The car hire tips thread

[Aliks]

I should have said that the Expedia quote was for pickup at the Avis depot just next to the Hilton Hotel where we are staying . .

[SteveJ]

Special thanks to @JenT, returned from a trip to PHX and landed a great deal thanks to the tips, with Hertz.

I’m Hertz Five Star through Amex Platinum.
Booked a Class C on the Bermuda Hertz website (as was cheapest), declined all insurances, relying on Plat.

Arrived at PHX, after the loooooong bus transfer to the car hire terminal (why is it so far off site!) signs at Hertz desk point members straight to the car lot. Name on the board pointed me to Presidents Circle with a free choice of cars. Picked up a huge SUV (lots available, medium and large sedan, muscle cars, pick up truck, SUVs).

They took a look at my UK driver’s licence and a pre auth of around $200 on my credit card. Other than declining their fuel package no other conversation (i.e. no question of me taking an SUV when I’d booked a medium sedan, also not a peep on my being a UK driver’s license and credit card holder whilst booking via Bermuda).

Upon returning the car my receipt confirmed booking class and cost were as booking, Class C, whereas vehicle was a Class Z4 (Prestige Large SUV). Top result!

• This reply was modified 54 years, 4 months ago by .

[JenT]

So glad to hear it worked well – the one benefit of Phoenix Airport is the gigantic car rental center! They like big cars there too 😀

[ThriceForgiven]

My kind of thread! So many useful nuggets here, thanks everyone for sharing.

I have a question regarding car rental for an upcoming trip to Cancun, Mexico. I’ve read horror stories about car agencies there (including the big ones e.g. Hertz & Avis), especially with things like upsell, cars not being available, arbitrary decline of non-rental agency insurance, etc. When factoring in the insurance (on Hertz and Avis) prices get a bit crazy.

Does anyone have any recommendations on which agencies to use? Ideally we’d like to pick-up/drop-off at CUN airport (~19th of April to 1st of May = 12 days), but if there are more trustworthy agencies off-airport we could consider this.

For what it’s worth, I have an Amex Platinum – I presume the insurance is valid in Mexico?

Any help appreciated!!!

Thanks.

[JenT]

We used America Car Rental last time flying into Cancun – it’s the only time I can remember that I didn’t go with one of the ‘big names’ after reading some horror stories. Prompt pick up from the airport to their location, good car and hassle-free drop off. At the time of renting, they asked to see my insurance documents when I turned down their coverage.

I think we had another policy then rather than Amex Platinum, but they looked over the documents and told me that the only situation they could see is that my policy didn’t cover nuclear holocaust. I told them that returning the car under those circumstances would probably be the least of my worries and understood I would be liable for the cost of the car – all was well and off we went!

[Molly]

Looking to book a car on Hertz Bermuda site for the US using the Amex Platinum code. Player 2 has President circle status but is the supplementary card holder.

If booked using the supplementary card in Player 2’s name are we still covered by the car insurance policy?

[SteveJ]

Molly wrote:

Looking to book a car on Hertz Bermuda site for the US using the Amex Platinum code. Player 2 has President circle status but is the supplementary card holder.

If booked using the supplementary card in Player 2’s name are we still covered by the car insurance policy?

Yes the supplementary card holder benefits from all the insurance cover, including the car hire insurance.

[bhanorthy]

Thought it would be worth adding my newest experience.

Boston for two weeks in June. Hertz at Hanscom Field, a small private airport 30 mins from downtown in an Uber, is under half the cost of Logan International.

Always always try the non major airport locations!

[Mel TS]

Just a note for those of us who don’t have an Amex platinum… I just checked my expedia car hire booking for Austin in September, cancelled, rebooked and saved myself nearly £500. Worth a double check today 🙂

[yonasl]

Mel TS wrote:

Just a note for those of us who don’t have an Amex platinum… I just checked my expedia car hire booking for Austin in September, cancelled, rebooked and saved myself nearly £500. Worth a double check today 🙂

Same with a booking I was doing in Madrid for April. Car where £150-250 per day. The £250 is now £110.

• This reply was modified 54 years, 4 months ago by .

[ANNE]

Mel TS wrote:

Just a note for those of us who don’t have an Amex platinum… I just checked my expedia car hire booking for Austin in September, cancelled, rebooked and saved myself nearly £500. Worth a double check today 🙂

Thanks so much for the heads up. Just switched our New Orleans to Nashville road trip in May from a Toyota Corolla at £729 for 8 days to a Mustang for just under £500 – very happy with that!

