THANK YOU (Whoever suggested American Express Travel Insurance

[UKAnnie]

I just remember reading on the board about the great deal American Express offered. We booked it yesterday! For the sum of £284 DH and I received a full year's travel insurance PLUS CDW and SLI Insurance for hire car. What a great deal! Now we have cover for our trip to Las Vegas in September AND December in WDW (yes, I know I'm a lucky girl!

THANK YOU to whoever posted the info!

(And for others who didn't see it - just go to americanexpress.co.uk and click the insurance link, and you don't have to have to be an AMEX card holder either!).

UKAnnie

 

[Hilary]

It's usually Rob (rob@rar.org.uk) who recommends this, so I think he probably deserves today's bouquet

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

Glad to be of help. The Amex policy really saves big bucks when you have two trips to the US.

Regards

Rob

 

[UKDEB]

How much less does it cost to hire a car <i>without</i> all the insurances, and how do you do it?

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

The easiest way is to book flydrive tickets and decline the airline's insurance policy. I've found this cheaper than getting flights and car hire seperately (especially for school holidays).

Last year we had Virgin flydrive tickets booked via Worldwide Travel (now the Virgin Travel Store). The difference in price between flight only and flydrive was £25 per person (there were two us us) for a compact grade car for 2 weeks. This year I've booked flights and car hire via Air Miles so I'm not sure what the actual price is.

Most of the UK car rental companies only offer inclusive packages, so for car rental only you can book via US-based companies. For example, use www.dollar.com rather than www.dollar.co.uk Sometimes the website will try to redirect you to your 'home' booking agent, but you can say you are resident in the US to be quoted US prices (without insurance). I've done this several times without any problems.

Regards

Rob

5 days to go, and counting

 

[UKDEB]

Rob,

Sorry to keep going on about this, but I would like to take advantage of the Amex policy as we need to renew our annual travel insurance. I'm very confused, though.

I can easily get a quote from the Dollar.com site (without needing to mention my residential status), BUT:

(a) The prices quoted (which I think are <i>without</i> insurances, although I can't be sure) are just as high as booking from the UK <i>with</i> insurance; and

(b) when I've tried to actually <i>book</i> via the Dollar.com site in the past, I've never been able to.

Have you ever actually booked just the car from any of the US hire firms, or have you always done it by means of the fly-drive/decline the insurance route?

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

I normally get the flydrive tickets as I've found this is the cheapest way, but on some occasions I have booked direct with the US-based websites when I wasn't able to get flydrive tickets. I've done this three times with dollar.com and twice with hertz.com, and I seem to recall once or twice having to enter a fictional USA address to complete the booking. Why didn't the Dollar site let you make a booking?

To get the lowest prices you could try priceline.com (I think Bev has some experience of this) or keep on checking with the hire companies own websites as they all seem to have some form of yield management system so can change their prices to boost demand.

Regards

Rob

 

[UKDEB]

Thanks, Rob. I can't remember what the problem was with booking via the US website, I just know that we couldn't do it. We tried in 1998 and 2000 and the same thing happened, although I must admit I wouldn't have thought about entering a US address.

From Dollar.com I am being quoted $1399.65 (to include Florida state taxes, etc, but not insurances) for a Chrysler 300M for 3 weeks this October! I am getting exactly the same deal (with Dollar) via Sunchase in the UK for £680 to include all the insurances.

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

Is that for a minivan? I'm not sure what a Chrysler 300 is, but whatever it is $1400 sounds like an excessive amount of money.

Whenever I've done the price comparisions getting a car without an inclusive insurance policy works out cheaper for me. We normally work on the basis of an intermediate or full size car for two two-week holidays within one 12 month period. Under other circumstances getting a cheaper travel insurance policy and buying inclusive car hire might be the best option.

Regards

Rob

 

[MickeyMcMouse]

Deb

A 300m is a beast of a car - alledgedly a 5 series BMW but very nice. We've had one the last two times and they are superb !

David

Two days to go !

 

[UKDEB]

David,

We had a 300M last trip (December) and a Chrysler LHS the previous 2 trips. We actually prefer the LHS which Dollar don't do any more, although there's not a great deal in it. Trouble is we're spoiled now and nothing else will do! Dh is a total car nut and he just loves all those toys!

 

[mickg7dyd]

Hi,
I have used the Dollar.com site a couple of times with no bother
but what I have noticed is massive fluctuations in price.I booked a compact car 31/03/02 for our trip in November at a basic cost of $287.98 when I try the same dates now it quotes $450.46 quite a big difference.I suppose it pay's to book early.Never had any problems using my Amex insurance just had to initial the Dollar agreement to decline their insurance.I have never been told that my card was being used for the $1500 "deposit" so not sure if they take it or not.

Mick.

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

Mick, I've seen the same thing on the dollar.com site. Although it doesn't always seem to get more expensive as you get closer to the date - I've seen prices come down quite sharply a few weeks before I want to travel. Fortunately Dollar allows cancellations without penalty so I've been able to cancel my original reservation to take advantage of the lower price. Dollar, like Disney, manages the demand for its product by varying the price up and down. That's one of the reasons why a DIY holiday can provide you with good prices/better value for money than a packaged holiday.

Regards

Rob

 

[neilybealy]

remember to use the promotional codes when you're booking car hire on dollar / alamo main site for big savings !!1

 

[Mpet]

Can anyone give me a rough idea of the 'extra' costs that you will be charged by the Hire company if you use Amex insurance.

If I remember correctly, it's usually things like airport tax, petrol etc. My holiday planning spreadhseet is going into overdrive with all the different coptions/combinations!!


Thanks

Maxine

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

For a two week hire of a full size car from Dollar at Orlando Airport the charges are:
Florida State Surcharge $26.65
Vehicle License Recovery Fee $6.11
Airport Concession Recovery Fee $34.49
6% sales tax $25.15

You pay these fees whther you use Dollar's insurance or decline it. If you have an inclusive policy from a tour operator these fees will be included in the price.

Regards

Rob