Enterprise Rental Car Insurance offers a variety of protection products, including a Damage Waiver (DW) and Personal Accident coverage. The DW is an optional protection that is not required to rent a vehicle. However, if you purchase DW for an additional fee, you agree to waive your responsibility for all or some of the damages listed on the rental agreement.
Car rental insurance is a protection plan that safeguards you and the vehicle in the event of collision, theft, and other incidents. Enterprise also provides roadside assistance to help with any issues. If you don’t need insurance to rent a car or van, you can still choose to purchase additional protection products along with your rental vehicle.
Elite Rental Car Insurance covers minor damage to a rental car, such as scratches, dents, or a chipped windshield. The Damage Waiver is an optional protection that reduces your damage responsibility to $0 (full damage waiver) for one year. Coverage is limited to one incident.
For insurance to cover things inside the car (as well as the car), you have three choices: don’t bother with insurance, buy the insurance, or have your liability coverage apply to the rental car. Rental car insurance provides coverage while driving a rental car and is obtained through an add-on to a travel insurance policy.
In summary, Enterprise Rental Car Insurance offers various protection products to cover your rental vehicle, including a Damage Waiver (DW) as part of the rental fee and an excess liability coverage.
📹 6 CAR RENTAL SECRETS HERTZ, BUDGET & ENTERPRISE Don’t Want You to Know! (2020 UPDATED)
Are you always trying to find the best deals on car rentals in 2020 but want to know the insider secrets and tips? I have found the …
How big is the Enterprise Damage Circle?
Should any external body damage be observed, including, but not limited to, dents or scratches exceeding a 2″ diameter, or holes or tears of any size, it is imperative that this is duly reported.
What does enterprise mean in insurance?
This summary defines insurance enterprise as an enterprise established and operating in accordance with Michigan laws and regulations for insurance and reinsurance business. Joint enterprise refers to lottery activities with other states or territories, and includes the state lottery created under this act. Business enterprise includes firms, sole proprietorships, partnerships, corporations, and other business entities.
Restricted enterprise refers to entities restricted from contracting with PRASA or other public entities due to being listed on the register for tender defaulters or other relevant laws. The summary emphasizes the importance of adherence to these laws and regulations for successful insurance and reinsurance business.
What is an enterprise policy?
Enterprise policies provide a single point of management for all organizations owned by an enterprise account, enabling the enforcement of business rules and regulatory compliance. Each policy controls the options available at the organization level, allowing owners to configure policies for their organization or enforce a set of options for all organizations. For example, the “Base permissions” policy allows owners to configure the “Base permissions” policy for their organization or enforce a specific level, such as “Read”, for all organizations within the enterprise.
What is CDW Enterprise?
CDW/TP is a rental insurance policy that reduces the renter’s liability in case of theft, attempted theft, or damage to the vehicle’s bodywork, provided the vehicle is used in accordance with the rental agreement’s terms. If not included in the reservation, the renter bears full liability. If included, the excess amount ranges between 1500 CHF and 5000 CHF depending on the car class, charged every time a vehicle is damaged. Additional protection options, such as Super Collision Damage Waiver (SCDW/TP), can further reduce the excess amount.
Do enterprise cars have trackers?
The majority of individuals who rent vehicles from Hertz or Enterprise utilize GPS tracking systems to monitor their vehicles in real-time, thereby enabling them to ascertain the location of their vehicle at any given moment.
Do hire cars come with insurance?
Most rental companies include basic insurance in the cost of hiring a car, covering you if the car is stolen, damaged, or responsible for third-party liability. The extent of coverage varies depending on the country, so it’s important to read the fine print or speak to a company representative directly. In the UK, car rental companies typically have third-party insurance, collision damage waiver (CDW), and loss damage waiver (LDW) in place. However, if the company makes claims against these waivers, you’ll typically pay an excess fee.
What is the difference between insurance and CDW?
Car-Rental Company CDW is a waiver that allows the car-rental company to reduce the deductible in case of damage to the car. This coverage covers most of the car in a collision, but usually excludes certain parts. CDW typically costs $15-30 per day, but can be cheaper when combined with theft/loss insurance as part of an inclusive rental rate. Deductibles can be substantial, with most hovering at $1, 000-1, 500.
Most rental companies also offer a second tier called “super CDW” or “zero-deductible coverage” to buy down the deductible to zero or near zero. This is expensive, costing an additional $10-30 per day. However, for some travelers, the peace of mind of knowing you can return your car in an unrecognizable state is worth the cost.
