LAX car hire

[aussiedom]

drron - thanks.

Our most recent rental comparable to yours was a fullsize from Alamo UK out of Anchorage AK, late June 2010. All up price was 164GBP, which worked out at $250USD for the 5 days. This was a Chevy Impala, a true fullsize car, roughly comparable to a Holden Commodore, except they are front-wheel drive. Not bad value I reckon at $50 USD per day in total...

I've never actually used Hertz as they almost always tend to be more, at least how I do it through the UK branches. I think they present themselves as something of an upmarket provider, certainly compared to Thrifty, Dollar, Enterprise and the like. I think they offer a 'Premium Collection' where you can rent nicer cars than would normally be available, for example.

Actually I originally booked the Kenai Peninsula rental out of Anchorage with Hertz but it was nearly twice as much as Alamo ($501USD for the five days). The rates will fluctuate widely and Alaska is also a destination where you can miss out or pay exorbitant rates if you leave it until too close to the summer peak season. So I waited a few more months and cancelled the Hertz reservation once I heard Alamo was offering good rates and had booked with them.

You're right, they are all pushing the 'bring back empty' option (can't think of the actual name they use to promote this feature). It could theoretically be a reasonable deal if you do bring it back nearly empty, but if it doesn't work out that way you've paid for fuel you never used -which is probably what the business model is based on!

 

[aircav]

aussiedom

Thankyou, thankyou thankyou!

I've been doing huge amounts of research on car rental in the US and well know the pitfalls having been screwed when I first went there in 1996 and also living there for a year courtesy of a work assignment.

I've looked at it from all angles taking on board a lot of the tips and advice on these forums.

Your tip about the UK websites is brilliant. I've been there and got a couple of quotes and the prices are easily 1/2 that of any other method I can find.

I have double and triple checked their terms and conditions and can find nothing that precludes an Australian resident using their websites to make the bookings.

In fact, the Thrifty.co.uk website even has as part of the booking process, a drop down box for country of residence and even allows you to get the quote in AUD.

One would think if there was anything stopping one from using their websites, then selecting Australia as country of residence would then bring up some sort of a warning or error.

Thanks once again.

 

[cove]

Next Tuesday we will pick up a car thru car trawler at LAX airport. Should be fun listening to the level of bs that is involved in trying to oversell insurance cover to us as my traveling party is no soft touch. I think I will observe and laugh without showing it.
Will Kojak still be there or do they fire staff who don't have 100%insurance over sell record?

 

[danige]

Thanks to the contributors to this thread so far - very useful information.

I am looking at extended car hire in the USA later this year and wonder if anyone has gone the route of hiring the car (excluding insurances) direct from a US company and self-insuring separately?

One example that looks very attractive is the "CDW/SLI Plus Excess Worldwide" product at insurance4carhire(dot)com. If I'm reading this correctly it would seem to offer full CDW/SLI cover in the USA for only £139. This would give huge savings on a couple of months renting.

Any experiences or thoughts on this?

 

[serfty]

...

Any experiences or thoughts on this?

Welcome to AFF

I have some experiences with this and it's generally more cost effective to go with either the 'car trawler' style or <rental company>.CO.UK rentals, particularly with longer term needs.

However, it always pays to check and compare.

More to the point and as noted up thread, the agents get good commissions on the up sell and find it hard to come to terms with renters already having their insurance arranged. As noted, some can get aggressive.

 

[AdMEL]

Thanks to the contributors to this thread so far - very useful information.

I am looking at extended car hire in the USA later this year and wonder if anyone has gone the route of hiring the car (excluding insurances) direct from a US company and self-insuring separately?

One example that looks very attractive is the "CDW/SLI Plus Excess Worldwide" product at insurance4carhire(dot)com. If I'm reading this correctly it would seem to offer full CDW/SLI cover in the USA for only £139. This would give huge savings on a couple of months renting.

Any experiences or thoughts on this?

I have not hired a car direct from a US comapany and self insured, however I did hire a car for 3 weeks from Hertz at SFO in July 2010. Some comments/observations which may be of assistance:

My observation is that you are unlikely to save any money by doing this, as the packaged rates including all insurances with zero excess available to non US residents either through brokers such as argus, netflilghts, etc. or some of the car hire companies themselves (e.g. Hertz), are mostly cheaper than the rates available excluding insurance, or only slightly more expensive at worst. This was certainly the case when I hired the car from Hertz, especially for the specialty cars (prestige, fun, etc). I hired a Camaro, but looked at the other rates in the process. The cost of hiring the Camaro for three weeks including all insurances was USD 1,670 (Exchange rate was about 90c at the time, so it cost me AU$1,900 all up), including unlimited miles. This included a 15% discount through RACV/AAA. By comparison, it was only slightly less than that amount without any insurance for Aussies and well over USD 2,000 excluding insurance for US residents and this was limited to 100 miles per day!

