Florida Car Hire

[dadofbud]

Not been to Florida in decades, and then it was fly drive.

Different circumstances now, so planning to arrange car hire before we leave, found suitable site, and subsequently the right car inclusive of CDW, but no mention of insurance which I'm being told at home that you pay for at the rental outlet Orlando airport, why can't I told how much this is now and pay for it now?

Your advise would be most welcome please.

[RammyMP]

Who have you hired the car from? Most come with insurance? I used Alamo Brits last time, everything was included like additional drivers, unlimited mileage and zero excess insurance

[HotJambalaya]

dadofbud said:

Not been to Florida in decades, and then it was fly drive.

Different circumstances now, so planning to arrange car hire before we leave, found suitable site, and subsequently the right car inclusive of CDW, but no mention of insurance which I'm being told at home that you pay for at the rental outlet Orlando airport, why can't I told how much this is now and pay for it now?

Your advise would be most welcome please.

isnt the CDW the insurance?

Make sure you're booking it from the british site, that usually includes the insurance. Booking it from the american site wont.

[dadofbud]

RammyMP said:

Who have you hired the car from? Most come with insurance? I used Alamo Brits last time, everything was included like additional drivers, unlimited mileage and zero excess insurance

So when you got there you did not get any further hire charges from Alamo?

I'll search for the "Brits" Alamo site

Thanks

[Chucklehead]

The "brits" Alamo site requires that you buy the voucher book as well, and if they ask for your voucher you'll be out of luck.

Not sure how often they do.

Book on a British based prepay site like www.expedia.co.UK and you'll be fine. Full CDW with no excess at all.

[z06tim]

I recommend these guys:

https://www.uscarhire.com

Used from Denver airport last year. No hidden extras, although the company you collect from will probably try and persuade you that you "need" something extra.

[psychoR1]

try virgin - you can just book the car - cheapest by miles for me.

[OldSkoolRS]

Went to Orlando a few weeks ago. We booked through Alamo as they offered a free second driver deal with CDW and various taxes, etc included. I think it might have been via TripAdvisor, but I do know that when we actually went to book the free second driver deal had vanished. I rechecked on Google and found a very slightly different link which did include it, so we ordered through that.

There was a fairly long wait to get served, so by then they weren't so pushy for any upgrades (we only needed an intermediate sized car anyway).

The best bit was that we were just directed to a row of intermediate cars (which all had the keys in) and told to pick whichever one we wanted. We chose a bright red Chevrolet which proved to be useful as it made it easier to find in the car parks.

[Sheepshanks]

OldSkoolRS said:

There was a fairly long wait to get served, so by then they weren't so pushy for any upgrades (we only needed an intermediate sized car anyway).

With Alamo, if you don't want to try and hustle for an upgrade then you can check-in online and go straight to the garage and choose a car from the appropriate section. The only time you interact with anyone is on leaving the garage.

Rates and deals are all over the place, but as someone mentioned a couple of posts up, we found Alamo through Virgin Holiday about the best price last year, although we booked at fairly short notice. It used to be that if you went through the VA site first, you'd get Virgin miles, but I think you get them either way now.

They include a second driver and usefully have a 2hr grace period on return.
(The grace period is unique to bookings through Virgin).

Edited by Sheepshanks on Friday 24th July 09:35

[OldSkoolRS]

That's useful to know Sheepshanks. I'll have to remember that if I book through Alamo again.

[danzltiu]

I always used Dollar if booking flight separately. Book on UK web site and it includes all insurances/taxes etc. Rates were usually lower than anyone else. Lately have used Trip Wheels as they sponsored one of the Florida Home owners websites I used. Good rates and good service.
regards
Kevin

[danzltiu]

I always used Dollar if booking flight separately. Book on UK web site and it includes all insurances/taxes etc. Rates were usually lower than anyone else. Lately have used Trip Wheels as they sponsored one of the Florida Home owners websites I used. Good rates and good service.
regards
Kevin

[RammyMP]

dadofbud said:

RammyMP said:

Who have you hired the car from? Most come with insurance? I used Alamo Brits last time, everything was included like additional drivers, unlimited mileage and zero excess insurance

So when you got there you did not get any further hire charges from Alamo?

I'll search for the "Brits" Alamo site

Thanks

Google 'Alamo brits' you book, print off the hire voucher then take it too the car hire desk when you get there easy. Nothing else to pay at the desk. Last time I went they tried to peddle me a mini van, whatever one of those is, I said 'no thanks' and I then picked the car up and went on my way.

[HOGEPH]

usrentacar.co.uk

Used them 14 times, everything paid up front, no surprises at airport.

[dadofbud]

Many thanks all.

[S 8 GRN]

Good prices for Miami car hire this weekend on Expedia with Alamo - Full Size SUV for two weeks has been tracking at £550 for the last couple of months - just dropped to £369 + cash back on Quidco.

[Mosman]

S 8 GRN said:

Good prices for Miami car hire this weekend on Expedia with Alamo - Full Size SUV for two weeks has been tracking at £550 for the last couple of months - just dropped to £369 + cash back on Quidco.

I paid £545 for three weeks rental of a full-sized SUV from MIA (picking up next Wednesday). This was with Alamo via Virgin Holidays website.

[creampuff]

CDW/LDW and third party items are different in Florida. If you have CDW/LDW, you still do not have third party unless you pay extra for it.

Last time I rented in Florida, which was only about a month ago, the cost for third party from Hertz was $13.99 per day.

[Sheepshanks]

creampuff said:

CDW/LDW and third party items are different in Florida. If you have CDW/LDW, you still do not have third party unless you pay extra for it.

Last time I rented in Florida, which was only about a month ago, the cost for third party from Hertz was $13.99 per day.

Where / how did you book the car?

[OldSkoolRS]

I always thought that CDW was the equivalent of third party and LDW was an upgrade to fully comp. I'd better do some more reading up before the next time I hire in the US (likely not for a long time now as the recent trip to Orlando was the forth one over 20 years...I think I've had my fill of theme parks now).