Cheap car rental

[maureeng]

Economycarrentals.com is a great website to get cheap rental rates for Europe, UK, Australia and New Zealand to name a few.

I have used them a few times and they beat every other quote I got, and they include FULL insurance in the price.

 

[ethernet]

I tried them, yup they were the cheapest and no problems at this end.
Big thumbs up. Will be using them again as cheaper than a taxi.
Ballpark number $50 day for a Getz with Unlimited K's in Canberra Vs $58-67 everywhere else.

1) Two minor issues: The agent bills in Euros - something teeny - like 6 euros at a fair conversion rate - but commonwealth bank slugs me a $2 or so fee.

2) There is a delay, as confirmation and a voucher is confirmed - could be a day or so - or less - so book 2 days ahead to be safe.

3) When fronting the agency, I presented my membership rental number with the voucher, and was in and out quickly! Except I paid a LOWER price than the best my membership number was quoted. So much for loyalty. I was also not badgered to 'buy' extra insurance.

4) I'm now 10 times more likely to hire a car now. I've always resented knowing the corporate rate for IBM or Law Society, Vs what other muggins pays.

 

[wombatcountry]

Out of curiosity, are you able to get some airline points for these rentals? I would imagine not, as it sounds like a Hotwire-type of deal (which offers cheap rentals in the US), but you never know... Of course the savings beat by a long stretch whatever value you might get from some measly miles.
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[maureeng]

I'm not sure as sometimes they send you to Hertz, Europcar etc so maybe you can. I'll check next time.

 

[ethernet]

I was not after points & don't care. CARROT principle.

I have also priced one way hires / different destinations and these are attractive too.
Some even have no penalty / same price - attractive for branch, drop-off at airport options.

There was also http://www.netflights.com/car-hire/ which offers a similar deal,
although first seems a couple buck cheaper. But if the pommie pound devalues some more netflights may look better

 

[ethernet]

36 Hours is not enough time in advance for Economycarrentals.com.; least not on long weekends and popular days.
I have been lucky a few times, but browned off with not getting a confirmation yes or no, in 24 hours. (Granted it was grand final day- so Aussies may have been slack).

To be fair they hinted at 2nd day on onwards, but did be frank and say something like pay another 25 bucks, and no availability will go away - its always a money thing.

Hertz has been fairly good online, and they or Thrifty seem to match each other on price, and I can't blame them for shafting overseas partners when they can get the money easy locally.

 

[markis10]

I was not after points & don't care. CARROT principle.

I have also priced one way hires / different destinations and these are attractive too.
Some even have no penalty / same price - attractive for branch, drop-off at airport options.

There was also Cheap car hire and car rental from netflights.com which offers a similar deal,
although first seems a couple buck cheaper. But if the pommie pound devalues some more netflights may look better

Horses for courses, I often can get rates as low as $26 a day which include 1000 VS miles, that soon works out to be a cheap J fare to HKG . I value those 1000 points per rental at $20, so to me the points make $$$ difference to the value.

 

[Mr_Gimlet]

Thanks for the tip on economy car rentals. They came out the chepaest by a long way, mainly because they didn't levy a one way charge (GBP35 with the others)

 

[AdMEL]

Thanks for the tip! I'm considering using them for a week's hire from ADL on December 27 of a full size car.

Usually, I go directly through the car hire companies, as I have access to reasonably good corporate rates and can usually get a day free, so the rate ends up being great for my usual 2-4 day hires. I also don't pay the excess reduction as I rely on my Altitude Platnum card to cover the excess.

However, in this case, due to it being peak time, my co-driver requiring the excess to be reduced and the long rental, the best I can get is about $600 with Avis with excess reduced, compared with $435 through Economycarhire.com.

Before I book it, is anyone able to clarify a couple of things:

Has anyone used them from ADL? Which car rental company do they use?

My preference is Avis, or Budget, as they allow driving on gravel roads (we're going to Wilpena Pound/Flinders Ranges and although the road there is sealed, we're likely to go on dirt roads), but Hertz would be ok. Don't want Redspot, as their full size car is not full size.

Has anyone had experience with damaging a car?

Reading their terms, they make it clear that in the event of damage, you have to pay the excess to the car hire company and then submit the rental agreement, a police report and credit card statement showing the excess paid to them and they will refund the excess. I have no problem with this, except that they state that a police report must be submitted in every case and my experience is that the police will not be involved in, or provide an accident report, for minor accidents where no-one is injured, no major traffic problems are created and the damage isn't substantial (but could be several thousand to repair). I can see them saying no police report, no excess refund. This would not be a problem for me (I would just claim on my credit card insurance), but would be for my co-driver.

