Car hire in USA

We’ve always used Hertz and booked before we leave. It might not be the cheapest, but avoids the dodgy ones.

Although it’s decades since we hired a car in Florida we were told to take the highest level of insurance on offer - you’ve only to watch any US programme to see how high their medical expenses are, even if an accident seems minor.

We were told to take out a CDW - collision damage waiver, mitigates the hire company claiming against you.
I’d recommend you take pictures of the car when you hire it - noting any scratches etc and the same when you return it. I remember we opted for a garish yellow car, so it was easier to spot in huge car parks.

Here are my tips....you can buy your own car hire insurance policy in this country much cheaper and with better cover than the hire company ones. Collision Damage Waiver is essential.

EE used to not charge roaming fees to use data - I bought a cheap chip from them and popped it into an unlocked phone and gave my close contacts my 'holiday phone number'. Three weeks usage in USA, including using it as a hotspot for my iPad came to about £30. The charge for hiring a Sat nav was £25. Rural areas don't always have 4g.

We usually use Hertz to hire from but always use our own insurance.

We pre booked before we went and had CDW. I remember it was really simple once we arrived, literally put your details into a machine and were told to go and chose any car from a certain section.

We are just back from USA and I lost 80 euros on the first day in roaming charges.
Should have done what Mamissimo suggests and got a cheap phone/sim card.
We didn't hire a car as we were nervous about driving there, family ferried us around fortunately. We didn't check on the age implications of driving & insurance there as we are both 76. Ubers are easy to use in US.

Do check which cards they take. My daughter's boyfriend went to Washington and was unable to use his particular card, luckily her friend drove down from LA to pay, and he paid her back.

We've always hired a car, the rates can vary within the same company in different parts of the US, eg Dollar is good value on the West coast but the dearest in Florida. Usually we rented through rentalcars.com who are now, I believe, a part of booking.com, we've never had problems with them and when we had a problem with the US company they were very helpful. It's essential to get cover for CDW, Collision Damage Waiver, it's much cheaper in the UK than through the companies though check what's included before you buy it. Check what's covered through your travel insurance and home insurance regarding personal property and make sure that your not bounced into ticking anything you don't know about after a long flight!
Make sure you turn off data roaming before your flight, it cost me £50+ when I forgot. You can buy a fairly cheap pay as you go from somewhere like Walmart once there.
I've always found driving in the US very easy, but we did live in Europe for a while.
Check about toll roads where you're going, some will not take cash. In Florida there are cash tolls in the main tourist areas, make sure you have lots of quarters, in other parts we bought a Mini-Sunpass from Walgreens etc for about $5, much cheaper than paying the rental company a daily rate.

Thanks for all the advice. It's very useful. Will make notes on all your advice. What a great resource GNet is!

We always used Alamo or Holiday Autos. CDW is usually included in the prices but they always tried to persuade us to take extra insurance at the pick up desk, we always declined this as it isn’t necessary. They also tried to persuade us to upgrade the car at the check in, once telling is that air con wasn’t in our economy car which was a load of nonsense.

If you buy your own insurance before you go, make sure you take a print out as proof. Some car hire companies won’t accept your own ins if they can’t set eyes on it.

Also be aware that many hire car companies don’t include breakdown cover, so if you have a malfunction you’ll need to find your own recovery vehicle company and repairer.

Most new cars will have Apple car play, this means your phone connects to the car and Google maps is displayed on the cars screen.

Thanks all. If you break down in a hire car do you have to pay for recovery and repairs? Or is that covered by the company's insurance??

I think I'd play it safe and go with Hertz mumofmadboys, and book it here. What does it say in there info about breakdown?

mumofmadboys

Thanks all. If you break down in a hire car do you have to pay for recovery and repairs? Or is that covered by the company's insurance??

You have to make all the arrangements, that’s been our experience. We’ve never broken down, thank goodness, but on the paperwork it will say somewhere what’s covered. You’re also responsible for getting the car back to its drop-off depot.

If you're touring around - we were advised t get a 4x4 as ordinary cars have to stay on tarmac and a lot of roads in scenic places are dirt. We were able to drive through Monument Valley and reach some of the smaller (and stunning hardly used) state parks, while all the saloon cars had hardly any access at all.

Thanks all. Very helpful. Thanks for taking time to assist me x

If you download the maps before you leave home then using the sat nav won't use any data.