LAX car hire

[aussiedom]

No idea if anyone is still following this thread - I haven't looked at it in over a year! Admel and beardoc, you are right in that the SLI/EP (liability) insurance is the hardest element of the whole USA car rental insurance issue to crack. Australia is gradually catching up to the US in that AMEX Rewards Advantage and AMEX Platinum will now cover CDW/LDW for rentals, up to a limit that should be adequate for the vast majority of car rental scenarios. This has long been the case in the USA - renting with a 'Gold' card will provide CDW/LDW for most Americans, even if they are a New Yorker who doesn't own a car and therefore cannot get insurance for rental cars based on their own car insurance policy at home!

Anyway, I have never found a decent way to purchase SLI liability insurance as a foreigner (there are definitely options for Americans who don't have their own car insurance policy). But, as I have said earlier, I have found the UK sites of the major rental firms ('all inclusive' rates) to be consistently cheaper than going through the US sites and adding SLI/EP (but not CDW/LDW as you have it via AMEX etc).

As some have said, the coverage provided by travel insurance or AMEX travel insurance via ACE does not include any liability insurance, so you are really exposed if you are relying on that coverage when renting in the US. I'm pretty sure most Aussies have no idea they are exposed to the extent they actually are, when they rent in Nth America under these conditions. The ones who've rented via travel agents, holidayautos.com etc are fully covered, but have paid well over the odds for that coverage.

Anyway, I'm glad this thread has proven helpful to some readers...

Dom

 

[jastel]

I am still following.
Would like some "newer" stories.

Did a US road trip last year, over 10000 miles, all safe luckily...though afew near misses.

Found cheap deals on the interenet when I got there, one week in advance (I had no firm plans), renting one way from Florida (Orlando Disney) and Nevada (Grand Canyon), prices were from $1 a day, cars varied but mostly basic ones, high end cars could be had for $10-$20 a day same conditions, only used Hertz and Thrifty, paid an extra $40ish a day for insurance, you had to drive the car to Cleveland or somewhere in 7 days but unlimited kms, so took the VERY scenic route. I had Gold credit card but paid the extra for full coverage as i didnt want any problems.

Once you get used to being on the wrong side of the road it was pretty easy. I didn't drive through the centre of NYC etc but stuck to the bypasses and dropped the cars at the airports.

 

[amberdbrickell]

Hi All,

I just wanted to say a huge thanks for this posting. We are off to the US next year and by using the tips in here especially booking through the UK sites will save us a heap in car rental - it's a fantastic tip!

 

[N860CR]

Booking through the UK version of the rental company websites could theoretically cause some issues as I believe there is a clause that you need to actually be from the UK to use it (not sure if anyones ever been pulled up though).

I use cheap-car-rentals.com when in the US and it's always worked well. Rates are competitive and all inclusive. Dollar at LAX are a PIA to deal with.... but you get what you pay for I guess. Cars have always been fine

 

[aJon]

Hi, first post from me so I'll pause to express appreciation that a forum like this exists. Nice work everyone.

Regarding what's been mentioned a few times about coping with the desk staff when picking up an online-booked hire car at a US airport and their tendency to either upsell or look to charge for things that should be included in the web purchase.

At the moment the UK sites for Thrifty and Dollar are giving very attractive rates for a one week compact car hire in California in October, and neither company appears to increase their rate if I do a one-way hire between major centres like say LA-SF or LA-Las Vegas. It's the one-way hire aspect where instinct tells me I'm most likely to get pinned down by someone at the collection desk to have to pay more.

I figure if I purchase from the actual franchise themselves (e.g. Thrifty UK) the risk of that happening is lower (or the effort afterwards to correct over-charges reduced) than if I was using an intermediary seller who might be marginally cheaper.

Those are my thoughts, would love to hear if people have navigated this situation in recent times.

 

[aussiedom]

aJon, I've done a few US rentals in relatively recent times. Hawaii and Alaska in June 2010 were the latest. I think the chances of rental agency staff trying to diddle you for a one-way rental charge are pretty remote. I'd just book online with one of the major firms, (UK branch is how I do it, correctly declaring country of residence as Australia). Print the confirmation page and take it with you. If the confirmation clearly shows the total price and the fact that the car is to be dropped off at a different location than where you picked it up, they really have no basis for trying to argue that there is a one-way fee to be added separately.

They are more likely to try and upsell you on insurances - or the 'bring it back empty' option. I think the best approach here is to make it clear you have some idea what you're talking about. I usually put the confirmation email on the counter and say something like "so CDW and SLI are already included in this rate, right?" (which they will be, as I've booked it via the UK branch to get the 'all inclusive' rates). So right off the bat this demonstrates you are not in the most ignorant and gullible group of customers - many, especially foreigners, probably don't know these terms or their acronyms. The confirmation very clearly shows them as being included, so again there is really nowhere for them to go in trying to sell you these insurances which you'll already have.

