Car hire in the US

[alextiefling]

Three friends and I are visiting the US next month for a friend's wedding. As part of our visit, we're going to be driving from Minneapolis to Boston, with a stop in Chicago. We've got most of the details for the overall trip worked out, but we're just at the point of fixing up the car hire

Comments

[tisiphone]

My boyfriend uses Holiday Auto (I think - I'm sure he'll chime in in the morning :) They get you a reasonable price and a flat rate, which avoids many of the really annoying problems with American auto rental, like randomly adding on charges. I think they're an agglomerator, which means you'll get a car from whomever they get a good deal from or can get your rental from.

[serendipityhoo]

Budget is one of the cheaper ones to use. I've had good experiences with Enterprise. Hertz is more expensive. Use expedia.com (etc) to gauge comparative costs across rental companies. it will be easier to rent a car if you drop off at an airport (some car rental agencies have very few counters NOT at airports).

I recommend checking out the individual websites of the rental car agencies - they often give you a definition of their car classes based on # of people and amount of luggage.

Just a suggestion - when you talk to a rental car agency, you may want to use the term 'car rental', not 'car hire'. I know some people here in the U.S. who think 'car hire' means renting a driver as well (think limousine). No confusion if you use car rental.

[sparkofcreation]

I've always had bad experiences with Budget; they quote a low rate then slam you with dozens of dollars in taxes at the end (like $50+ every time). Hertz always quotes high, but what they quote is what you pay. Plus they also don't have the "loss tax" or whatever it's called-the 10-15% tax you pay because some people steal the cars. So in my experience Hertz is actually about the same cost as anyone else, but less dodgy. I've also had good experiences with Avis and Enterprise, but Budget's always been a nightmare.

You can request a car class and I've definitely gotten a Pontiac Vibe from Hertz, which is sort of partway between a wagon and an SUV. But any "standard" or "full-size" car should be big enough. And as someone said, usually the car companies have a chart of how many people and how many suitcases will fit in a certain class of vehicle.

[apel]

Slamming you with random fees, taxes and high insurance costs is also very common with rental agencies that you haven't heard of before. I've ended up paying more than I would with Hertz by going through a company that quoted really low but then had all these hidden extra costs.

Insurance is the biggie here. Make sure you get a quote including that.

[sparkofcreation]

Oh, good point. Both my credit cards cover insurance on rental cars so I never get it through the rental company, but that might not work for the OP since s/he will be overseas.

[a_d_medievalist]

check on the insurance thing first, and make sure to figure them in. But generally, I always go with the cheapest.

[calmnla]

I hear tell that our fuel prices are very low and it certainly seemed so when I was in England last month. I figured that it cost 3x as much over there! So this might seem cheap to you but just to point out, the bigger SUVs get about .5 miles per gallon (exaggeration there). It will cost you a lot for the gas, besides just rental and insurance (which is a racket but you can't really say no because it is so comprehensive - and if someone hits your car and they can't rent it out right away, they charge YOU for the days it is not available to them, so get the insurance). They will upgrade pretty commonly if they don't have a lot going on, or want to get some use out of pricier cars that nobody rents.

Your trip will be awesome!

Oh, in downtown Mpls there are some car rental agencies that have pick-up locations, if that is easier for you than the airport. Airport is pretty smooth, though. One of the nicer ones. There is light rail connecting downtown with the airport, too.