Upon collecting the car, is the car rented under the standard terms or their special terms?

Their terms appear very similar to Hertz, but there are some differences, including no mention of the additional Single Vehicle Accident excess Hertz charges. If hired through another company, the terms would be different!

Any further tips/advice would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[markis10]

I can book a falcon for $430 in ADL that week using the Virgin discount with Avis direct, in terms of the excess reduction, have you looked at travel insurance or the ANZ car excess reduction policy for $25 with their cards. Some cards have it included as standard.

 

[AdMEL]

I can book a falcon for $430 in ADL that week using the Virgin discount with Avis direct, in terms of the excess reduction, have you looked at travel insurance or the ANZ car excess reduction policy for $25 with their cards. Some cards have it included as standard.

Thanks for that - that's an excellent rate - my corporate rate including a free day comes out at $455 excl. excess reduction. I assume you mean Virgin Atlantic (VS), rather than Virgin Blue (DJ)? If Virgin Atlantic, could you please advise where I would find the AWD - is it on the VS website when you join? I would need to join, as I'm currently not a member.

With regard to excess reduction, I don't have a problem, as I have two cards which provide excess cover (Altitude Platinum $5,500 and ANZ $2,400) - it's my co-driver who doesn't have either, or any other excess cover, and even if he did, my understanding is only the person who pays for the rental is covered by the card cover.

 

[AdMEL]

markis10, further to my post above, I've checked the VS website and found the link to the Avis AWD's (General K319800, Red Z333300, Silver N645801, Gold W645601), all of which result in a rate of $486 at ADL for a week from 27/12/10. I even checked the Avis UK website, which quoted almost $700!

 

[AdMEL]

I've also just checked the ANZ website and it turns out that the ANZ Car Rental Cover terms have changed and joint hirers are now covered! I wish they would advise me of these things!

That's great as my corporate excess is only $1,000 + GST + airport charge (in this case $1,254 all up).

 

[markis10]

markis10, further to my post above, I've checked the VS website and found the link to the Avis AWD's (General K319800, Red Z333300, Silver N645801, Gold W645601), all of which result in a rate of $486 at ADL for a week from 27/12/10. I even checked the Avis UK website, which quoted almost $700!

$435 is downtown for a Falcon, according to QF Budget have a falcon for $407 pickup from the airport.

 

[ethernet]

Hmm EconomyCarRentals.com have changed slightly.
For Canberra the rates seem to have gone from $47 odd to $53 odd per day all in via Thrifty - the one they seem to use a lot. Again, no reply/confirmation in 24 hours notice.

I wandered over to Hertz and it was $57 but no cars and back to Thrifty were my large employer number got me $55 odd walkin - probably cheaper if I booked ahead, whereas I think the CentreLink rate is towards $40 per day mark. Tried Avis with Defcon code and it was more - obviously cant be hungry for business - even midweek.

So, looks like I will be plugging in Netflights and looking for a new partner, unless one way, or 3 days where ECR is still a good place to look.

 

[StevePER]

$435 is downtown for a Falcon, according to QF Budget have a falcon for $407 pickup from the airport.

I can get a Falcon for a week for $311 with Avis corporate discount from Adelaide downtown, excluding excess reduction. Must be a good discount!

 

[markis10]

I can get a Falcon for a week for $311 with Avis corporate discount from Adelaide downtown, excluding excess reduction. Must be a good discount!

They usually are, I am seeing about the same with hertz on my corporate rate, however that is no use to the op of course, hence I have been looking at the rates based on %off public.

 

[AdMEL]

I can get a Falcon for a week for $311 with Avis corporate discount from Adelaide downtown, excluding excess reduction. Must be a good discount!

Yes, it must be a good discount!

My Avis corporate discount rate with one free day is $399!

Note that this is for personal use, not corporate - my corporate use CDP with Hertz gives a much lower rate than my Hertz personal use CDP, but as far as I am aware, it can only be used for work purposes. I only have one for Avis - for personal use.

 

[StevePER]

Yes, it must be a good discount!

My Avis corporate discount rate with one free day is $399!

Note that this is for personal use, not corporate - my corporate use CDP with Hertz gives a much lower rate than my Hertz personal use CDP, but as far as I am aware, it can only be used for work purposes. I only have one for Avis - for personal use.

Our Avis one is available for personal use (according to our Intranet), up in Cairns last month we paid just over $50/day for a Falcon with child seat, and got an upgrade to an XR6. Very handy!