That may not stop them trying to sell you 'personal effects' insurance or some of the other minor ones that are probably already covered by your travel insurance. Recommend you have a look at the US sites of some of the major firms to familiarize yourself with these terms and what they mean.

You are correct that there is often no one-way rental charge between large city pairs that are relatively close. Same as here - I often do one-way rentals between Canberra and Sydney Airport. Usually (but not always) I can do this without being hit with a one-way fee. Pays to compare rates though, toggling between dropping off at the pickup location and dropping off at the place you intend to drop off. Some firms have been known to not charge a separately stated 'one-way drop fee' but to just apply a higher daily rate across the rental if it is to be dropped to a different location.

Also remember that you can make a reservation now and then cancel it anytime up to 24 (or 48?) hours before you are due to pick the car up. This can be handy to make sure you do not miss out by leaving it too late in busy periods, while still allowing you to take up a better offer if you find one. Just don't forget to cancel the reservation you no longer need!

One more US rental tip - some firms do not charge an extra daily fee for an additional driver (if it is your spouse or life partner) while others do. Some states also ban them doing this. One of the reasons I tend to prefer Avis and Budget (sister companies) is that they don't charge the additional driver fee for my wife. Pretty sure National and Alamo (another corporate pair) do not charge it either. Anyway, as with all these things you need to be comparing apples with apples, not oranges!

 

[drron]

Have just booked 3 car rentals for our upcoming US trip.I use Avis but book through the UK site.Cost-$A511 through UK.If using Australian or US sites-$A928.
Last year I made a mistake on one of my rentals-should know not to do it late at night.An email to Avis UK.Had to ring and confirm it was I.They emailed back the corrected booking and recredited the overpayment to my CC.
Doing the bookings this way and putting in my Avis Preferred number it means just looking at the board and walking to my car.

 

[aussiedom]

Doing the bookings this way and putting in my Avis Preferred number it means just looking at the board and walking to my car.

Drron - gotta love those rental car loyalty memberships - I skipped a huge queue in Kaua'i with Budget Fastbreak - only just got Avis Preferred and Hertz #1 Club Gold (which seem to be quite a step above Fastbreak in their level of additional service) through Amex Platinum but looking forward to checking them out. I read in their promotional guff about just being able to walk to your car as you say with the keys already in it, no paperwork etc but have yet to try it...

 

[SomeGuyInOz]

I just joined this site to say thank you for such an informative thread, especially aussiedom's detailed description of car rental and insurances in the US. There is quite a lot to take in and I think a lot of Aussies are quite ignorant about insurance in the US. I would never drive a car in the US without full insurance (CDW + SLI). PAI is generally covered, to some extent, in regular travel insurance.

I am renting a car for 8 days in the US in December and have booked through traveljigsaw.com.au (and will be renting from Alamo LAX). They are the same mob as carhire300.com. Once again, they are a consolidation company based in the UK and their rates are really good. There are some pretty bad reviews out there, though, and I almost cancelled my rental with them because of that, but this forum has given me a little more confidence in sticking with them. I think a lot of the bad reviews probably come from people who don't really understand the different insurances and rules, etc, and then they come up against some pushy agent at the car rental office (especially Dollar in LAX!) who cons them into spending money they didn't need to spend. Has anyone here used traveljigsaw.com.au before?? Any opinions?

When I sign the rental papers, will I be ticking the boxes that say "Decline CDW", "Decline SLI", etc? I've only ever booked directly with the car rental companies in the past so I have ticked the "Accept" box instead for both of those. Is the insurance in the inclusive rate the insurance from Alamo or from some third party provider in the UK?

The rental lists all inclusions, except Breakdown Service. I'm assuming my NRMA membership would get me some help there with the AAA reciprocal agreement...:
[h=1]Your Rental Includes[/h] * Unlimited Kilometres
* Insurance ( - Collision Damage Waiver - Theft Protection - 3rd Party Liability - Supplementary Liability Insurance - Uninsured Motorist Protection )
* Local Taxes
* Airport Surcharge
* Premium location fee
* Homeland Security Fee

 

[bumpy1]

Hi All
I would also like to join the band wagon and say thanks for all the hints/tips so far. I do have a few questions regarding baby/infant seats that I hope you all can answer before I make a booking.

What I need:
Car - 2 x Dodge Grand Minivans or similar
Location - LA (same drop off)
Pick up Date - 24/09/12 @ 1100
Drop off Date - 28/09/12 @ 2000
Options - GPS for both cars, 1 infant & 1 child seat in first car, 1 child & 1 booster in 2nd.

Option One - Avis.co.uk
Avis.co.uk shows a pay on return price per vehicle of GBP200.09 or approx $323.83AUD and includeds LDW, ALI, unlimited mileage, tax.
However, i can't seem to choose any options for the GPS or kids seats. I did try and call Avis UK and they said that after my booking i can put in a request but they cannot guarantee those options? Does that sound right?

