Car rental
 

There are 6 of us travelling from the U.K in October for 2 weeks and touring the South . We want to rent a a car in Nashville and drop it off in New Orleans .I would gladly appreciate any help with rental companies and types of vehicles to rent.

your first place would be to look at the major car companies - Hertz, Avis, Budget - and see what types of vehicles fit 6 people. Dropoff charges may add considerably to your total.
For 6 you'll likely need a minivan or large SUV _ I don't know of nay passenger cars that could fit 6 plus luggage.

> types of vehicles to rent
Most rental companies try to be honest about the number of passengers and suitcases you can into a car type. Usually, below the car they have available, you'll see a pictograph of people and cases; indicating the company's claim about size.

> help with rental companies
A good place to start are the numerous "one-stop" travel sites, for which you can enter the criteria you want in a car rental (or hotel, or flight) and the URL will then search numerous travel sites for the best deal that meets your criteria. Some such sites permit searches for one-way auto rentals, others don't. If you find what appears to be a great deal, be very certain to check out ALL the details before making a reservation.
The one *I* prefer (others may have other preferences) is Kayak.com

There are brokers that specialize in car hire by overseas visitors - big advantage since most include insurance and eliminate drop off fees. (Many Americans don't bother w/ insurance since for most of us our regular car policies cover domestic rentals too)

Try either Holiday or Economy car rentals. Both seem to offer better deals than one can get booking w/ the individual hire firms.

Attached is the Web site of an article that appeared in the NY Times last year. I have found it helpful and hope that you will, too. I have an additional piece of advice, garnered from my recent trip to California: DO NOT USE ADVANTAGE AUTO RENTAL. For details of my experience, look under "California" on this forum. ZZ

http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/05/20...cars.html?_r=0

Some rental agencies bend over backwards for their clients. We have found this to be true of Enterprise..We have never yet been charged for additional drivers (10 rentals). We also needed a car for longer period than original rental..Ent. rewrote the contract and let us have the more generous monthly rate. Check out their website and also call their # for best rates.

You should look for special rental deals in the UK.

If you live in the US your own car insurance or your credit card usually covers most insurance costs - but obviously coming from the UK that would not work for you. If you get a rental deal in the UK you often get prices including all insurance and taxes - often a much better deal than you can get renting here.

Just go directly to the big agencies, noting that you are UK resident. Most all of them include insurances and fees for UK and Aussie renters, check the confirmation to make certain that liability protection and collision damage waiver are included.

It's hard to find a vehicle that fits 6 adults and all their luggage and might be more economical to rent 2 small cars anyway.

Sorry, by "the big agencies" I meant Hertz, National/Alamo, Avis/Budget, Dollar/Thrifty.

Thanks everyone for all the information much appreciated I hope to book something this week.

If you're doing a lot of driving, make sure you get something comfortable - some of the tiny cars are cheap but can get uncomfortable after sitting in for a while. Comparison websites are the way to go when looking for the best rates. There can be also be lots of traps when renting, so make sure you read up - http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lif...ar-rental.html has some good tips.

Agree that it can be difficult to get a vehicle for 6 - but don;t k have enough drivers for 2 vehicles.

Remember our gas is much cheaper then yours - possibly about half the price. I have no idea if the major highways in that part of the country have tolls.

We are from New Zealand travelling to Hawaii in May this year. We were worried about having insurance cover should we be in an accident, and it was suggested we look at rentalcars.com which adds the necessary insurance coverage for drivers from outside the US.

nelsonian: The thread is from last August and the trip was in October -- was topped by a spammer.

Oh okay, didn't look at the date.