewT Avios credited date was 4 days after the rental but didn’t appear on the BA app until 6 days.

Just got a newish 6k miles Chevvy and this one is being telematically tracked on the Avis app. I can see live updates of gas tank level to a tenth of a gallon and miles driven on the rental. That’s a first.

[AndrewT]

Thanks @davefl. Mine took ten days to reach my account, but did arrive safely along with the 2K bonus that was being offered by BA a few months ago.

Not sure the detailed monitoring is necessarily all positive. I imagine it could also do black box style tracking of location, speed limit, what speed you’re doing, etc.

[davefl]

AndrewT wrote:

Thanks @davefl. Mine took ten days to reach my account, but did arrive safely along with the 2K bonus that was being offered by BA a few months ago.

Not sure the detailed monitoring is necessarily all positive. I imagine it could also do black box style tracking of location, speed limit, what speed you’re doing, etc.

I’m absolutely sure it is doing all that. I don’t like it but that’s our world now.

[NorthernLass]

Grrgh. After an excellent experience with Avis in Florida last year, I made 2 further bookings for this year. I should have known, I guess! Anyway, it turns out our GCM rental next week only includes CDW, which I understand would not cover us for damage to another vehicle other than the rental? The local Avis office is asking $15 per day extra to cover this (on top of the £800 for 10 days’ rental for a small car!)

Is there any annual policy or similar which covers this? We have the annual excess policy, but I don’t think it’s what we need in this instance.

[Alan T]

NorthernLass wrote:

Grrgh. After an excellent experience with Avis in Florida last year, I made 2 further bookings for this year. I should have known, I guess! Anyway, it turns out our GCM rental next week only includes CDW, which I understand would not cover us for damage to another vehicle other than the rental? The local Avis office is asking $15 per day extra to cover this (on top of the £800 for 10 days’ rental for a small car!)

Is there any annual policy or similar which covers this? We have the annual excess policy, but I don’t think it’s what we need in this instance.

Yes, you can buy standalone policies that offer SLI (or ALI in Avis speak) in the UK, usually combined with CDW/LDW cover (although its really insurance not a waiver), from companies like Bettersafe and Swinton (used to be insurance4carhire).

What booking route did you go to get an Avis booking without ALI in FL?

[Alan T]

I’m guessing it was the AvisBa website (seen it do strange things in the past!) and it also looks like Avis have revised their US local T&Cs recently regarding ALI and TPL inclusions and coverage.

[NorthernLass]

Sorry, wasn’t clear, this is BAH booking to GCM, I kind of assumed they would have a standard policy which would apply to the Americas as a region.

But GCM is the ultimate destination for being nickel and dimed so I’m not totally surprised!

I’ve only seen excess policies whenever I’ve looked but I’ll search again, thanks.

[NorthernLass]

I’ve found something now but it’s not that easy to spot as the first page that appears is all for excess policies, even though that’s not what I searched for.

Bettersafe seem to be offering CDW plus SLI for £7.99 per day, which is obviously a bit cheaper than $15. Next time I’ll definitely look at their annual policy, which is about £93.

Thanks again!

[JDB]

@NorthernLass – are you not able to upgrade your CDW policy to one that includes SLI/ALI? I vaguely recall you raising this quite a while ago when I expressed surprised that a policy costing around £50 would cover what’s necessary, particularly in the Americas. That would probably be cheaper than 8 days on a daily rate??