Hire car usa - which card to use- must we get CDW??

[mumof2sydney]

Avis Worldwide Discount (AWD) code K024300, STILL SIGNIFICANTLY MORE THAN ARGUS.

 

[AdMEL]

Also try the English web site for Avis. recently booked with all insurance at a very good rate.
The practice in most states in the Us is that cars are offered for rent at a rate without any insurance and then add on cover for the car you drive then cover for 3 rd party damage.
As most travel insurance covers only the excess, if you rent without any insurance you have no excess and hence no insurance. Some Platinum Amex cards offer car rental insurance of up to $120,000 in the event
of an accident, recently increased from $70,000, but the trap is that it only now covers the car you are renting.

As you elude to, Amex Plat Card does cover damage to the rental (Loss Damage Waiver - LDW) and whilst it does include Third Party Legal LIability COver, this specifically excludes when in control of a motorised vehicle, thus excluding cover for rental cars. All Australian travel insurance, including paid insurance and credit card insurance, has this exclusion, as far as I am aware.

I have used the Hertz uk site for the best deals , but recently logged in to hertz us while I was there , reset my location to au , and got the same pricing as the uk site was offering.
Rates move around a lot , so do be vigilant.
Hertz are less bothered about nicks and scratches and often have no one way fee so I'm planning to continue to hire from them.

Hertz Australian website gives packaged rates including all required insurance (LDW/CDW and LIS) for most cars in the US - in my experience, price is reasonable, though usually not the cheapest. Benefit is that you get can use Gold Plus Rewards and skip the long counter wait at the likes of Alamo, Dollar, etc.

In the US, you don't have to worry about scratches, or even chipped or broken windscreen, as there is no excess!

 

[drsmithy]

I've happily used carrental8.com probably half a dozen times for all-in US car hire, both as a tourist and when I was living there.

 

[mumof2sydney]

hi drsmithy- carrental8.com- is incredibally cheaper!..so much so that I am a little freaked out- like $200 below the other above sites...the insurance- not as well set out as the other sites - includes
8 Protect Package Allows you to cancel your booking up to 24 hours before pickup with full refund and no cancellation fees, and will reimburse your deductible up to $250.00 maximum, in the unfortunate event of an accident or glass and tire damage.

says nil about CDW etc....any advice?

edit : sorry just found the t and c- includes NO insurances - so would have to pay this at counter....

 

[drsmithy]

hi drsmithy- carrental8.com- is incredibally cheaper!..so much so that I am a little freaked out- like $200 below the other above sites...the insurance- not as well set out as the other sites - includes
8 Protect Package Allows you to cancel your booking up to 24 hours before pickup with full refund and no cancellation fees, and will reimburse your deductible up to $250.00 maximum, in the unfortunate event of an accident or glass and tire damage.

says nil about CDW etc....any advice?

edit : sorry just found the t and c- includes NO insurances - so would have to pay this at counter....

The website has changed a bit since I last used it, but I plugged in a dummy booking and one of the options was for something like "car + 2nd driver + CDW/LDW".

That's the one you want. You need a CDW/LDW, but you don't need to get the super-duper CDW/LDW options that reduce or eliminate the "deductible" ("excess" we would call it here) as long as your travel insurance will cover the default excess.

Your credit card (or other travel) insurance typically does not provide you with "car insurance", per se, for rental cars. What it covers is the excess (usually up to $5000-$6000) for whatever insurance the rental company has on the car (or covers repair cost if it's less than that). In some countries (like Australia) appropriate amounts of insurance for a vehicle must be provided by the rental company and cannot be waived. In other countries (like the USA), it's not required, and that's where paying explicitly for the LDW/CDW comes in. This is because in the US many insurance policies for personal vehicles also provide a similar level of cover for the same driver in a rental car.

Your travel insurance will generally provide you with third party liability ("Personal Liability") coverage.

EDIT: Apologies, it seems it's pretty common that travel insurance policies DO NOT cover third party liability when you're driving a car. So you might need that as an extra ? Can't remember offhand if it's included automatically in the USA.

 

[Mwenenzi]

From wikipedia
Damage waiver - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vehicle insurance in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Car rental - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Insurance or not?
CDW meets the basic definition of insurance, since it transfers some risk from the car renter to the rental company. However rental companies do not call it insurance, since it is a waiver between the renter and the company that the company waives their right to charge the renter for valid damages to the vehicle. Rental companies are not licensed or regulated as insurers. There are also no claims made. Rental companies treat CDW as a waiver of their right to make the renter pay for damage to the car.

 

[thehound]

I'm pretty sure I used GlobalCARS - Australia's Number One Self Drive Holiday Specialists a couple of years ago for a rental from San Fran to Los Angeles. They are an australian based company so you're covered by Australian trade practices legislation etc.