I found Hertz rates for specialty cars to be the lowest and the brokers usually had the lowest prcies for standard cars.

Avis do not provide packaged rates on the Aus website (their cost excluding insurance was higher than Hertz for a Camaro), but do through the UK website (prepaid), which I understand can be usued by Aussies.

My read of the policy you've mentioned is the same as yours. A couple of things to note:

- maximum hire period for one rental is 31 days (you mentioned a couple of months, so you would need more than 1 rental);
- if you only need it for the US, there is a 119 GBP (I can't find the symbol on my keyboard!) policy available.

 

[Bluessonny]

I have pretty much never joined or commented on one of these boards before, but felt compelled as this info has proven so useful (thanks to all).

Have spent the day searching for a good rate on a 23 day rental from lax for a minivan (there's only 5 of us, but the extra space will be appreciated with a 6 and 8 year old in the car fo four houses to Vegas)

Long story short, found many rates around the $1250 mark on consolidator sites and the best at $960 at car trawler via argus. Each and every site I found a god price at though was the subject of much criticism from all and sundry prior users. Going via my old faithful hertz #1 club, the rate with taxes and insures blew out to close on $3k. So what to do? Take a chance on a badly reviewed consolidator or pay near an extra $2k?

Then I found this site, much to my releif. After readingbthese posts I felt better about using car trawler, but also picked up the tip of going via the uk site for all inclusive quotes. Just booked via dollar.co.uk at aud $980. Interestingly during the booking process you get asked to confirm acceptance of a couple of condition documents. Low and behold even on the dollar site it is the car trawler t's and c's. Appears even dollar uk use them. For the sake of an extra 20 bucks though I took some comfort of booking direct on dollars own site (which does contain references suggesting it is owned by dollar us in spite of the car trawler association).

Thanks again to everyone on here. I am feeling a lot more piece of mind, and armed with the info I need if I meet kojak at lax. Not to mention about $2k richer. Advice here was very much appreciated.

 

[straitman]

Hi Bluessonny,

Welcome to AFF and glad the site has been helpful and can continue to help you into the future.

 

[beardoc]

Aussiedom, like others, I want to thank you for the explanation here.

So far I'm trying to work out whether the American Express Platinum Card insurances are sufficient - they specifically include Loss Damage Waiver (LDW) Insurance to the value of AU$70000 or the value of the Rental Vehicle (much more than what's on most credit card insurances.

Then there is Personal Liability Cover which covers damages for injury to any person or accidental loss or damage to property to the value of AU$3 million.

I'm thinking that in most cases, this would cover all the same insurances with SLI and LDW and I can refuse all insurances in America - but could I be missing something?

 

[AdMEL]

Aussiedom, like others, I want to thank you for the explanation here.

So far I'm trying to work out whether the American Express Platinum Card insurances are sufficient - they specifically include Loss Damage Waiver (LDW) Insurance to the value of AU$70000 or the value of the Rental Vehicle (much more than what's on most credit card insurances.

Then there is Personal Liability Cover which covers damages for injury to any person or accidental loss or damage to property to the value of AU$3 million.

I'm thinking that in most cases, this would cover all the same insurances with SLI and LDW and I can refuse all insurances in America - but could I be missing something?

I would get Amex to confirm in writing that they would cover legal liability for a rental car, given the Personal Liability exclusions section on page 21 states:

"Cover does not extend to any loss caused or contributed to by:​

4. Injury or loss of or damage to material property arising directly or indirectly out​

of the ownership, possession, control or use by You or on Your behalf of:
(a) mechanically propelled vehicles, aircraft, hovercraft or watercraft (other than
​

​

​

​

non-mechanically propelled watercraft less than ten (10) metres in length);"​

I queried a similar clause in my Westpac Platinum Card insuarnce when I was going to the US last year and was advised I would not be covered in a rental car, which is the way I interpret the above clause.

