Car Rental Question

[kachnickab]

I have a question about renting a car here in the US. All my 6 years I'm here I didnt need one, but my dad may be coming again this year and he's threatening me to fly to Miami and drive up here to Atlanta all by himself - in a rental car. Since I have no experience with this I thought I'd ask you guys here for advice/opinion.

Mainly it's about the insurance. I think it's about $30 extra a day (there are 2 types and if you add them both)... But I've heard that if you have certain credit card, you are not requiered to buy this additional insurance - does anyone know what credit card or what feature the Ccard must have for this to work?

Or is there any other way to save on renting a car/the insurance?

THANKS for the advice!!!

[steffijo]

found this:

Chase Platinum Visa comes with automatic rental car insurance coverage. I found
that information on this page towards the bottom:
http://www.cardweb.com/cardtrak/news/1997/september/9a_97.html

[steffijo]

and this:

I have a Chase Platinum visa. I am going to rent a car. Most car rentals sell
you extra insurance. Avis lists the following:
LDW - Loss damage Waiver 21.99 - USD per day
PAI - Personal Accident Insurance 3.00 - USD per day
PEP - Personal Effects Protection 1.95 - USD per day
ALI - Additional Liability Insurance 10.95 - USD per day

[steffijo]

i tend to use travelocity when im booking trips, but thats my personal preference. places like that have car rental sections also, and most places all have the same prices (travelocity, expedia, orbitz):

http://www.travelocity.com/Cars/0,2676,TRAVELOCITY||Y,00.html


i dont know why that damn link isnt working, but if you copy and paste it into the address bar it goes where it should lol

[kachnickab]

THANKS Steffi :blob9:
They even have lost luggage insurance on there:) Can be handy, since the airlines manage to loosi his luggage twice on his last visit:)

[kachnickab]

Do you HAVE to buy the additional one, if you dont have a credit card with the insurance on it?

Which one is requiered by the law?

[steffijo]

found this too: http://www.iii.org/individuals/auto/a/rentalcar/

lol im totally just googling things. ive never rented a car before!! haha

[StephK]

What you need to do is check with your personal car insurance and see if they cover rental cars. I know mine does. (BTW I use to work for Thrifty.) Also they will pressure you at the car rental place to add all this additional stuff. Please remember they work on commission (low base pay plus commission actually) and they push for a reason. PLUS if you do have a wreck and you total the car and you have their additional insurance your own insurance doesn't have to touch it. There is pros and cons to both situations.

Personally I have a Gold Club Hertz card and when I need to rent (outside of my car wreck) I have it preset and I just get and go. No need to deal with agents that way.

Also just an FYI when you reserve a car the person who takes your call may also push for you to reserve a bigger and better car and try to work a rate for you. They also work off commission.

My best bets on car rentals so far have been: Hertz (LOVE THEM) and Enterprise. The others are ok but not as good.

Hope that helps!!

[kachnickab]

found this too: http://www.iii.org/individuals/auto/a/rentalcar/

lol im totally just googling things. ive never rented a car before!! haha
You are so good:) there's always a first:)

[StephK]

found this too: http://www.iii.org/individuals/auto/a/rentalcar/

lol im totally just googling things. ive never rented a car before!! haha

NEVER??? Wow!! The last one I got when I went to PA for a vacation was neat. It had GPS in it and everything. Kept me from getting lost in Pittsburgh!

[Sydneysue]

I rented a car not to long ago to go see my parents and they asked me if I wanted the extra insurance or if I just wanted to use my personal insurance and they let me and said there was no problem...

[kachnickab]

What you need to do is check with your personal car insurance and see if they cover rental cars. I know mine does. (BTW I use to work for Thrifty.) Also they will pressure you at the car rental place to add all this additional stuff. Please remember they work on commission (low base pay plus commission actually) and they push for a reason. PLUS if you do have a wreck and you total the car and you have their additional insurance your own insurance doesn't have to touch it. There is pros and cons to both situations.

Personally I have a Gold Club Hertz card and when I need to rent (outside of my car wreck) I have it preset and I just get and go. No need to deal with agents that way.

Also just an FYI when you reserve a car the person who takes your call may also push for you to reserve a bigger and better car and try to work a rate for you. They also work off commission.

My best bets on car rentals so far have been: Hertz (LOVE THEM) and Enterprise. The others are ok but not as good.

Hope that helps!!

