Do you have an American Express card?. If the car is hired using the card insurance is included up to a value of $40,000 which pretty much covers the average hire car, not including premium Cadillacs, Town Cars etc. Other credit cards may also offer hire car coverage so it may be worth checking with the ones you have.
I never get extra insurance of any kind, usually relying on the credit card cover, despite the tales of death and mayhem that will occur unless I buy their in-house cover.
|
|
|
Hi Dalglish, thanks for the advice, and especially that link. I am intending on buying the car hire seperately, should be much cheaper, assuming I can get this insurance question sorted out.
Could I ask you a question about the link?
Not sure whether I'm reading it right, is it saying that for that charge of £99, it supplies CDW, LDW and SLI?
Because, from the descriptions on that website, CDW and LDW would not cover the insurance required by the state of California, it'd be the SLI I'd need. Of course, I'd be quite happy to have all three!
Also, when you say it's £49 through the Daily Telegraph, does this just involve buying a DT and cutting out a coupon or something?
|
What I wouldn't give for an edit function to hide my regular idiocy.
OK, I've now actually read the link, rather than just glancing at it, and have seen that the cost does provide the damage waiver and the SLI. This sounds perfect.
If you could clear up the £49 through the Telegraph matter I'd be very grateful though.
|
bazza: glad to have been of help. i am feeling chuffed so many backroomers seem to be thanking me!!
the telegraph ad said " hiring a car? cut out the extra costs. etc. etc. £49 per year etc. etc. call 020 7328 9034 ". guess you will have to ring them exactly what the £49 buys.
re - hotels while travelling. i always book my first stop from here.
then book as I go along either on arrival or 1 or 2 days ahead if staying at same group of hotels. usually possible to get discount of 30 to 50% of rack price if you ask for discount. i also always ask to check room first before accepting.
|
bazza: my dad used to work in motor insurance so remembers these things. he dug up this for you coutesy of dailytelegraph travel:
www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/main.jhtml?menuId=113&m...3
www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/main.jhtml?grid=T6&xml=...l
Car-only hire in US
Gill writes
In a recent column, I suggested it was possible to buy an annual insurance policy from NatWest or American Express to cover the collision damage waiver (CDW) and supplementary liability insurance (SLI) needed for hiring a car abroad. These insurances, bought either as part of a pre-paid car hire package or at the rental counter on picking up the car, worked out much more expensive for frequent travellers, especially to the US.
I asked for readers' experiences in obtaining what is known as car-only rental in the US. Tony Thompson, the car rental manager of Sunstyle Vacations, emailed to say his company pioneered this concept in Florida.
"Until last April, our customers could rent an economy car from £45 a week, including taxes, in Florida and use their own annual CDW and SLI policies to cover these essential insurances. The savings on the standard all-inclusive package were about £100 a week.
"However, car rental companies realised they were losing money on the rental and withdrew the car-only deal from the market. For international travellers, most major companies no longer accept CDW/SLI cover purchased elsewhere."
Mr Thompson says that, for the US domestic market, car rental companies must provide a car-only deal (US drivers often have CDW/SLI as part of their own car insurance). But as companies have come to realise they are making no profit from selling insurance, rental rates have risen. "Add airport, state, road and environment taxes," said Mr Thompson, "and the total cost can be way above that of pre-paid packages available through tour operators such as ourselves." (Sunstyle charges £129 a week for a compact car in Florida, including all insurances.)
Smaller local car rental companies may be willing to accept British purchased annual CDW/SLI policies, but customers should check this is still the case and what the bottom line really is.
|
the previous article referred to above by ask gill:
www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/main.jhtml?grid=T6&xml=...l
Annual car hire insurance
G Weaver from London wrote
We visit Florida several times a year, and find it irritating to have to pay so much for collision damage waiver (CDW) and supplementary liability insurance (SLI). Is it possible to buy an annual policy covering these insurances?
Gill's response
I have come across two such options. NatWest offers annual cover for LDW (similar to CDW) and SLI for a premium of £75 to holders of any NatWest credit card. It covers renters aged 21 to 74 for LDW up to US$50,000 (£32,000) and SLI of up to US$1 million (£650,000), plus protection if you are involved in an accident with someone with no insurance. The maximum period for any one trip is 31 days and the cardholder must pay the rental cost using the NatWest card. For more details, call 0845 458 9677.