 

[beardoc]

I would get Amex to confirm in writing that they would cover legal liability for a rental car, given the Personal Liability exclusions section on page 21 states:

"Cover does not extend to any loss caused or contributed to by:​

4. Injury or loss of or damage to material property arising directly or indirectly out​

of the ownership, possession, control or use by You or on Your behalf of:
(a) mechanically propelled vehicles, aircraft, hovercraft or watercraft (other than
​

​

​

​

non-mechanically propelled watercraft less than ten (10) metres in length);"​

I queried a similar clause in my Westpac Platinum Card insuarnce when I was going to the US last year and was advised I would not be covered in a rental car, which is the way I interpret the above clause.

Thanks for this - I've been reading up on this, and I suddenly realise that I've been very lucky that I haven't had any incidents since I've been renting in the USA. I've spoken to Amex's ACE Insurance, and they're clear that they don't cover anything but AUD70000 of the actual car damage, not damage to anyone else or their property when you are driving a vehicle. I've looked around other travel insurance policies and haven't found one that doesn't specifically exclude a mechanically propelled vehicle (i.e. a motor car) for third party injury to person or property.

The only ones that I've been able to find have been a number of specific Supplemental Liability Insurance policy. The only one I can find on an annual basis is the iCarHireInsurance at https://www.icarhireinsurance.com/ for GBP109.99 per year for GBP650,000 in cover. Other than the expensive policies from Hertz and the other car rental companies, are there any other SLI choices?

 

[AdMEL]

Thanks for this - I've been reading up on this, and I suddenly realise that I've been very lucky that I haven't had any incidents since I've been renting in the USA. I've spoken to Amex's ACE Insurance, and they're clear that they don't cover anything but AUD70000 of the actual car damage, not damage to anyone else or their property when you are driving a vehicle. I've looked around other travel insurance policies and haven't found one that doesn't specifically exclude a mechanically propelled vehicle (i.e. a motor car) for third party injury to person or property.

The only ones that I've been able to find have been a number of specific Supplemental Liability Insurance policy. The only one I can find on an annual basis is the iCarHireInsurance at https://www.icarhireinsurance.com/ for GBP109.99 per year for GBP650,000 in cover. Other than the expensive policies from Hertz and the other car rental companies, are there any other SLI choices?

No worries. My experience mirrors yours - they appear to all exclude third party property/personal injury cover when using a mechanically propelled vehicle.

For other options, have a look back at this thread and the other American car rental threads.

Briefly, options include:

- separate insurance, such as the one you've (there are others mentioned in these threads too);

- brokers (e.g. netflights, argus, driveaway holidays) which provide packaged rates inclusive of all insurance required (CDW/LDW, ALI/SLI, Uninsured Motorist Protection, Theft, Vandalism);

- uk websites of the car hire companies (e.g. Thrifty, Dollar, Avis), which provide packaged rates inclusive of all insurance required (CDW/LDW, ALI/SLI, Uninsured Motorist Protection, Theft, Vandalism);

- car hire companies themselves - Hertz provide packaged rates to Aussies that include all insurances, usually at lower rates than they provide US residents excluding insurance! They mostly provide unlimited miles too (some premium category cars usually have limited miles). This is the route I took for hiring a Camaro from SFO last July and I had no problems.

 

[Danger]

My parents are planning a US trip for about 12 months time. My Father will be 71 by then. Does anyone know if there are any issues with the majors renting to someone of that age? Will they? Is there an increased excess or other higher charges?

 

[Danger]

My parents are planning a US trip for about 12 months time. My Father will be 71 by then. Does anyone know if there are any issues with the majors renting to someone of that age? Will they? Is there an increased excess or other higher charges?

Anyone with any thoughts?

 

[AdMEL]

My parents are planning a US trip for about 12 months time. My Father will be 71 by then. Does anyone know if there are any issues with the majors renting to someone of that age? Will they? Is there an increased excess or other higher charges?

I seem to recall from looking at consolidators that the standard age seems to be 25-75, but I assume this might vary by car hire company and country. I can't recall the car hire companies themselves specifying the max age, so I would call them to be sure.

 

[N860CR]

- uk websites of the car hire companies (e.g. Thrifty, Dollar, Avis), which provide packaged rates inclusive of all insurance required (CDW/LDW, ALI/SLI, Uninsured Motorist Protection, Theft, Vandalism);

I do this everytime I hire a car in the USA. I use Cheap car rental USA and Canada. US Car Hire , yes the website looks very dodgy but its legit and has always worked for me.

