US Car rental - Young Drivers Surcharge

rogan

rogan

rogan

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Ok so it looks like im going to florida over summer on a package holiday that includes a car,

its by a fair bit cheaper than doing it all on my own back as ive got a good deal however being under 25 the car hire place requires a young driver surcharge of $25 a day which ends up at £250 for the holiday which is a fair bit considering the car is 'included' in the cost of the holiday...

so does anyone know of a way round it?
 
After reading people are saying they wouldnt recommend being in florida for 2 weeks without one
 
rogan said:
Ok so it looks like im going to florida over summer on a package holiday that includes a car,

its by a fair bit cheaper than doing it all on my own back as ive got a good deal however being under 25 the car hire place requires a young driver surcharge of $25 a day which ends up at £250 for the holiday which is a fair bit considering the car is 'included' in the cost of the holiday...

so does anyone know of a way round it?
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Be very very very very careful here. Package holiday deals which include a car almost NEVER include any of the insurance you need. The cost of buying this insurance yourself from the rental agency once you get there is very often more than you'd pay to just book your own hire car from the UK with a decent inclusive package.

If it's a particularly cheap Florida holiday deal including a car then this is certainly the case, IMHO.

Read the small print ultra carefully, or better still link us to the deal.

However you do it you'll have to pay the extra Young Driver surcharge, sadly. You can get package deals that include it but obviously you are still effectively paying it.

How long are you going for and when?
 
[TW]Fox;24072870 said:
Be very very very very careful here. Package holiday deals which include a car almost NEVER include any of the insurance you need. The cost of buying this insurance yourself from the rental agency once you get there is very often more than you'd pay to just book your own hire car from the UK with a decent inclusive package.

If it's a particularly cheap Florida holiday deal including a car then this is certainly the case, IMHO.

Read the small print ultra carefully, or better still link us to the deal.

However you do it you'll have to pay the extra Young Driver surcharge, sadly. You can get package deals that include it but obviously you are still effectively paying it.

How long are you going for and when?
Click to expand...

Thanks!

http://www.monarch.co.uk/faq/holidays/car-hire/florida-alamo-car-hire-terms-and-conditions

These are the terms and the holiday only includes the basic insurance
 
Wow, it doesn't even include things like the airport facility charge either! You are likely to be hit with a massive charge when you collect the car.

What dates are you hiring the car from, will see if I can work out an estimated cost and see if its better off you just booking the car somewhere else.

At the moment I will just guess its a week in June. I reckon you will have to pay, on a Midsize rental:

$175 young driver surcharge
$12.50 facility charge
Airport access fee circa $70
$5 license fee
CDW and Extended protection (This is the insurance you need - extended protection gets rid of big excesses etc) $37 a DAY so $259

So thats $520 of crap. Oh - then sales tax on top of that. So $570ish. £380.

Lets price the SAME Midsize car for the SAME dates with the SAME hire car company - Alamo - but using a reputable UK broker like uscarhire. The prices quoted by uscarhire include EVERYTHING you need - all the insurance you need, zero excess, all fees and taxes included. Using the Young Driver Package it includes the surcharge as well.

£229. You could even hire something like a Mustang Convertible for less than you'd pay in fees at the counter for your 'free' rental!

It's difficult to fully estimate the charges involved when you get there with your package booking. My figures are only an estimate. You wont know for sure until you stand at the kiosk.

But given that the young driver surcharge ALONE is £115, I'd be amazed if it wasn't much cheaper to simply pretend you dont have a booking and buy a new reservation from somebody like http://www.uscarhire.co.uk.

Essentially, we British get unbeleivable deals on US car hire when booked and paid for from the UK. Most places offer totally inclusive packages at rates US citizens can only dream of.
 
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Ok so 2 weeks, just double the fees I've quoted to give you an idea (Though the airport charge is about $90 for 2 weeks so it doesnt double).

