car hire

Hi Chaps and Chapesses,

Just wondering who you're all using at the moment for car hire in the US? I'm reluctant to use Virgin again, after the hoo-haa of last time with customer non-services, but the advance check-in with Alamo worked like a dream. Is this only available through Virgin? Anyone know of any other company offering good deals at the mo????

[Neil]

I'm looking to book some at the moment also. I have trawled through all the usual suspects, and booking direct Alamo are the cheapest, but slightly cheaper are USrentacar. We have used them a couple of years back and everything was excellent so I think I am going to go with them. Virgin seem very expensive right now.

Neil

I too used USrentacar last month - excellent as always and much cheaper than I was able to get elsewhere (Dollar vehicle). I also use these people http://www.uscarhire.co.uk/ too as sometimes they have good deals .
DL

Ooh, thanks DL - I'm just looking at that site and am pleased to see rates include 2 drivers!

I've looked at Alamo before Neil - along with going directly to other US rental sites, the problem is that I never know which insurances I can leave out....

We nearly always use http://www.uscarhire.co.uk. Roger who runs the site with his staff are always on hand to answer any queries, fast and efficient, plus the gold option includes everything with no hidden extras. I've always found them cheaper than booking direct with the hire companies.

I emailed uscarhire this morning, to see if a car booked through them with Alamo meant you could check in online. It seems not - you can register extra drivers etc online but you still have to queue up at the other end. Grrr..... I hope Virgin holidays don't have the monopoly on this...

I used Avis last year. Pricewise much of a muchness but their free "Avis Preferred" let me just go to the garage at MCO and pick up the car.

I still find Hertz both reliable & competitive - VS flying club gives you free Gold membership and booking direct is normally cheaper than via VS website but you still get the 1000miles if you have flying club registered with them.

Plenty of 10% discount codes out there including AA.

Used Hertz last time when in LA, but have booked Enterprise for 4 days in April from SFO - less than $100 for a fullsize car for 4 days which I didn't think was bad. Not even prepaid either - pay at counter, bonus! No FF miles though...

I still find Hertz both reliable & competitive - VS flying club gives you free Gold membership and booking direct is normally cheaper than via VS website but you still get the 1000miles if you have flying club registered with them.

Plenty of 10% discount codes out there including AA.

Did you get free gold membership through the flying club site? Have I missed this (she says, scurrying over to the fc site....)

Mmm.... I found it on fc, but quotes seem a lot higher.....

Mmm.... I found it on fc, but quotes seem a lot higher.....

The beauty of booking with http://www.uscarhire.co.uk/ or http://www.usrentacar.co.uk/ is that you know exactly what it'll cost from the outset (same for booked directly with VS too). The gold option not only covers the extra driver (s)but includes a full tank of fuel (useful if you've hired a fuel guzzling motor- gas prices has risen significantly in the USA of late compared to what they were).Both sites also have options for different suppliers.
I find the main Avis/ Dollar etc sites rather vague about total charges/ extra drivers/taxes etc (and even as a prefferred customer I still usually find the rates much more expensive).
DL

[Neil]

I agree with DL. If Hertz, who are my preferred choice are too expensive, then I much prefer to use USrentacar. You can still sign up to and use the fast track services like Dollar Express when booking through them, and as DL has said, the gold option, which is usually only about £50 gives you free extra drivers and a tank of fuel, which more than covers the extra cost.

Neil

Mmm.... I found it on fc, but quotes seem a lot higher.....

Quotes via the fc site are a lot higher.
Join Gold via FC site (free)- that also registers your FC number with them - then log out and go back in direct to Hertz.co.uk.
Any bookings will automatically get the 1000 miles as the FC number is registered.
Make sure you also enter a discount code - plenty available for 10%, eg the Automobile Association.
(I use AARP which has other benefits but has an annual fee)

There has been a particular problem recently with the MCO Hertz site - very high quotes - but the website has an error. Telephone Hertz for a significantly lower quote.
Sometimes it seems they set their availability wrongly for a particular site so always best to check an adjacent site (Orlando has about 20!) You can find a better deal sometimes.

Usually best to pre-pay via the UK site rather than pay at the desk or via the US (.com) site. You know the final cost, get the full set of insurances included and the extra driver

Has anyone any experience (good or bad) of using carhire3000? They were showing some good rates yesterday...

Thanks Bill.

I like the look of both usrentacar and uscarrentals, but am still wondering if I can avoid the queue at check in, I can't see anyone other than Virgin who offer the advance and online check in with Alamo and it just saves so much time and hassle!

Re carhire3000 - I've used them a few times in the past and would happily do so again - but always looking for the better deal! One thing I did notice the last time I used them - I found a quote I liked and got it emailed to me. I hadn't got round to doing anything with it, and then a few days later, I got an email from them, offering me a slightly lower price! Not sure if they still do that though...

[Neil]

We have used carhire3000 once before, typical broker really, but no problems at all. I have found them to be expensive of late and they are a lot more for the date I am looking at currently, but I wouldn't have a problem using them if they were the cheapest.

CS & Neil - thanks for the information. I'm not seeing that much difference across the brokers at the moment, but I'm looking for a rental in the DC area rather than FLA / CA so perhaps that's keeping the prices up.

Any bookings will automatically get the 1000 miles as the FC number is registered.

Just a word of caution. Despite being Hertz #1 Gold Member and having my FC number against my account none of my recent bookings automatically generated miles. Hertz were very quick and very good at rectifying the situation, but I would advise ensuring that you keep your rental reference to hand for a while after completing your rental.

Join Alamo Insiders, then once you have completed your MRA-Master Rental Agreement, you can clear customs, take the train over to the main terminal, walk over to the car rental garage, pick a car drive to the barrier show your licence and your on your way.

EDIT: At Orlando - MCO

Have used US Rentacar for the last 5 years without any problems. With them you can compare the prices of the various rental companies. Noticed recently that Alamo are now much more expensive than Dollar. Do not recommend Budget.

Can you do that from the UK?

I'd avoid Avis. They ripped us off on our last trip to LA.

We booked via the Virgin website for £70 all inc, we ended up being charged £280 and no matter how much we complained to both Avis and Virgin when we returned we got nowhere. The worst thing is you can still book the same car for the same time period for the same price, but according to Avis this only an estimate not a quote.

Serve me right for trying to get the 1000 fc miles offered.

Yes web site is http://www.usrentacar.co.uk

We always use Carhire 3000 and haven't had any problems , they use Dollar and Alamo. The prices usually get cheaper nearer to the date you are wanting. We always wait until a couple of weeks before we are ready to go and that guarantees us the cheapest price. They also send out 'deal' e-mails when you register with them which can be good

thelaceys