If you buy its Annual Premier Plus travel insurance, American Express (0800 700707) offers CDW up to US$50,000 (£32,000) and "top-up liability" - similar to SLI - of up to US$1 million (£650,000), plus cover of up to US$100,000 (£65,000) for any bodily injury sustained by the insured when entering, occupying or alighting from a rental vehicle in the US and Canada. The policy costs £204.95 a year for an individual (£389.95 if you are over 66) or £284.95 for family cover (£549.95 for insured and spouse only if over 66). This is about £100 more than the company's basic annual travel policy.
Rates for shorter-term CDW and SLI vary, but reckon on about US$148 (£98) per week for CDW and US$84 (£56) per week for SLI. You will need to shop around to make substantial savings because all-inclusive packages sold in Britain are very competitive. For example, Avis UK charges £160 for a week in Florida for a compact car, including CDW and all surcharges and taxes, although SLI is not mentioned. By contrast, Avis in America charges US$228.21 (£152) online for the basic rental, including surcharges and taxes, but not CDW or SLI.
If any readers know of other British companies selling CDW and SLI for US rentals, or have had problems with US rental desks over the acceptance of such cover, I would like to hear from them.
|
This is all a fantastic help, thanks guys.
I will be buying a Daily Telegraph and looking into the £49 offer, but I get the feeling it may be that price for Europe and £99 for the US?
Anyway, by sheer coincidence I possess a Natwest CC, so hopefully I can get it for £75 at most.
Regarding the problem of the rental companies not accepting CDW and SLI from another company, seems like another thing I'll have to look into!
One of the companies I've checked, Fox rentacar, definitely accepts others insurance policies, as long as you take proof with you, it states this in their sites FAQ's. They are a regional firm however, rather than a multinational. Their website seems very open however, and supplies a lot of information on their business and their cars. Also, they're one of only ten companies allowed to pickup directly from LAX airport - the others all being multinationals - so I assume they must be a fair sized company.
|
Bazza,
Sounds brilliant!
I flew into San Francisco once and drove up to Yosemite. Fantastic.
I used Holiday Autos, they are a consolidator and the car came from Hertz.
REMEMBER that to get in to and out of Yosemite you go over a mountain. Can be sheet ice any time of year. Make sure you get supplied with snow chains.
I assume you've booked accomodation ahead as Yosemite sells out regularly.
If you can afford it book at least one night at the Ahwahnee Hotel, or if not go there for dinner (men must have a jacket and tie), fabulous.
|
I had a fabulous fly-drive holiday with this firm:
www.bon-voyage.co.uk/ What I liked about the car rental was it was very good value and included all the insurance arranged before I left from the UK with Alamo. There was no nonsense about paying extra for this or that insurance top-up at the pickup point, and they gave me a free vehicle upgrade when I got there.
|
ive used holiday autos for my la rentals..they alamo at lax..you just get a courtesy bus from the terminal to the rental center..the price you pay at holiday rentals is all in..just hand over the voucher and a licesnse when you get there..you also need a credit card for a $200 deposit incase you nick it
i pay around £450 for 2 weeks all in on a 4x4 like a chevy blazer or a convertable is same price..if you want a little cheepy its alot cheeper
take out the MAX OPTION its free tank of petrol for £10
and get something fairly large for all those miles
|
I would second (or is that third) the Holiday Autos option. Much much simpler, and usually cheaper than trying to deal with the US rental companies directly.
It is a nightmare trying to deal with US rental companies and they will sting you for:
* concession recoupment fees (whatever that is)
* airport access fees
* fuel levys
* emissions levies
* sales tax
etc etc all of which are not included in the cheap cheap rental price they quote you. And that's even before you get into the murky world of CDW and SLI insurance.
A correction to an above post - UK Amex Platinum charge cards include SLI insurance but not CDW. This is an extra you have to pay 85 pounds a year for for annual cover. It is included if you are a celeb and therefore have a UK Amex Centurion (Black) card.
mike
|
|
|
re - hotels whilst travelling. I did the lax - vegas - palm springs - lax trip last year. Booked 1st night & last night thru the Sheraton site and got family room (sleeps 4) for $59. Booked the car all inclusive thru Dollar which just happened to be a 5 minute walk from the Sheraton. Great start & end to a brilliant holiday!
|
For information, in case anyone else plans this trip in the future:
I ended up booking the insurance through Natwest credit cards for £75, and the car through Thrifty.
The saving made by doing it like this has enabled us to get a convertible, to make the honeymoon that extra bit special, for a reasonable amount less than we would originally have paid for a compact.
Thanks for all the advice given.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