So many people get conned by 'free' or 'inclusive' hire cars on US trips :(
 
TYvm Fox

Looking at usacarhire the prices are looking way cheaper than you quote, i put my age as 21 and for 1 week Im getting

Economy 2 Door (ECAR) for ~£120? However this mentions no under 25s fees, but i did put my age as 21, will i just be expected to still pay that when we get there?
 
[TW]Fox;24072996 said:
Essentially, we British get unbeleivable deals on US car hire when booked and paid for from the UK. Most places offer totally inclusive packages at rates US citizens can only dream of.
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Excellent post Fox. On the many occasions I have rented in the US, the counter staff have always exclaimed the greatness of the deal I had. Once in Hartford the guy at the counter held me 30 minutes whilst he checked with head office as he was convinced that I had been given a wrong price, IIRC around $150 for a week in a Grand Marquis with full insurance. Apparently I could have returned the car by driving it through the shop window without paying a dime :D

On the flip side though I got stung for an early return in New Orleans when Hurricane Irene was approaching. Through Carhire3000, it was pretty much the only exclusion on the policy. It was an expensive few days in a Lacrosse (hateful car).
 
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Scuzi said:
Excellent post Fox. On the many occasions I have rented in the US, the counter staff have always exclaimed the greatness of the deal I had. Once in Hartford the guy at the counter held me 30 minutes whilst he checked with head office as he was convinced that I had been given a wrong price, IIRC around $150 for a week in a Grand Marquis with full insurance. Apparently I could have returned the car by driving it through the shop window without paying a dime :D
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It's absolutely awesome isn't it. Latest quote I've got up is just £499 for almost 3 weeks in a luxury sedan (Had an Infiniti last time) with zero excess :D
 
Thanks a lot guys thats way better I think, we'll take airport transfers for £30 and just hire a car for 7 days I think as we really won't need it for the full week
 
rogan said:
Thanks a lot guys thats way better I think, we'll take airport transfers for £30 and just hire a car for 7 days I think as we really won't need it for the full week
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Flying into Orlando, right?

Just hire a car for the whole 2 weeks. No need to faff around with airport transfers and as you've seen it's not particularly expensive.
 
[TW]Fox;24072996 said:
Wow, it doesn't even include things like the airport facility charge either! You are likely to be hit with a massive charge when you collect the car.

What dates are you hiring the car from, will see if I can work out an estimated cost and see if its better off you just booking the car somewhere else.

At the moment I will just guess its a week in June. I reckon you will have to pay, on a Midsize rental:

$175 young driver surcharge
$12.50 facility charge
Airport access fee circa $70
$5 license fee
CDW and Extended protection (This is the insurance you need - extended protection gets rid of big excesses etc) $37 a DAY so $259

So thats $520 of crap. Oh - then sales tax on top of that. So $570ish. £380.

Lets price the SAME Midsize car for the SAME dates with the SAME hire car company - Alamo - but using a reputable UK broker like uscarhire. The prices quoted by uscarhire include EVERYTHING you need - all the insurance you need, zero excess, all fees and taxes included. Using the Young Driver Package it includes the surcharge as well.

£229. You could even hire something like a Mustang Convertible for less than you'd pay in fees at the counter for your 'free' rental!

It's difficult to fully estimate the charges involved when you get there with your package booking. My figures are only an estimate. You wont know for sure until you stand at the kiosk.

But given that the young driver surcharge ALONE is £115, I'd be amazed if it wasn't much cheaper to simply pretend you dont have a booking and buy a new reservation from somebody like http://www.uscarhire.co.uk.

Essentially, we British get unbeleivable deals on US car hire when booked and paid for from the UK. Most places offer totally inclusive packages at rates US citizens can only dream of.
Click to expand...

Excellent info!

Hopefully planning a trip to Florida this year and was worried about the hire car costs for a young driver, not actually as bad as I imagined though that website.
 
[TW]Fox;24073258 said:
It's absolutely awesome isn't it. Latest quote I've got up is just £499 for almost 3 weeks in a luxury sedan (Had an Infiniti last time) with zero excess :D
Click to expand...

great info - thanks very much, looking into hire cars for our trip to the states and was going to go for one of those inclusive deals. Top man
 
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