THANKS Steph, the problem is dad is not US citizen and he doesn't have insurance in the US. Not sure if my insurance would cover him in rental car, if he's not on my insurance. And to be on mine, he'd have to probably fly to Atlanta first and arrange that:) And the way I know him, he just wants to torture me and get lost in the US somewhere... SO I'm just trying to get as much info for him as I can and hope that the $$ for all that will discourage him:) ROFL
Other problem is, that he's not used to driving automatic transmission (on his previous trips we didn't allow him to drive):) He has a tendency for stepping on the brake peddal, since he's used to change gears from his car in Europe :confused3 And that is no good if you have your other foot on the gas :confused1

[StephK]

THANKS Steph, the problem is dad is not US citizen and he doesn't have insurance in the US. Not sure if my insurance would cover him in rental car, if he's not on my insurance. And to be on mine, he'd have to probably fly to Atlanta first and arrange that:) And the way I know him, he just wants to torture me and get lost in the US somewhere... SO I'm just trying to get as much info for him as I can and hope that the $$ for all that will discourage him:) ROFL
Other problem is, that he's not used to driving automatic transmission (on his previous trips we didn't allow him to drive):) He has a tendency for stepping on the brake peddal, since he's used to change gears from his car in Europe :confused3 And that is no good if you have your other foot on the gas :confused1

Honestly he may need to talk to a car rental place to see if they allow foreigners to refuse their insurance. He will not be able to use yours without a US license. Just so you know. Also ALL rental places only use automatics unless it is a specialty but to pick them up at the airport would be an automatic. I would try to figure out a way to pick him up at the airport or something before he rents a car. I know some places will also charge a LARGE deposit on his CC because it will be a foreign card and they want to make sure they get their money.

[steffijo]

this may be a stupid question but...............why cant dad just fly into atlanta???

[kachnickab]

this may be a stupid question but...............why cant dad just fly into atlanta???
Oh Steffi, not stupid at all... He didn't finalize or made (I hope) his plans yet, but from previous experience and me being his daughter (really the apple doesn't fall far from the tree)... He's been talking about it even before his last trip - flying somewhere else and just stopping by here to visit us - which scares me, cause he's my DADDY...

I really hope I'm going to be able to convince him to come here again and go on some few day trips around Atlanta... I'm SO not excited about him traveling alone and his wife drives me nuts, cause she refuses to fly... I dont understand it. She'd rather be home and worry about him here alone (I know I would) then come with him and keep an eye on him...

He's adventurous, I think it reminds him of his childhood, talked about visiting aunt in Prague one summer and just traveling by bus thru the whole city... Well it's not 1965 anymore unfortunatelly. But I have to give him credit, that he mastered the art of traveling on our transit system last time he was here :notworthy

[kachnickab]

Honestly he may need to talk to a car rental place to see if they allow foreigners to refuse their insurance. He will not be able to use yours without a US license. Just so you know. Also ALL rental places only use automatics unless it is a specialty but to pick them up at the airport would be an automatic. I would try to figure out a way to pick him up at the airport or something before he rents a car. I know some places will also charge a LARGE deposit on his CC because it will be a foreign card and they want to make sure they get their money.

That's mainly why I asked you guys here, so I have some "substantial" evidence and can convince him that it would cost him big $$ to do that, LOL... I'm sneaky

[StephK]

That's mainly why I asked you guys here, so I have some "substantial" evidence and can convince him that it would cost him big $$ to do that, LOL... I'm sneaky

Here is the licensing requirments for Hertz:
https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/byr/index.jsp?targetPage=rentalQualificationsView.jsp? KEYWORD=LICENSE

Method of payment for Hertz:
https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/byr/index.jsp?targetPage=rentalQualificationsView.jsp? KEYWORD=PAYMENT

Hertz insurance costs (he will not be covered on your insurance unless he is a resident of your home and on your policy):
https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/byr/index.jsp?targetPage=rentalQualificationsView.jsp? KEYWORD=LDW

https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/byr/index.jsp?targetPage=rentalQualificationsView.jsp? KEYWORD=PAI

https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/byr/index.jsp?targetPage=rentalQualificationsView.jsp? KEYWORD=PEC

https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/byr/index.jsp?targetPage=rentalQualificationsView.jsp? KEYWORD=LIS

(All 4 insurance is 46.94 PER DAY.)

Thats some of the main stuff. When you click on that you can scroll through tons of other stuff.

[kachnickab]

Thats some of the main stuff. When you click on that you can scroll through tons of other stuff.


THANKS STEPH!!! :notworthy

[kachnickab]

I seem to be having trouble with the links...

[StephK]

I seem to be having trouble with the links...

It takes me right there. I went to Hertz.com, clicked on Locations, Cars and More, and then Qualifications and Requirements. Then did the scroll thing. Oh and I did put in Miami International Airport as the location.

[kachnickab]

It takes me right there. I went to Hertz.com, clicked on Locations, Cars and More, and then Qualifications and Requirements. Then did the scroll thing. Oh and I did put in Miami International Airport as the location.
I think I know what the problem was - had to select a location:)

THANKS Steph!

[g_diddy]

I'm not sure if anyone else stated this, but you want to make sure that they will allow him to take the car out of state. I know it is only 1 state, but being from a foriegn country they may restrict him also.

Personally I have good luck with Avis, but part of that is because I can pick the car up ar Sears and not have to pay all those airport taxes, but the cars come from the airport and I can drop it back off there if needed. lol I have also never had a problem with them letting me take a car from South Carolina to Wisconsin and back. Oh yeah, having an AARP card doesn't hurt for getting a pretty good discount.