USA Rental Car Insurance

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2523 posts

Uber Geek

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#1941465 17-Jan-2018 12:30

Update on this: The best rental deals I could find were from Dollar Rent a Car (dollar.com) but their online system doesn't tell you the insurance price (paid at pickup) - just the base price and fees. They have really good deals as far as that goes.

However, www.discounthawaiicarrental.com allow you to search and specify insurance inclusive. It turns out that through them, the insurance inclusive price for Dollar, with zero excess LDW *and* liability, came out about the same as getting my own insurance with www.insuremyrentalcar.com/ (which lacks liability and is insurance, not LDW).

So that was a *really* good outcome. Booked a Hyundai Santa Fe 7 days all inclusive for US$430. Free cancellation, payment on collection.

dipper

62 posts

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#1941469 17-Jan-2018 12:33

Have a look at www.discounthawaiicarrental.com ...we used them in 2016 and they had the option of all inclusive rentals at a good price including zero excess etc

MikeAqua

7782 posts

Uber Geek

#1941470 17-Jan-2018 12:34

A tip for booking rental cars - give them your debit card and make sure it only has a couple of hundred dollars in the account.

We did this in October in Hawaii and there was no issue with the pre-authorisation.

Mike

kryptonjohn

2523 posts

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Lifetime subscriber

#1941471 17-Jan-2018 12:35

MikeAqua:

A tip for booking rental cars - give them your debit card and make sure it only has a couple of hundred dollars in the account.

We did this in October in Hawaii and there was no issue with the pre-authorisation.

I like it! How come it works though?

hbngan

89 posts

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#1941714 17-Jan-2018 22:29

Got some great deals from carflexi.com They have the major brands (Alamo - inc all insurances etc)

When I went direct through Alamo for the same dates and vehicle -much more expensive

jay63

65 posts

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#1941773 18-Jan-2018 06:18

I have found that if you book online with Hertz.co.nz or Alamo car rental and make sure to select that you ar a NZ resident that their quoted fares usually include full CDW (collision) and liability insurance with no excess and fares are usually quite reasonable. I think National car rental also but usually more expensive then sister company Alamo.

Wheelbarrow01

1723 posts

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Chorus

#1941789 18-Jan-2018 08:34

hbngan:

Got some great deals from carflexi.com They have the major brands (Alamo - inc all insurances etc)

When I went direct through Alamo for the same dates and vehicle -much more expensive

Thanks for this. I am also off to Hawaii in June and have been struggling to find a reasonable deal (including full insurance) as well. Just had a look at carflexi.com and can get an Alamo Jeep Wrangler for NZ$65/day including CDW, theft insurance, 3rd party liability coverage, and wheel glass & underside cover. That's WAY cheaper than anything else I have found so far - especially with all the coverage listed.

A Wrangler from Hertz (with Gold Membership) for the same dates and on similar terms is USD$489.

[Edit: Added Hertz comparison]

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kryptonjohn

2523 posts

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#1941798 18-Jan-2018 09:02

Wheelbarrow01:

hbngan:

Got some great deals from carflexi.com They have the major brands (Alamo - inc all insurances etc)

When I went direct through Alamo for the same dates and vehicle -much more expensive

Thanks for this. I am also off to Hawaii in June and have been struggling to find a reasonable deal (including full insurance) as well. Just had a look at carflexi.com and can get an Alamo Jeep Wrangler for NZ$65/day including CDW, theft insurance, 3rd party liability coverage, and wheel glass & underside cover. That's WAY cheaper than anything else I have found so far - especially with all the coverage listed.

Wow, prices there are good.

Although you gotta know what you are picking... since *when* is a Corolla/Sentra a "full sized" car? The other problem I have is the range available. I need something that can fit at least 3 full sized suitcases plus carry-ons and they don't seem to have anything like that - can't see why as they are aggregating from the same suppliers.

Torque

379 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1944477 21-Jan-2018 18:31

A very timely thread - I have an upcoming trip to Canada/USA plan to roadtrip in the USA, with the odd rental in Canada also. Cheers to everyone for their input!

hbngan

89 posts

Master Geek

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#1944575 22-Jan-2018 03:36

kryptonjohn:
Wheelbarrow01:

hbngan:

Got some great deals from carflexi.com They have the major brands (Alamo - inc all insurances etc)

When I went direct through Alamo for the same dates and vehicle -much more expensive

Thanks for this. I am also off to Hawaii in June and have been struggling to find a reasonable deal (including full insurance) as well. Just had a look at carflexi.com and can get an Alamo Jeep Wrangler for NZ$65/day including CDW, theft insurance, 3rd party liability coverage, and wheel glass & underside cover. That's WAY cheaper than anything else I have found so far - especially with all the coverage listed.