What does an enterprise cover?
Enterprise Bargaining Agreements cover various aspects of employment, including pay rates, employment conditions, consultation procedures, dispute resolution procedures, and deductions from wages. They cannot include unlawful terms like discriminatory or objectionable terms. An Enterprise Agreement replaces an Award, as the modern award no longer applies when in operation. However, they cannot include unlawful terms.
What does enterprise include?
An enterprise is defined as a business entity that produces or sells multiple products and services, and which caters to multiple markets. Such entities may engage in direct consumer sales, provide services to other businesses, or a combination of both. In addition, the term “enterprise” can be used to describe the act of establishing a business or undertaking a venture. An illustrative example of an enterprise retailer is Staples, a Shopify merchant with a considerable number of employees and an extensive product catalog.
What happens if I dent my rental car?
Rental car dents are considered damage that needs to be compensated, if they are larger than 5 cm and not marked on the existing vehicle condition report. Chips from flying rocks and minor bumps are considered minor damage. Small scratches are considered wear and tear and can be through the paint on outer surfaces of the vehicle, top, sides, rails, and tailgate. Damage larger than 5 cm or multiple dents on one panel that were not marked on the pick-up statement are considered damage that needs to be compensated. When returning the rental vehicle, there should be no discoloration, chips, or scratches on the bumper, as small damages do not require repair or repainting of the whole panel.
Will Enterprise charge me for a dent?
The financial obligation associated with the repair of a rental vehicle may fluctuate contingent on the specific insurance plan and the Enterprise Protection Products that have been selected.
📹 Enterprise Rental Car Insurance Review
I recently went to use a vehicle from Enterprise, due to an accident I was recently from a client through Shelter Mutual Insurance.
I worked at hertz…. Lots of people that book with a debit card on a third party site tend to show up and get screwed over because if they can’t pass a credit check they can’t rent a car or have an unexpected deposit. The best insurance to get (Atleast with Hertz) is the LDW(loss damage waiver) it covers the car so you don’t have to file on your insurance AND if it’s damaged you don’t have to pay the daily rental charges for it every day it’s in the shop (your insurance won’t cover that). Debit cards at the airport they will run a credit check, and hold a deposit on top of your rental amount (you must also have your flight itinerary) Sign up for the hertz gold profile, it’s free and you get perks!
I’ve rented at least 20 cars in the last year and the best advice I can offer is to be kind, patient and genuine with the car rental agent (in person specifically). Acknowledge their efforts and time and be grateful. I’ve been upgraded on every, single rental in the last year, sometimes just a grade up sometimes from a compact to a midsized suv and even a couple premium and luxury upgrades. It pays to be a decent human being, especially now.
Just saw your article. Excellent tips. As a former car rental employee the insurance tip is important, while working for Enterprise a nice elderly lady rented a car and declined the insurance ten minutes after leaving she was in an accident. She was fine just scared but since she refused insurance she had to pay $500 before she could get another car. Keep up the great work.
From someone that has worked in numerous car rental companies, Child Seats are not part of our commisions and the prices go from 10€ per day or 2-6€ per day for a Booster. But they are never, absolutely never part of our commisions, mostly because it’s an obligatory product that you must have for your child and it’s not really a sale.
While some of what you said is correct, there are a few errors I must point out. As someone who worked at hertz for over 2 years, it is always best to book directly through the rental companies. Booking through a 3rd party may save you money but if something happens and you are running ahead of schedule or you have to cancel the rental, you will either have to wait until your pickup time or, if you pre-pay, you won’t get your money back. I had seen it happen a million times to many people. Regarding the 3rd party coverage, most 3rd party coverage is secondary coverage meaning that they will cover what your primary insurance will not meaning that you will still pay deductible and could raise your rates. Otherwise, you were correct in most things, but AAA will actually waive the fee for a carseat at Hertz.
I worked in various fields of the automotive industry and including car rental. Everything he said is spot on. The only thing I will say is getting the insurance is worth it. I’ve had customers literally total the rental and with the coverage they bought didn’t have to pay a dime and didn’t go on their record.
I work in sales for Hertz inside of an airport. Everything you said is true, BUT if you would’ve told us you weren’t comfortable with the price, we have full control over how much we want to charge you a day since we make commission. We are taught to even cut prices in half if the customer is unhappy.
