OnlyMeOirish

Hi all,

I'm looking at hiring a car for 5 days in December. We will need an SUV due to weather conditions and wanting to drive in Yellowstone. I have been checking the rental companies in Bozeman and I see Hotwire offering rental at HALF the prices quoted. Now, we will be coming from Ireland and have Irish car insurance.... I'm not sure what options we should include (Loss Damage Waiver etc etc). In the past we have rented from Hertz which included all benefits in a prepaid rate. Can anyone help me understand?

Thanks for all and any help!

clarkgriswold

You'll need loss waiver and some liability coverage. Usually it is best to find an agency in your country that deals with U.S. car rentals that include insurance.

Try Avis.com and Budget.com as sometimes they pull up rates that include insurances when you note that your nationality. I would not recommend Hotwire, once you add in the expensive insurances it can double your rate...plus with Hotwire you pay ahead, and if you cancel your plans you don't get a refund. If you book direct instead, you can change plans or change companies should the rates go down (and they often do...are you booking MONTHS in advance? Special offers only pop up about 60 days before rental).

OnlyMeOirish

Thanks, I'll check out budget - avis were looking for around $850 for the 5 days - I'm hoping we will manage to find something cheaper. The dates we are looking to rent are December 27th with drop off on January 1st early in the morning (or even late on December 31st).

OnlyMeOirish

OK, I just checked Budget and they are looking for €290 (about $400) for the 5 days. It says that the rate includes LDW and Supplemental Liability Insurance (SLI). In their general terms and conditions it says that rentals are cancellable up to 48 hours prior to pick up - I'm assuming that this is for ALL rentals unless otherwise stated???
This looks like a good deal right? Are these insurances good enough??

Thanks again for any and all advice.

clarkgriswold

I'm not sure what you mean about cancellable. Car rental companies don't usually require payment up front, or even a credit card guarantee. Perhaps in high-tourist areas during holiday season they are now doing this?

SandyBrit

OnlyMeOirish:

I have used www.novacarhire.com when returning to the UK for care hire. This is a broker and you are placed with one of the major car hire/rental places. There are no hidden costs. Nova rents in many countries including the US so this may work for you.

I have also used www.hotwire.com for renting a car in the US. Hotwire is a broker. Just like nova you will rent from a major car hire/rental place such as Alamo, Avis, Budget, Hertz or National. I start looking about 4 weeks prior to when we need the rental. With hotwire you do not find out which car hire you will be with until you are locked in. You will not be able to cancel without penalty. Lots of people on this board are fans of hotwire. They have saved us lots of $'s on our rentals.

If you must have a SUV and you think these may be hard to rent then I would try and book one that you can for sure cancel without penalty if you find something cheaper.

Sandy

HKP

Hotwire requires you to prepay in almost all instances. Reserving directly from the car rental companies will not.

Also: belonging to the American Auto Assoc. (AAA)auto club gets you a decent discount at many of our car rental agencies (Avis, Hertz, National, Budget, Dollar, Alamo are the majors -- I may have forgotten another one), so perhaps if you belong to the Irish equivalent, you can get a "courtesy" membership or discount via AAA.

lincasanova

google "rental car discount codes" and you will see many for all companies.

i used my hilton honors card number and got a nice discount this summer.

OnlyMeOirish

Thanks everyone!!!
Sandy, unfortunately nova doesn't have an SUV available for our dates but I'll remember them in future.
I have gone ahead and booked with Budget and will keep an eye out for better deals nearer the time - we might even book through Hotwire nearer our travel time.

Thanks again to all for your advice.