Wow, prices there are good.

Although you gotta know what you are picking... since *when* is a Corolla/Sentra a "full sized" car? The other problem I have is the range available. I need something that can fit at least 3 full sized suitcases plus carry-ons and they don't seem to have anything like that - can't see why as they are aggregating from the same suppliers.

normally we hire a people mover, we are family of 4 plus 3/4 suitcases, as the car is tall, the suitcases stack vertically so lots of space

dickytim

2514 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1945118 23-Jan-2018 07:04

kryptonjohn:

Hi all,

Need to rent a car for a week from Honolulu in April. The car rental is cheap, but the insurance add-on can be more than the car rental itself!

Can this be worked around in any way? Doesn't seem like my AMI NZ car insurance can be extended to cover it.

Cheers

JohnO

Parking can be horrifically expensive in Hawaii, we caught the Bus and Taxi's and saved a fortune, their buses go EVERYWHERE!!!

We hired cars through Avis in Vegas and LA, the insurance wasn't that bad when you selected you were from overseas, we did make the mistake of getting a price at the service desk which was ridiculously expensive so I whipped out the ipad and made the booking online there and then, the guy at the counter was impressed as it was cheaper that what he could get it done for.

kryptonjohn

2523 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1945139 23-Jan-2018 08:20

dickytim:

kryptonjohn:

Hi all,

Need to rent a car for a week from Honolulu in April. The car rental is cheap, but the insurance add-on can be more than the car rental itself!

Can this be worked around in any way? Doesn't seem like my AMI NZ car insurance can be extended to cover it.

Cheers

JohnO

Parking can be horrifically expensive in Hawaii, we caught the Bus and Taxi's and saved a fortune, their buses go EVERYWHERE!!!

We hired cars through Avis in Vegas and LA, the insurance wasn't that bad when you selected you were from overseas, we did make the mistake of getting a price at the service desk which was ridiculously expensive so I whipped out the ipad and made the booking online there and then, the guy at the counter was impressed as it was cheaper that what he could get it done for.

True about the parking and the buses... but we're staying out in the wop-wops so parking's not the problem, getting anywhere is (and the bus doesn't quite get to where we are (Ko Olina).

Last time we were there we called up the rental car company (can't remember which one, but may have been Hertz) on the day before we needed it and asked them a rate for a car... and the nice lady straight up told us that she could only offer the standard rate about $50/day, but if we went through something like Priceline or Expedia we'd get a much better deal. She wasn't kidding. We got the car for $10 daily rate (plus fees which were about $20/day!). When we picked the car up they explained the prices were super low as it was a quiet time of year and they had no room for all the cars on their lot.

sbiddle

30853 posts

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Biddle Corp

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#1945142 23-Jan-2018 08:27

It's worth noting here again that even with deals in the US that include insurance that they very rarely ever include liability / SLI insurance. Driving a vehicle without liability insurance in the US is much like playing russian roulette. All it takes is a minor fender bender and you run the risk of a 6 figure judgement against you.

kryptonjohn

2523 posts

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Lifetime subscriber

#1945145 23-Jan-2018 08:39

sbiddle:

It's worth noting here again that even with deals in the US that include insurance that they very rarely ever include liability / SLI insurance. Driving a vehicle without liability insurance in the US is much like playing russian roulette. All it takes is a minor fender bender and you run the risk of a 6 figure judgement against you.

Yep, quite a few offer CDW/LDW but not liability. However https://www.discountusacarrental.com/ and their Hawaii sub-site offer $1m liability through LIS on top of LDW and zero excess/deductable. Others offer CDW but that probably doesn't cover loss through theft or fire.

The inexpensive 3rd party insurance options such as www.insuremyrentalcar.com don't offer liability and I do wonder how difficult their claim process would be in the event of a crash. The beauty of CDW/LDW is that you just walk away from any damage.

surfisup1000

5288 posts

Uber Geek

#1945189 23-Jan-2018 10:16

sbiddle:
It's worth noting here again that even with deals in the US that include insurance that they very rarely ever include liability / SLI insurance. Driving a vehicle without liability insurance in the US is much like playing russian roulette. All it takes is a minor fender bender and you run the risk of a 6 figure judgement against you.

Alamo included Sli and cdw with my us rental car.... I even emailed them to be sure...their price was competitive with other rental companies who did not include insurance.

First time that renting was not a hassle.

Take care at their gas stations though, one we went to did not have diesel marked on the pumps, and their colour coding is opposite to ours... Good design that diesel pump nozzles do not fit petrol tanks haha..

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