Las Vegas Car Hire

[knight]

I am using Here drive now in the US. Download the maps I needed before I left home and it works fine without having to use data

[BertieWooster]

123Tricky said:

Hey, thanks for all of these thoughts...v much appreciated.

After a price v chances of some good luck analysis, I've gone for a fairly standard suv in the hope of a free upgrade to something more suitably American....here's hoping ??

Anyway, you're next task is to talk to me about SatNav.

They want 98 quid for 19 days, I'm too tight to pay that ??, so what do u all think? This is desert and remote driving, miles away from phone signal.....has anyone any experience of HERE mapping which is on my android windows phone?

Its too expensive to down load maps onto my knackered old Tom Tom , I believe I can hire sat navs...on ebay....any experience?

All thoughts appreciated as always...this trip begins this coming Thursday, so the sooner the better if at all possible.

Many thanks once again. ??

Depending on what rental car you end up with, you may find that the vehicle has navigation as standard. You could also buy a cheap sat nav unit while you are out there from somewhere like Walmart or Best Buy - it should be cheaper than renting one.

[Dave Brand]

BertieWooster said:

Depending on what rental car you end up with, you may find that the vehicle has navigation as standard.

The last two I've had did have built-in SatNav, but it was disabled. Presumably it would have been activated if I'd paid the rental company's hire fee.

Not a problem for me, as I take my own TomTom.

[123Tricky]

Thanks, all for your previous help on this....great stuff.

Some observations and experience from our trip if anyone's interested or it can help ppl out.

Great trip...proper Wild West at times...desert, snakes, guns, the lot!

Was a family trip with 3 nippers (8, 11' 14), so itinerary suitable for them,

First, car hire...we hired from virgin holidays in conjunction with our flight....seemed worth it as we got a medium SUV for the price of a saloon car...a Nissan Rogue....not brill, but am not a massive Phead, 600 quid for 19 days......still don't understand why cars are so expensive in the US compared to, say, Spain, but there we go

Sat nav wise...was a bit worried about getting lost in th desert but someone here recommended downloading individual state maps on my phone and it worked a treat....I've got a Nokia lumina something or other...easy to down loads maps of Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona.

The trip itself...one night in vegas...not really interested, tbh, but was fun for a night...and found some great mid century retro modern antiques places in downtown vegas which we enjoyed before heading off.

Drive up to hurricane, Utah via a great introduction to the western desert and their rocks and landscape. Cracking nighttime thunderstorm there....

Then onto Zion national park...great hikes and views and landscape.

Page, Arizona next for lake, stunning canyons and mega bend in the river viewpoint.

Then monument valley.....just stunning....best day ever and those incredible drives across huge, vast swathes of land....straight line roads just like in the photos!

Moab...arches national park and canyon lands....all of these places you will have seen as screen savers or backgrounds on your computer....Mesa arch is the very best place there is.

Taos and Santa Fe....such a pleasure to drive relatively long distances on back roads, but you might only see 3/4/5 cars in an hour....Taos itself is an arty little fun town...a bigger version of Santa Fe which was fun too.

Alberquerque...only went cos we like prefab sprout....seemed like a cool city with a great old town which had a brill rattlesnake museum. Couple of good vinyl shops for my son.

Grants to Gallup on Route 66 was fun...stayed in a great, kitschy, old western hotel there...el ranch...ace.

Across properly amazing Hopi mesa and down to Winslow Arizona.....La Posada has got to be one of the worlds greatst hotels....absolutely amazing and a real treasure....especially among all those glories of the natural world to stay in 2 great man made places...brill, v classy restaurant there as well...run by a fella from Hartlepool apparently.

Across unexpected pine forests for a couple of days chilling in Phoenix as there were loads of cheap, nice airbnbs there...hot, hot, hot in Phoenix...great pool. Again, a couple of nice vinyl shops and a great Honkytonk which let the kids eat dinner there until 10, and gave em a little taste of live country music.

Up to Williams via Prescott for a night prior to Grand Canyon...had to be done even though we've been there before and I thought other places were more wow, but take the Shoshone trail there......a great short hike to a v v quiet part of the south rim....no one there and a real trip highlight in the end

Route 66 action again between seigelmann and kingsman...which was a good small town for lunch and they have a classic car meet on their Main Street most Saturdays in the summer, I think...some nice only cars there and people happy to chat and show you around.