Hi Matt, I stumbled on to your website on moments before renting a car on line. I watched this article and took your advise and booked with auto slash. My price dropped from $32 per day to $15.25 per day. Thank you for that! Also took insurance through auto slash. 7 days insurance for $63. Thanks again for the free advise.
Re: rental car insurance. I personally recommend it. Saved me tons of grief. My son rented a mini van, chose the rental company optional insurance at my insistence, then photographed every square inch of the car for our own protection. Had the van 4 days while staying at a hotel waiting for escrow to close and move in our home. One night there was a rowdy party and a lot of parking lot activity. When we turned in the van, they noticed a huge dent in the roof above the driver’s side door. My son had not photographed the roof! Don’t know if it was pre-existing or a result of the partyiers. Would have been thousands to repair. We walked away hassle free. PS. I’ve read where some rental car companies KNOW OF pre-existing damage, conveniently do not record it on your initial inspection, then ding you when the car is turned in. There have been instances where companies have done this scam several times using the same car. Therefore, I consider their optional insurance on a par with a solid password on your computer: mandatory. Don’t “cheap out”!
Regarding prepay fuel, the tatic I notice car rental companies are using now is to give you a car that does not have a full tank so you end up giving them free gas making sure you have just enough gas in the tank. Lately though, the prepay option is a lot cheaper per gallon than what the gas stations are selling gas for. If you’re careful, it can be a good deal.
I wished I would of seen these tips before! My mother in law was dying, so we had to use a car rental. I will never use Hertz again! They literally doubled my rental, when we tried to appeal for their compassion, due to an error. There slogan was, the contract is signed and there is nothing we can do. Horrible experience during a very difficult time.
Out of all the advice given (and all were good), the best was GET A PRINTED RECEIPT. Once you are given a printed receipt it is a lot harder (not impossible but close to) for the car rental company to charge you for cleaning, repairs, damage, etc. Also this serves as proof that the car was return and the employee who received it did not see the need for any additional charges.
Definitely need an update. During the worst of Covid, I could get a Brand new Chevy Equinox from budget. And I’m talking FULLY LOADED! $749 A month. Now. As high as $2200.00 a month.The cheapest I’ve gotten one since Covid is $1500.00 a month. For $1500.00 a month, I can own two 2022 Cadillac Escalades.
Holy moly!!! I am so glad that I found you!! I have a 5-day trip to Hawaii coming up in June, and the car rental prices are ridiculous!! All of the companies are charging $700+ for a 5-day car rental!!! I was about to give up and not bother renting a car when I found you! I used the website that you recommended, and boom! The price dropped from $700+ to $300!!! I almost can’t believe it!!! I am so thankful and grateful!!! I will be using that website for all of my future car rentals!!
Have you seen weirdness when rental time periods push from 4 to 5 days? I had an issue in hawaii where it became CRAZY more expensive to rent for 5 days vs 4 days because it moved to the weekly instead of daily rate. This applied to every agency! The odd thing is you would think that a weekly rate should be cheaper, not more expensive. In fact, it was even cheaper for me to book 3 days + 2 days as independent trips rather than 5 days!
HIGHLY recommend you take pictures of the vehicle or article inside/out when you pick up and drop off. Our rental was wet when we picked it up and something that looked like a water drop was actually a chip in the windshield. They tried to charge us $750 to fix it. And always get a receipt when you turn car in. My husband declined the insurance and when he asked for the receipt, they took forever to give it to him and insurance was conveniently added despite declining it.
Disclaimer. I am a former car rental manager. On several websites I have given my assistance to people in finding the best deal. I have even consulted with the owner of Autoslash when he was first starting. And I have the emails to prove it. Overall, your six tips were 100% spot on. I do have a 7th for you. Yes, you will always save money by prepaying for a rental. And yes, rental agents do make much of their money from add-ons. But there are some add-ons that have value, and there are some ways that rental agents make money that you didn’t mention. Let me go through my number seven for you. Car rental agents make money from walk-ups as well. I left the car rental industry in 2007. And since then I have never paid a car rental at the lowest advertised rate utilizing any of the websites. I have beaten it, often significantly. This also works to get a better class of car than you paid for as well. I have this process: I book the lowest refundable rate I can find. I make sure that it’s 100% refundable and that I will not have any issues if I no-show. Then when I land, with a printed copy of my rate, I will walk to all the rental companies located on the airport. I will walk up to the agent and say “can you beat this?” 95% of the time I will get an agent that will find me a cheaper rate because that walk up traffic is a commission walking out the door. Now this will not work if you have a reservation and you try to walk up to the same company that you hold a reservation for. So you need to make sure you have one safety reservation is what I call it at a rate that you can live with.
