Hire car usa - which card to use- must we get CDW??

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mumof2sydney

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Hi all- amex, diners, visa signature- has someone done the research already? Which card to use to minimise any issues with hire car for 3 weeks from lax? There used to be lots of stories of aussies being burnt with a scratch on the car and bills for thousands... but dont hear it so much anymore...tips and advice greatly apprecaited
 
 
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To the best of my knowledge..and I have looked! NO Aussie issued credit card is of any use in covering CDW/LDW in teh USA.

Booking a car through a purely US site may give a amazing up front rate.... but to actually be covered you will NEED CDW/LDW which as an add on can be USD$25 per day.

I always book through the consolidators that give foreigners "all inclusive" rates...

In my view the opposite of right is left.... in this instance at least.

Describing left hand drive as "wrong" is parochial at best... Hope it was actually a joke... (Emoticon would help;))
 
thanks trooper- am trying netflights and alamo (brit road reader- 10% off)...anyone else you recommend? Netflights seems to be cheapest at this point and I do believe I am comparing like for like- as in same insurances- all inclusive- let me confirm- i say NO to everything they try to upsell at counter correct??!! Thanks austFF!
 
Thanks openseat- netflights seems to be considerably cheaper ($520 vs $685) ...appreciate the tip though...now all I need is a discount code for netflights....:p
 
mumof2sydney said:
Thanks openseat- netflights seems to be considerably cheaper ($520 vs $685) ...appreciate the tip though...now all I need is a discount code for netflights....:p
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try rentalcars.com also

agree to ignore any aussie c/card 'rental car insurance coverage' and go for the all in rates (CDW + LIS) from one of the websites suggested
 
mumof2sydney said:
wow- thanks cjd600- very similar pricing to netflights and you can pay in aud...
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and can cancel with full refund if you find something cheaper closer to the time...(which will usually result in a phone call from Manchester trying to keep your booking by price-matching)
 
mumof2sydney said:
thanks trooper- am trying netflights and alamo (brit road reader- 10% off)...anyone else you recommend? Netflights seems to be cheapest at this point and I do believe I am comparing like for like- as in same insurances- all inclusive- let me confirm- i say NO to everything they try to upsell at counter correct??!! Thanks austFF!
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I use Argus regularly for USA car hire - usually end up with either Dollar or National.
 
thanks trooper and AV8 - interesting site- there is argusrentals.com and arguscarhire.com - they appear to be the same company but actually give different prices for the same dates -with argus rentals cheaper by $40 AUD ..pricing within $5 of rentalcars.com...so another great find-
 
mumof2sydney said:
thanks trooper and AV8 - interesting site- there is argusrentals.com and arguscarhire.com - they appear to be the same company but actually give different prices for the same dates -with argus rentals cheaper by $40 AUD ..pricing within $5 of rentalcars.com...so another great find-
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I have also found that booking via their Ireland site that price varies as well.
 
Went on a 2 month holiday to the USA in 2012 and drove in many cities for a big chunk of it. I found it hard to beat avis.co.uk especially with the US Airways Avis worldwide discount code. Consistantly beat most other websites.
 
Also try the English web site for Avis. recently booked with all insurance at a very good rate.
The practice in most states in the Us is that cars are offered for rent at a rate without any insurance and then add on cover for the car you drive then cover for 3 rd party damage.
As most travel insurance covers only the excess, if you rent without any insurance you have no excess and hence no insurance. Some Platinum Amex cards offer car rental insurance of up to $120,000 in the event
of an accident, recently increased from $70,000, but the trap is that it only now covers the car you are renting.
 
I have used the Hertz uk site for the best deals , but recently logged in to hertz us while I was there , reset my location to au , and got the same pricing as the uk site was offering.
Rates move around a lot , so do be vigilant.
Hertz are less bothered about nicks and scratches and often have no one way fee so I'm planning to continue to hire from them.
 
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