 

[mumof2sydney]

hi all - update- after LOTS of searching- autoeurope.com (uk or aud site) and rentalcars.com (aud site)(was cars3000) are by far the cheapest. Some variation in the policy wording for the CDW and TP (insurances) both are for cars from alamo...In an effort to use an aussie company I DID ring Alamo australia- they could come NOWHERE near the price (as in $200-300 more on a 2 week rental)...A final look last night uncovered a sneaky code for Alamo- for "travel agents from the Uk" which by all accounts can never be verified or not...this brought the rate down directly with alamo another $50 or so....does anyone know if alamo at LAX has self check in kiosks? Anyone used that code? Again- a massive thank you to everyone who has replied- car hire is a mess in the usa...(oh and a tip- do NOT pay for extra driver in california- the law states that spouses can drive the vehicle at NO EXTRA cost- the car companies try to bury this info)...

 

[AdMEL]

hi all - update- after LOTS of searching- autoeurope.com (uk or aud site) and rentalcars.com (aud site)(was cars3000) are by far the cheapest. Some variation in the policy wording for the CDW and TP (insurances) both are for cars from alamo...In an effort to use an aussie company I DID ring Alamo australia- they could come NOWHERE near the price (as in $200-300 more on a 2 week rental)...A final look last night uncovered a sneaky code for Alamo- for "travel agents from the Uk" which by all accounts can never be verified or not...this brought the rate down directly with alamo another $50 or so....does anyone know if alamo at LAX has self check in kiosks? Anyone used that code? Again- a massive thank you to everyone who has replied- car hire is a mess in the usa...(oh and a tip- do NOT pay for extra driver in california- the law states that spouses can drive the vehicle at NO EXTRA cost- the car companies try to bury this info)...

I believe that California law prohibits charging for all additional drivers, not just spouses!

Also, Many car rental companies (Hertz, Avis, Budget, possibly others) automatically include spouses at no extra cost everywhere and without the need to see their licence or complete an additional driver form.

 

[PLANT]

mumof2sydney have you tried National car rental with 8572130 code?
Did you end up using cars3000?
What is the "sneaky code" for Alamo?

I found carhire3000 cheaper in pounds than using rentalcars(US$)...then I rang AU site(1800number) and got cheaper still for the same deal????????

Why is this not in the Car hire thread MOD?

 

[Baysider]

Simple solution: book through Economy Car Rentals.com Cheap Car Rental Rates. they include all insurances as standard and usually beat everybody else's pricing. Have used them 4 times now.

 

[PLANT]

Quick check above....beat them BUT not covered for wheels\glass.....travel insurance will cover those costs?

 

[DC3]

IMO, you cannot afford to be without CDW/LDW. If something goes wrong, the cost may be enormous.

 

[mumof2sydney]

hi PLANT - that code for national is about the same as rentalcars.com and autoeurope....so another good find...the sneaky code is "TRADE"- pretty straightforward! I Have confirmed that alamo at lax has self check in kiosks so unlilkely to cause an issue...i suspect will go with it...
thanks for headsup re calling carhire3000/rentalcars.com- will try that first
not in car hire thread is my fault- i started this thread re what credit card to avoid the cdw etc...

 

[drsmithy]

Quick check above....beat them BUT not covered for wheels\glass.....travel insurance will cover those costs?

Read your travel insurance PDS. Some of them only cover your excess (up to, say, $5000), whereas others will also cover any repairs that come in under that amount.

 

[mumof2sydney]

YOU PEOPLE ARE AMAZING! economy comes up at same price as alamo code..and has all insurance...this is currently no 1..anyone else!?!!??

 

[mumof2sydney]

actually autoeurope has 5% off this weekend- now making that the cheapest...:shock:

 

[Baysider]

YOU PEOPLE ARE AMAZING! economy comes up at same price as alamo code..and has all insurance...this is currently no 1..anyone else!?!!??

It will be with one of the majors too (possibly even Alamo). I believe EconomyCarRentals provides the insurance themselves. The only possible catch is that when you get the confirmation it may involve a shuttle to your car (but it should be somewhere in the fine print).

 

[mumof2sydney]

hi baysider- a search of lax shows ALL car rental is off site- with shuttles...

further- have booked fully cancellable 5% off rate with auto europe

 

[TiredOldFlyer]

YOU PEOPLE ARE AMAZING! economy comes up at same price as alamo code..and has all insurance...this is currently no 1..anyone else!?!!??

Have you carefully checked insurance conditions ?
it is common in the US to include insurance but with an excess - can be anything up to $5,000 - then up-sell you excess waiver when you pick up the car. Excess is on CDW and LDW and the waiver can add up to around $30 per day.
(CDW for the car you hire and LDW for other vehicles )