A coworker of mine took one of your suggestions and rented a car at a location further away from the airport. They took a cab from the airport to pick up the car. Only problem was that she had an early flight coming home. When she took the car back to the rental place, they weren’t opened yet! She dropped it off at the airport but had to pay a penalty. So if you rent offsight, make sure the rental agency is opened during the hours you plan on picking up and returning the car.
Car rental companies do not sell insurance. They are not licensed to do so. They are referred to as waivers. This just means the company waives any right to collect for damages upon return as long as the terms were followed. Also, your personal insurance (full coverage) will only cover the rental vehicle up to the value of your own vehicle. If you are driving an older model car and you total the rental or cause significant damage, which is probably more expensive than your personal vehicle, you will be out a considerable amount of money. Another nice tidbit, ask your personal insurance provider if your policy covers loss of use or depreciation. Here’s a hint….they don’t.
Almost every time I’ve rented a car, they ask me if I want the insurance (I always get it for the reasons Matt said). I act like I’m ho-ing and hum-ing over the decision and one of two things happens 99% of the time; 1) they offer to upgrade me if I agree to take the insurance or 2) I ask if they would be willing to upgrade me if I take the insurance and they say “yes”. Once I was able to get a brand new Camaro for a week when I originally booked a mid sized sedan (Ford Focus). The insurance was $50 and to upgrade to the “sport” class would have cost me over $100. Probably wouldn’t work at the airport, but usually works everywhere else.
Yes, booking through a 3rd party site will usually be cheaper, but not always. Also, if something happens and they run out of cars, reservations through 3rd parties are much more likely to get turned away than someone who booked through the company itself. And when it comes to insurance, some states haves laws that make so the rental agency doesn’t have to deal with 3rd party insurance. Meaning you will get charged for any damages and then have to get the 3rd party insurance to reimburse you.
It may also useful to keep a receipt of your final fueling stop before returning the car. Once a company charged me a lot of money for refueling a car they claimed had only a quarter of a tank left – which I could prove to be mathematically Impossible because I had done the three-quarter fill-up minutes before giving the car back.
My problem with #2 is that booking through an outside agency would not grant you any discounts or perks such as a “free” upgrade or loyalty points. Futhermore, if you need to cancel or request a refund, the rental agency will dissolve themselves from any responsibility and now youre stuck dealing with emails and phone calls instead of an actual face to face to solve the financial problem. Sometimes saving the few extra $$ isnt worth it
What about liability coverage? With Alliance Global you wont get liability coverage, and if you get into any kind of accidently that involves anything other than a stop sign you are probably going to need the lability coverage. Car rental company will usually use this argument. One could use their personal auto coverage in case of liability, but then is it worth getting any additional coverage at all? Idk about you but when I’m driving in a new city I’m not usually worried about hitting a street sign and damaging the fender, but I am concerned about me not seeing someone do something stupid while I try to follow directions and learn a new city. Thoughts? Do these arguments hold water? Alternatives?
I work for enterprise. Car seats: yes bring your own and don’t bother paying for ours. They’re a different brand then the good ones and we can’t help you install them regardless. “Deals”: they’re seasonal. Summer = more business, rates go up. Winter= less business, rates go down. Booking through a 3rd party website to save a few dollars is all well and good but it makes your experience a lot less efficient at the counter. Protections: yes they are optional & per day costs however if you total a car? Good luck going through your insurance or a 3rd party. Well have to collect your deductible, it’ll hurt your premiums and what the insurance companies don’t want you to know is that THEY get commissions every time you get in an accident so they want you to not get protection. What he said about the benefits was true. Airport pickups: yea taxes are a bitch. He’s right so if you can pick up at a local branch as opposed to an airport probably do so. It’s more inconvenient but if you’re that pressed about paying the extra taxes and fees then you kinda gotta choose between price and convenience. Coupons: at least enterprise only has Cosco, I wouldn’t try “stacking coupons” it’ll be a weird convo when we try and tell you we don’t have any besides cosco. Only give cleaning fees if the car is extremely dirty, loose trash is fine, and what he didn’t say about pre paid fuel is that we offer it at a discounted rate as opposed to city price. So ya if your not driving long distances don’t get it but if you are why wouldn’t you?