[Mel TS]

Anne wrote:

Mel TS wrote:

Just a note for those of us who don’t have an Amex platinum… I just checked my expedia car hire booking for Austin in September, cancelled, rebooked and saved myself nearly £500. Worth a double check today 🙂

Thanks so much for the heads up. Just switched our New Orleans to Nashville road trip in May from a Toyota Corolla at £729 for 8 days to a Mustang for just under £500 – very happy with that!

I’ve also switched to a Mustang, but also have a Ford F150 in reserve, as I couldn’t decide!

[ANNE]

Mel TS wrote:

I’ve also switched to a Mustang, but also have a Ford F150 in reserve, as I couldn’t decide!

That’s a much tougher choice than my Corolla vs Mustang!!

[The Savage Squirrel]

Mel TS wrote:

I’ve also switched to a Mustang, but also have a Ford F150 in reserve, as I couldn’t decide!

Is that even a choice?

Anyway, thanks for the heads up as it made me go recheck! There does seem a general price drop – just reduced cost by $350 on 12 days out of LAX this month.

[Niall]

Any advice on renting in Spain (Malaga) at the end of this month?

I know Malagacar have a great rep and a lot of the companies there have awful ones! Usually I think if it’s a little more expensive they are worth it, but their pricing gets more and more expensive the closer to the booking and so now it’s just not competitive at all.

Have an Amex platinum but I’m always confused by how the insurance applied to rentals in places like Spain where it seems you cannot refuse all insurance, but just opt for less over or more cover? Does it bridge the gap if you choose the lesser cover?

[JenT]

@Niall the insurance with Amex Platinum will cover the extra costs when you take the lowest level of insurance offered by the company – I have claimed in Spain recently with no issues.

There are so many reviews for Malaga car rental (I think there was a thread on these forums too). I was fine with Avis and worked well for me as I booked with AvisBA to get a second driver for free.

[NorthernLass]

@Niall, I can add we had a great experience with malagacar in February. The only drawback was that it wasn’t easy to get into the compound to return the car (you have to come off the road into the airport at a very difficult-to-spot exit) but I’d definitely use them again. Haven’t looked at prices recently but we paid 154 euros for the “full package” for a week’s SUV rental.

If you have Amex Platinum it covers everything, basically.

[Niall]

Thanks JenT and NorthernLass. I have heard consistently good things about Malagacar and would choose them, but prices now are unfortunately not competitive. 26 April to 1 May, and the lowest category of car I see €132 without the ‘Full pack’ or €189 with it. Prices increase quickly for a better category. And there is a mileage limit which I would be too close to. I think I might have to end up with Delpaso or one of the others 🙁

[Tracy]

Looking at car hire in Northern Ireland for one day in June, cheapest I can find is about £60. One day from BFS. Does this sound about right? I got 5 days in Portugal in March for £70 so seems a bit steep for one day….

[NorthernLass]

Duplicate – submit button playing up!

• This reply was modified 54 years, 4 months ago by .

[NorthernLass]

I’ve just paid £600 for a week’s car hire in Porto in August! Including 43 euros extra for driving across the border with Spain an hour away 😬. I used Zest, recommended by Which and includes full insurance, no excess and extra driver and the security deposit is only £300 (unlike a lot of companies charging roughly the same, not including any of the extras and wanting over £1000 deposit).

• This reply was modified 54 years, 4 months ago by .

[The Savage Squirrel]

Tracy wrote:

Looking at car hire in Northern Ireland for one day in June, cheapest I can find is about £60. One day from BFS. Does this sound about right? I got 5 days in Portugal in March for £70 so seems a bit steep for one day….

£70 for 5 days is astonishing. Wouldn’t use that as a frame of reference. £60 is pretty reasonable compared to local daily rates near me. If passengers aren’t an issue then the cheapest rental can often be a small van, so include that in your search – in my area it’s about half the cost vs even a compact car.

[Tracy]

@NorthernLass @The Savage Squirrel, Maybe I got lucky as I booked last minute. Just checked the reservation and it was actually £88 for 5 days from Porto airport. I booked it 4 weeks before travel if that makes a difference?

[NorthernLass]

Hi @Tracy – who did you book that with? I’ve only had to pay £49 deposit so it would be worth losing that to get a better rate!

[Tracy]

I booked through holidayautos. It was a thrifty car hire but actually ended up picking up from hertz. It was the smallest car available and OH complained every time we went up a hill lol but at £88 couldn’t say too much….

NorthernLass wrote:

Hi @Tracy – who did you book that with? I’ve only had to pay £49 deposit so it would be worth losing that to get a better rate!