Car hire in the US

[Flashback]

As the previous thread has been closed (Car hire in the US), starting a new one for up to date discussion.

We're looking at a 14 day rental out of LAX and have tried the usual sites with CDP's - Hertz and National as I have top tier status in both. Neither of them gives anything even remotely competitive. For an intermediate car you're looking at $50 USD and upwards per day.

Using Netflights (UK) I can get an intermediate (Hyundai Elantra) with all insurances etc. for $30 USD / day. Using Argus Car Hire I can get an intermediate (Hyundai Elantra) with all insurances etc. for $26 USD / day.

Is general consensus that this is still the best way to go?

I have a UK Platinum AMEX charge card also which has awesome car insurance, so even if it's not included my policy provides excellent cover.

 

[serfty]

For antipodeans in the past CC insurance has generally been useless for USA car rentals.

With that, the consolidators such as Argus or Drive away Holidays, etc. have been the way to go.

It always pays to completely investigate and evaluate your options.

 

[Flashback]

For antipodeans in the past CC insurance has generally been useless for USA car rentals.

With that, the consolidators such as Argus or Drive away Holidays, etc. have been the way to go.

It always pays to completely investigate and evaluate your options.

Indeed, that's why I pointed out it was my UK AMEX - perhaps I should have specified that I said that as I know the AU CC doesn't provide such good coverage

It's a shame, but I'd rather go the far cheaper option that gives me a good price and forgo the upgrade that booking direct would give. At the end of the day an intermediate car is absolutely fine and anything else is just extra really and not really required.

 

[drron]

Always check the major agencies in other countries.My experience is with Avis.Their UK office usually is the cheapest for US rentals.However I have just booked a car for Canada later in the year.The Australian office was 60% cheaper than the US,50% cheaper than the UK and 10-20% cheaper than consolidators I checked.Only catch was I had to pay up front but for those savings worth it.
It does change frequently which is why I check those 3 Avis sites each time.

 

[Flashback]

Always check the major agencies in other countries.My experience is with Avis.Their UK office usually is the cheapest for US rentals.However I have just booked a car for Canada later in the year.The Australian office was 60% cheaper than the US,50% cheaper than the UK and 10-20% cheaper than consolidators I checked.Only catch was I had to pay up front but for those savings worth it.
It does change frequently which is why I check those 3 Avis sites each time.

I did that for my recent trip to Australia. In the end the AU site ended up being considerably cheaper than US and UK! I wonder if it applies only to Avis or for other companies too.

 

[cjd600]

I use hertz for our US bookings, have always ended up with the car I want, and I’m a little particular for our road trips.
Always check a range of their overseas sites as they can vary greatly in price for the same rental depending on location and car type.
Hertz.fr, .it, .co.uk, .de Etc
I use AA f/flyer discount code 217692 along with online promotional code (PC) 192021 - which seems to have worked for years, but not on every site

 

[Flashback]

France seems to give the best rate for the dates I'm looking at, by far (~$300 better) compared to the other Hertz sites. It still comes in $3-7/day more than Netflights and Argus and doesn't seem to include CDW that I can see, only LDW. I would/should get an upgrade though, so I guess that could be factored in. Decisions.......

 

[Flashback]

Given it's pay later, no harm in doing so. Strange though, it goes all the way through to the booking / payment page and then errors out saying it's an invalid rate code. Normally it would do it before then. Back to the drawing board!

 

[trooper]

CDW and LDW are just different names for the same thing aren't they?

 

[Flashback]

Well it pays to check - Autoslash is good for that as you plug in the details and it'll keep checking for a better price, but you need to have booked something. Out of the blue I did a search on Hertz UK today and the price is now coming in at $21-24 USD/day. Netflights is actually more. Now booked with Hertz and will continue to monitor it for any price movements. Not sure why it's dropped by nearly half but I'll take it!

I can use my President's Circle status with the booking now to get a higher level car which will be handy.

 

[cjd600]

Well it pays to check - Autoslash is good for that as you plug in the details and it'll keep checking for a better price, but you need to have booked something. Out of the blue I did a search on Hertz UK today and the price is now coming in at $21-24 USD/day. Netflights is actually more. Now booked with Hertz and will continue to monitor it for any price movements. Not sure why it's dropped by nearly half but I'll take it!

I can use my President's Circle status with the booking now to get a higher level car which will be handy.

Definitely keep checking until you go, on all sites, they jump around surprisingly sometimes.

CDW/LDW are the same.

 

[Flashback]

Definitely keep checking until you go, on all sites, they jump around surprisingly sometimes.

CDW/LDW are the same.

Indeed, amazed that in the space of a few weeks it dropped by nearly 50%. It's cheaper than even the consolidator sites I looked at too, so that's a win given I get choice of car in the PC aisle.