Speaking as an ex enterprise employee(Houston)…. 1. False 2. True 3. True-ish. Airports normally have lower rates due to increased taxes. But you have a better selection. 4. 🤷🏾♂️ 5. Always take the CDW/LDW. Can’t control break ins and other damages. 6. ERAC hardly had coupons. You’re better off sliding a tip to the agent for an upgrade. 🤷🏾♂️ Also, cleaning fees only really applied to if you smoked in the car. We never expected the customer to clean the car lol
Just watched this article and tried auto slash. I’d usually default to the Enterprise near my brother’s house. Auto slash gave me rates for a Hertz dealer that is actually 10 minutes closer. Saved me $130 for a three day rental over Labor Day weekend. Amazing! Guess I wasn’t doing enough due diligence before. Wouldn’t have seen this without your article. Liked and subscribed!
When taking the third party “insurance” through a booking site (or most of the time when using a credit card coverage) this is secondary insurance. So they will only pay the claim if your primary insurance (your personal policy or coverage taken from the rental agency at the counter) Denys the claim. So in most cases you still would have to file a claim on your personal policy if something were to happen. I only find these to be useful if you don’t have personal insurance, or you do not have collision on your policy. Not to mention they often have very strict terms and conditions that are hidden, which can often get them out of paying all together. Also most do not cover loss of use, (revenue lost from the vehicle being out of service for repair) .. not to mention you will have to pay for the damages upfront and then contact the third party for reimbursement.
I hesitate to book a car rental through a third party website because I’ve had issues in the past where, if there’s a problem, the car rental company says there’s nothing they can do because you booked through another agency and you have to deal with them. A nightmare when you’re standing at the counter trying to get your car.
Cheapest isn’t always “the best.” You get what you pay for. If you’re that cheap, you shouldn’t be going on vacation. Now if it’s a business trip, then fine. But still you get what you pay for. If you book the cheapest and aren’t happy with the service or quality, then you have zero room to complain. Just remember that
Everyone’s situation is different, but we always take the gas fill option because the prices are almost the same where we go and we are usually stressed for time, so that is one less thing to do. Also the company we use (Enterprise) is really good about giving us little perks, so sometimes we don’t even have a charge at all depending on what the gas was when they gave it. They are very flexible and super nice. It doesn’t help when flying to strange cities, but if you rent a lot from a local office like we do, getting to know the staff can definitely save you money! One time, they even came and dropped off a new car to us when the car we had died on us in a parking lot an hour after we had left. So I strongly advise getting to know people if you can. Shopping around can save money, but so can being a “regular” with hidden discounts, upgrades and all sorts of things just for getting to know the staff.
There is a big caveat on insurance. Many people, myself included, drive personal vehicles that are 10, 15, 20 years old, and carry no collision or comprehensive insurance on them because it makes no sense to based on value of vehicle. I have liability only. So you will definitely want to take the CDW if you’re in that situation. Always take full article of vehicle condition when picking up and when dropping off, interior included. Don’t forget the roof. And pay attention to the weather. If you see severe storms approaching and you are in tornado alley, find someplace with a covered roof to park under until it passes. Hail is very common in many areas during intense storms. Seeing badly hail damaged cars in parking lots is quite routine in Oklahoma and other states.
I rent cars every week because of my work. I call this BS… I went with Allianz (which you pronounced it incorrectly by the way) and they only paid $30K for my Suburban that got totaled. I tried to get my insurance to cover the rest, but my insurance would only cover the cost of my vehicle which is a Ford Taurus at $3000. So for all you people that think this advice was great…. Don’t listen to him. Call your insurance before you rent a car and ask them what they cover. I’m still paying back over $40k because it was my fault. The only thing I agree with is the pre-paid gas ’cause I can never get it down to empty before I return.
You forgot to mention the rip off $10-$12 per day charge for companies to offer free toll and toll fees paid per day. I’m thinking specially of Orlando, where I rent cars frequently. Most of the off airport companies there are near entrances and exits to toll roads where you need exact change in quarters. If you don’t have it and didn’t take the car rental companies rip off toll fee, they will charge your card $38 for each infraction. Plus, my car at home is old enough that I only take liability insurance. So, I’m stuck taking the agency’s $36 per day insurance. Even thou it’s almost 1,300 miles to drive to Orlando, I drive 2/3 of the time to avoid renting a car. Or, I take Uber when I get there.