Option Two - Hertz.co.uk
Hertz.co.uk shows a pay at location price per vehicle of approx $508USD and includes LDW, Liability Insurance Supplement (same as ALI/SLI?), taxes, airport charges, 2 baby seats and GPS. I am happy to go ahead but hesitant because IF i choose prepaid rates, it is mandatory for me to enter in my address which only allows for a UK address to be selected. The pay at location or non prepaid rates, address is not a mandatory field. Tried reading through ts and cs but couldn't see anything about declaring your location.

I have also looked at other sites and they are a bit cheaper but i don't mind paying a few extra dollars to go with a "brand name" car rental company.

I prefer Avis as i can declare my country of residence as Australia but Hertz i can't. If i were to book on Hertz.com.au it would cost me $900 which is nearly $400 more expensive but same company. Go figure.

Not sure what i should do and any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

Bobby

 

[AVC]

We found it was cheaper to buy a bosster seat over there than hire one with the car company. The airlines will generally allow you to carry your own as additional baggage with no fee (our own one is fairly high end so we didn't want it lost or trashed, and now we have a spare for my wife's car).

Same with GPS. I wanted to buy a new one with USA maps (and it's cheaper to "rent" the maps for $15 then buy them for $90, unless you're going several times a year), but my wife downloded an ipad app, which worked pretty well. Much bigger map, but no voice guidance. Even buying a new GPS unit would have been cheaper than renting one with the hire car.

 

[toottifruitti]

Car Hire out of LAX

I thought I posted this yesterday but I can't seem to find it?
Anyway, Family is travelling to LA and we are looking to rent a tarago or similar. Can anyone steer (sorry for the pun) in the right direction to a broker that they have used and had no problems with. I have been on Trip Advisor and looked a postings there and it seems that a lot of Aussies use traveljigsaw. The only problem there is, that at the moment they are only using Dollar car rentals. Dollar has had some bad raps on TA and I'm a bit concerned to used them. As we are travelling with 3 intellectually challenged children we want our departure from LAX terminal smooth. Can anyone help?

 

[harvyk]

Re: Car Hire out of LAX

I've used Dollar in the past, no complaints here, the other place I've used is Alamo, the one thing to be weary about with them is that they charge you the car rental costs at the start, but not the taxes, and it's not until after you've returned the car do they charge the taxes to your account.

Also all the car rental places are actually a little bit away from the airport itself. You'll need to catch one of the free buses which go between the airport and car rental places, it can be a bit of a pain esp if you've picked a company which doesn't have the bus running through as often as some other companies.

 

[Willie]

Re: Car Hire out of LAX

Have a look at DriveAway Holidays I believe they are a consolidator. Very keenly priced for us AUS travellers.... all necessary insurances are included and you pay in AUS$ when you book. On pick up you are charged for a tank of gas and they'll try to flog more insurance for roadside assistance etc... never taken it but it is optional.

Used them many times in the US and never a problem and very good rates.

Ooh Roo

Willie

 

[drron]

Re: Car Hire out of LAX

The other thing to do is to check on the UK rental sites.For example I use Avis as they treat me well with upgrades and airline miles.Using www.avis.co.uk I get much better prices which include all insurances and at times better than the consolidators.You can choose to pay upfront(usually cheaper) or at end of rental.All the major rental companies though have better deals on their UK website.

 

[AV8]

Re: Car Hire out of LAX

I have used Argus for numerous car rentals in USA including LAX recently - watch out for the upsell of insurances at the collection counter (Argus has most of them already included).

 

[harvyk]

Re: Car Hire out of LAX

watch out for the upsell of insurances at the collection counter

This is excellent advise, determine what insurances you need (and read the fine print on those policies), and go in armed with that information. I do believe that the counter staff get bonuses for selling insurance policy's, as such will try and convince you that what ever you have, is not good enough.

 

[tuapekastar]

Re: Car Hire out of LAX

I got caught out by this, even being forewarned about the upsell. I thoroughly checked, as I was booking, through netflights, that I was getting all the insurances I thought I needed included in the price. I thought I was (and may indeed have) but when the emailed paperwork came through it was scant on detail. If booking through a consolidator again I would be taking and printing screen dumps at every stage of the process, and take the paper along with me. The guy at Thrifty in LAX started reeling off this and that, I kept saying no, he kept finding new 'reasons' and as I had my mum with me and was keen to get going I eventually relented, as I had none (or few) of the inclusions in writing. I think the clincher (for him) was towing. I said I had it already, he insisted that was for breakdown but did not cover accidents. I had nothing on paper to refute him and I was not going to take a chance.

 

[toottifruitti]

Re: Car Hire out of LAX

I have just got on this site since I have posted my question. I am sorry I haven't seen your replies earlier as I haven't been notified. I don't know what is going on.
Anyway thank you all for your info. I will take it all on board.

 

[lovestotravel]

Re: Car Hire out of LAX

Just book directly with the rental company, saves any possible hassle/confusion/extra insurances/"not our problem" disputes.

For the sake of a small amount of $$ it's easier just to book directly with Hertz/Avis/Thrifty etc