Rates are always very competitive. I paid $406US for a 7 day hire in HNL a few weeks ago (Luxury Car Class - Lincoln TownCar). "Platinum" Rate so it included the first tank of fuel and two drivers plus all insurances except for the road side assistance package and personal protection (travel insurance covers that).

The only problem is that they use Dollar who are the absolute lowest of lows within the rental car companies. Massive lines, generally unpleasant staff, plenty of hidden charges that they just charge to your card and you have to specifically tell them to take off and they're very pushy about road side assistance etc. That said though, if you ignore that, the money saved is well worth it.

 

[aircav]

aussiedom

Thankyou, thankyou thankyou!

I've been doing huge amounts of research on car rental in the US and well know the pitfalls having been screwed when I first went there in 1996 and also living there for a year courtesy of a work assignment.

I've looked at it from all angles taking on board a lot of the tips and advice on these forums.

Your tip about the UK websites is brilliant. I've been there and got a couple of quotes and the prices are easily 1/2 that of any other method I can find.

I have double and triple checked their terms and conditions and can find nothing that precludes an Australian resident using their websites to make the bookings.

In fact, the Thrifty.co.uk website even has as part of the booking process, a drop down box for country of residence and even allows you to get the quote in AUD.

One would think if there was anything stopping one from using their websites, then selecting Australia as country of residence would then bring up some sort of a warning or error.

Thanks once again.

Just wanted to add some feedback on my post. I travelled in March 2011. I ended up booking a Mustang convertible through AVIS with a pick up at San Fran and a drop off at Las vegas.

I also booked an SUV through Hertz for a week in Denver (ahhh Breckenridge, I love that place!). All done through their UK websites and without any hassle at all. Staff on check-in had no issue with our licences/passport. And must add, flying into San Fran was such a welcome change from my many many encounters with LAX.

Costs. I had the convertible for nearly 2 weeks at about $60 US per day, with all the insurances that we Aussies need. There was no drop off fee for the one way rental to Vegas either. It was why I chose AVIS.

The 4WD in Denver cost us about $70 US per day, all inclusive. Bonus was that the lovely lady at Hertz, when learning we were on our honeymoon, gave as $5 a day upgrade to the massive Lexus LX570. Bigger than an Escalade or Suburban. Had every luxury know to man (a heated steering wheel?!). Was very welcome as we got hit by a massive snow storm on the way back from Breck and had to detour with the Interstate closed.

I'll be using the same method whenever we return to the US it worked so well. Thanks again aussiedom!

 

[jskf01]

Just wanted to add some feedback on my post. I travelled in March 2011. I ended up booking a Mustang convertible through AVIS with a pick up at San Fran and a drop off at Las vegas.

I also booked an SUV through Hertz for a week in Denver (ahhh Breckenridge, I love that place!). All done through their UK websites and without any hassle at all. Staff on check-in had no issue with our licences/passport. And must add, flying into San Fran was such a welcome change from my many many encounters with LAX.

Costs. I had the convertible for nearly 2 weeks at about $60 US per day, with all the insurances that we Aussies need. There was no drop off fee for the one way rental to Vegas either. It was why I chose AVIS.

The 4WD in Denver cost us about $70 US per day, all inclusive. Bonus was that the lovely lady at Hertz, when learning we were on our honeymoon, gave as $5 a day upgrade to the massive Lexus LX570. Bigger than an Escalade or Suburban. Had every luxury know to man (a heated steering wheel?!). Was very welcome as we got hit by a massive snow storm on the way back from Breck and had to detour with the Interstate closed.

I'll be using the same method whenever we return to the US it worked so well. Thanks again aussiedom!

Wow that sounds cheap!! So you just used the UK version of the Avis and Hertz website? Any issues with doing that?

 

[aircav]

Wow that sounds cheap!! So you just used the UK version of the Avis and Hertz website? Any issues with doing that?

jskf01 - as in my original post on this, I did a heap of research and even read all the Terms and Conditions (yuk) to make sure there was nothing in there and there wasn't.

I just then used hertz.co.uk and avis.co.uk and had absolutely no problems. UK must get much more traffic so they can negotiate a better deal with their US partners. Pus UK renters are in the same boat as us in requiring insurance coverage.

I had no problems at check in with my passport/nationality. I will admit to being a little apprehensive, but as I said, no problems at all.

 

[drron]

I can confirm no problems with the Avis UK site.Have had several US hires(and NZ and australia) without problems.Even when I prepay I can still put in my avis preffered number and walk straight to my car when I arrive.My AA miles have also always posted without asking.