Not all branches do pay pr add on. Meaning some jobs are payed by monthly salary. Where the firm gets the addons and that is where they get the money. My professional view on rental. Call or send a mail to the rental firm and you should get the best price. I dont think a rental firm that is for the customers will search after a easy and fast solution pr income. The rental firms are like everyone else they are for the customers or they are in the wrong business.
I ended up renting a car when I was in Austin, TX, rented through National, and I ended up opting for the prepay for gas since the rate was cheaper vs getting gas anywhere else; this was my first time opting for this option since it was cheaper…. I thought that meant I’d get billed for however many gallons they needed to pump not me prepaying for an entire tank of gas at whatever gas rate. I could be wrong but luckily my gas tank was almost empty anyway. Definitely something I’ll look into more since I could have interpreted the gas prepay wrong
To anyone asking about using your credit card insurance, read the fine print. You will be required to put all repairs on said credit card. The credit card can take anywhere from 3+ months to process your claim. Meanwhile, you are getting charged interest on your repair charges not to mention tying up your credit line and it is affecting your credit score. Also, they generally will not cover loss of use or depreciation. Do your homework to find your best option for insurance/coverage. It will save you money and lots of trouble if anything happens.
Always take pics at rental car pickup as well as at dropoff. Even inside to prove wasn’t dirty at dropoff. In Paris, we parked a car at the rental car lot and took the train to the airport. There we gave the keys to the car rental person. They will email us the bill. Got the bill with $2,000 damage charged. I informed them it must have been their people that damaged it and emailed them the pics I took of the pristine car after having parked it in their lot. They refunded the damage charge. Without those pics, we would have been stuck. I do the same after an Uber or Lyft ride to prove i didn’t vomit inside their car in case the driver is looking for an extra buck. Never happened but have read that it does happen.
As someone in the industry you did offer a lot of good advice. However the 3rd party insurance, does not offer walk alway peace of mind that the rental car companies offer. It’s a lot cheaper for a reason. Also make sure if you purchase it that it covers loss of use. If it takes weeks or month for car to be repaired you could be on the hook for the rentals lost on the car for that time period. Other then that some nice tips. Prepaid fuel is a convenience and a good choice if you are driving a lot. Most of the time if it does not work out and you bring back full it reverses out and you won’t be charged a penny. However that does vary from each company so check.
I would be prepared to pay more if I could trust that certain basics were included as standard such as insurance, break down cover etc. The only reason you would be tempted to not get insurance is if it literally doubles the price……………….which is how they make their money on the 1 in 100 who are unlucky to scrape the car or whatever it is.
On item number 5…..I purchased that secondary insurance on my car rental and 10 min after leaving the airport facility in Orlando, Fl…. a windshield crack came up due to a small rock that flew from the vehicle in front of me, cracked slightly, one corner of the front windshield, I returned to the airport and notified the car company in person…..they made me call a 1-800 number, wrote an incident report, they asked me about my personal insurance, I had that supplementary insurance paid online to have an extra coverage and at the end …..that insurance Never paid for the mishap …. I finished paying almost 300.00 dollars in a check and they charged my insurance for the two days that the vehicle was on repair….at the end It was better for me to call one of those windshield repair companies and they come to you for less than 200.00 they replaced the front windshield and end of the story….the entire final charge was around $500.00 and that secondary insurance never took my claim, the phone was ringing, left a message twice and they don’t even returned any of my calls…. so don’t buy it !😡
Within the last year, if you call ahead to see what requirements are for Hertz and Enterprise, they literally make up reasons why you can’t rent a car as a local or out of towner. This is nation wide. I wanted to rent a car in Los Angeles so I could buy a car. They said, they no longer take debit cards, require flights out, or if you are a local, they want utility bills with a debit card and a 500 dollar deposit for a two day rental. With a debit card, they get the money right away. Or if I call, they have no cars for locals. It’s why I only rent from Turo now. No deposits, same day rentals.
It happened to me – if you loose your keys they wanted $250, they won’t just send someone to reset a new keys – they’ll tow the car to the nearest airport ( or their nearest car rental location ) you have to pay for your transportation and I had a flat tire, thank God I have AAA because your response for fixing the tire.