Back to vegas via some super hot place in California...needles...mentioned in The grapes of wrath....ridiculously warm, but nice Route 66 diner last breakfast before heading up to Vegas on a great desert drive featuring mini whirled wind.

All, in all, a fantastic trip...such an easy drive..over 2200 miles, but no hassle....

Cost a fortune even mostly in cheap motels, but there you go....

Hope this account can help or inform someone...would have, should have gone to Bryce if I could plan again....but you can't do everything...Utah is just amazing...who knew?!

[Loose_Cannon]

Awesome! Loved that resume and going to plot it on Googlemaps right now! We did somethiong similar a couple of months back and I'm still living on the memories and looking forward to version 2 whenever that happens, hopefully next year.

Like yours when I read our itinerary out loud (to friends who asked how it went) it makes you breathless. We did 4700 miles in 21 days....Really, really can't stand holidays lying around, you can do that when you're dead. This kind of holiday is much more exciting.

PS yes it was a fortune despite a lot of planning watching budgets - being able to travel unhindered is IMHO the only benefit of being rich.

Edited by Loose_Cannon on Friday 25th August 11:36

[h0b0]

123Tricky said:

.still don't understand why cars are so expensive in the US compared to, say, Spain, but there we go!

Some airports have huge additional costs for renting. I think Vegas may be one of them. It is always worth checking city locations and comparing. The other reason renting in the US is expensive is the insurance. US car insurance covers rentals as do credit cards. Americans turn down the offered insurance. You will be paying $30+ a day because it is very inflated. For example, you can get full coverage for the year from AMEX for around $30.

Finally, always play with the configurator when renting. You may assume a car will be more expensive when it is not. As an example, I once had a Tahoe for the same money as a focus.

[Chucklehead]

h0b0 said:

123Tricky said:

.still don't understand why cars are so expensive in the US compared to, say, Spain, but there we go!

Some airports have huge additional costs for renting. I think Vegas may be one of them. It is always worth checking city locations and comparing. The other reason renting in the US is expensive is the insurance. US car insurance covers rentals as do credit cards. Americans turn down the offered insurance. You will be paying $30+ a day because it is very inflated. For example, you can get full coverage for the year from AMEX for around $30.

Car rental for the US market inbound from Europe is often still cheaper than renting for a domestic user in the US even when you consider the fact we get a £0xs and they don't even get CDW. That's why the T&Cs on European source rentals always say that it's not valid for US or Canadian licence holders.

The reason it's cheaper than Spain is more complicated, but it's basically down to over supply of new cars and manufacturers trying to register more cars via car rental companies. Car rental only works well when you have economies of scale, and both pre and post peak, when your utilisation is lower than you'd want it to be, it's cheaper to rent for nothing than it is to find somewhere to park 200/300/400 cars. If you lease your cars then your tied to them for a year, not a peak season. Then you have to work hard on your sales at the desk to make it work. Only once the problem of oversupply is resolved will you be able to shut out the people that operate this business model.

The US market is much more stable and the major internationals are able to buy/sell and shift between various lines of business like corporate, replacement etc.. They also can redistribute more effectively than the poor sap stuck on an island in the Mediterranean.

Edited by Chucklehead on Friday 25th August 20:06

[Chucklehead]

h0b0 said:

Some airports have huge additional costs for renting. I think Vegas may be one of them. It is always worth checking city locations and comparing.

Pretty much every airport location with every car rental company globally will add something in the region of 15% to their rates to pay back a MInimum Annual Guarantee to the operating airport authority. Any additional you purchase at the desk will be 15% more expensive than at many city locations, but it doesn't mean the rental will be.

At an airport you'll have easily 8 competitors within 50 feet all making dozens to hundreds of rate adjustments per day, so to remain competitive, the raw rate drops. Home city will adjust rates far less frequently.

[123Tricky]

Interestting responses...thanks....i looked at airport hire, downtown hire, even Henderson hire...all still collosally expensive...600 quid for a rubbish semi-suv was the best i could find via the discount on virgin holidays...hey, ho.

Anyway, v interesting comment re Spanish car hire and it being cheaper to rent them out than find a place to park them all.....and as it happens, i've just booked a small car in Spain for next week out of Malaga...the cost? A whole £12.65 for 5 days.

Sure beats Vegas prices!

HAppy hiring and travelling everyone!

[h0b0]

Chucklehead said:

h0b0 said:

Some airports have huge additional costs for renting. I think Vegas may be one of them. It is always worth checking city locations and comparing.

Pretty much every airport location with every car rental company globally will add something in the region of 15% to their rates to pay back a MInimum Annual Guarantee to the operating airport authority. Any additional you purchase at the desk will be 15% more expensive than at many city locations, but it doesn't mean the rental will be.

At an airport you'll have easily 8 competitors within 50 feet all making dozens to hundreds of rate adjustments per day, so to remain competitive, the raw rate drops. Home city will adjust rates far less frequently.

This is true, but it still can work out cheaper at the airport so still worth checking. Arizona is one where the airport fees nearly double the daily rate though. Insane.

Most airports are outside of the city so it isn't practical to book from anywhere else. However, the Vegas strip is so close to the airport it can be more convenient to get the car at your hotel and not have to lug around your luggage.

[98elise]

PAULJ5555 said:

123Tricky said:

Morning, all

I've just returned to this forum after being dormant for a while, so your help/advice is v much appreciated....

Family car hire in Las Vegas next month....any thoughts/tips/advice?

We're only staying there for a couple of days and then going on a road trip...

3 kids, so can't seem to find anything exciting to drive

Dont fancy an SUV/camper - got some v nice Air B n Bs to stay in.

Always seems v expensive in the US compared to Europe...any thoughts on where/how i can get a good deal...or better stil, secure myself a v nice car not costing the earth but can fit 3 nippers in the back.....would love a classic Oldsmobile 70s/80s convertible ....something classically American of any sort would be ace, obv.

Bll contributions welcomed....and thanks again...hope i can contribute soon

Best

There are loads of comparison sites for car hire take a look.

Remember you got to fit 2 in the front and 3 nippers in the back, can you fit all your luggage in the boot.

You could just hire something normal then for a day I hired a Camaro from the hire company in the Planet Hollywood Hotel (think it was Hertz) we were guaranteed the car by them. Its was about £80 for the day and we drove over to Hoover Dam, through the Valley of Fire, and still had plenty of hours in the day to do other things.
Think the car may be a 4 seater worth checking.

Also Visit the Shelby Factory & Counts Customs - Free entry and worth a look.

Camaro is terrible if you need to fit any large cases in. We hired one and the boot opening is tiny so we could only get one case in. Our big case had to ride on the back seat between the kids!

[Dave Brand]

h0b0 said:

The other reason renting in the US is expensive is the insurance. US car insurance covers rentals as do credit cards. Americans turn down the offered insurance. You will be paying $30+ a day because it is very inflated. For example, you can get full coverage for the year from AMEX for around $30.

To underline what Chucklehead said in his reply, as a UK renter you will get CDW & ALI with zero excess included in your rental, for the same price as Americans pay without insurances. You must, at the time of booking, identify yourself as a UK resident, either by using the UK website or a US website which allows you to state your country of residence.

If you're not getting those insurances included as "free" you're using the wrong company, as they don't all do it - I don't think Enterprise does.

[The jiffle king]

you can also buy a policy I think from worldwide insurance in the UK which means that you don't have to have all of their insurance which brings the cost down dramatically. I paid 21GBP for 8 days vs $26 per day

We picked up from Ceasars palace as it was cheaper than the airport and we only had the car for the days when out of Vegas

[Dave Brand]

The jiffle king said:

you can also buy a policy I think from worldwide insurance in the UK which means that you don't have to have all of their insurance which brings the cost down dramatically. I paid 21GBP for 8 days vs $26 per day

I think you've missed the point here.

If you are identified as a UK resident most rental companies will include CDW & ALI with zero excess in the base price of the rental - you DON'T need to pay extra for insurance, either through the rental company or a third party.

Not all companies do this, but in my recent experience Avis, Hertz, Dollar & Alamo do.