Hi Matt, I have just seen this and I am amazed at your knowledge so I decided to try Auto Slash and behold I have just saved $200.00 on a 2 week rental from $1077.00 down to $877.00, amazing. But I still think the rental companies are overcharging customers far too much. But a massive thank you for the info.
I am a travelling nurse. I rent literally over 300 days a year. THE BEST THING is to get a credit card (Costco for example) that COVERS YOUR RENTAL CAR just for using the card and declining the insurance at the time of the rental. I used to use the Citibank card and it saved me around 2k when someone slammed into the car at a stop light. The damage came in at just about 2k for a bent trunk (it really looked like 300.00 damage but you know how that goes). Also, in some cities, in order to recoup the losses from the lock downs, what was once 9.99/day is now 25.99 a day for protection. I personally save more than 8k per year using this hack. You literally make back your money in less than one week of rental. That is as much or more than the daily rental (just like resort fees at Vegas/sidebar). This can make renting a car unrealistic so, get a credit card that has this protection if you rent cars even a few weeks a year.
Driving a rental WITH the companies insurance My car was totalled by another rental car In Edinburgh Scotland. Me from the USA other driver from thailand, Cop was like UGH!!! My car company dropped off a new car and picked up wreck that Saturday Afternoon. The other driver had her personal insurance. Her car company took her wreck and dropped her luggage on the curb. Since her Insurance was closed for the weekend nothing was available to her until Monday morning. When Scotland could call Thailand she was able to get another car but had to get cabs that whole weekend. I swear by taking the Insurance….No questions, No out of Pocket, No Hassles….
I took a trip north and flew into Chicago Midway. Cheapest rate I found at the airport was Budget…almost 900 bucks for four days on a Rav 4 SUV. Taking a 10 mile Uber trip to an off airport Budget site, I paid 340 bucks total. This happened on a pre Covid trip to Raleigh NC…big savings taking a quick Uber trip.
I needed to rent a car to drive from Yuma to Phoenix, Arizona in order to catch my flight. The car rental company in Yuma had a severe overstock of vehicles. They offered me my choice of Mercedes-Benz or Chevrolet Camaro convertible at their lowest subcompact rate. I drove all the way to Phoenix with the top down and learned to call and ask if they had any cars needing to be moved to another city before renting.
THANK YOU!!!!! Before trying Autoslash, a 3 day rental was $388. Autoslash immediately came back with a rate of $366. In the last 3 weeks I’ve gotten 5 alerts for a price drop. As of yesterday, we’re down to $218. So far we’re saving $170! That’s crazy. We still have 2 months before our trip. I’m wondering if it will go down even more. Definitely worth it to keep cancelling the previous reservation to get great savings. Thanks again and love your website!
I booked directly with Enterprise, and I got a fantastic deal I didn’t even know about! I booked the cheapest car for nine days. I got their insurance and while I was at it, I asked if they had a rate for old fat and ugly.. 😂 I was also a member of AARP. After all that was said and done, I got a price of $310 dollars……… But COVID came along and I had to cancel. ……. I called Enterprise directly again to make sure my reservation was cancelled and to apologize for the cancellation, but I actually cancelled on line. I almost had a heart attack because when I cancelled, for the nine days was actually $210 dollars!!!!!! God I hated COVID because when I reschedule I know I’ll never get another rate like that again! ….. But then again 🤗
👀I recently had to return a car at 3:30 am in the morning to avoid a one stop 💰charge at a different ✈️airport. 🤦🏽♂️Long story short they over charged my credit card $870 extra claiming I kept the car ten extra days. ☝🏾Be very careful when dropping a car at the ✈️airport in the wee hours of the morning.💯
No 5 = you could use your credit card insurance I’ve got into an accident and used my chase (or Amex among others except for discover) .. credit card which was on the rental car account and only had to pay a small fee for the cars decreased value of the car not the entire $2300 that they wanted, without paying for any extra insurance
Hertz incentivize rentals when you pick up a car off-airport and drop it off at an airport. 4 day rent is cheaper than 5 day rent but 7 day rent is almost always the same rate as 5 day rentals before tax. Always check weekly rates if daily rates are expensive. If you are renting last minute, check other car categories because some maybe cheaper even compared to compacts.
Well I checked out that website and didn’t help at all and I don’t know if it’s post covid era is that why? Or is it because of the area being Pittsburgh and I tried different variations of it. Pittsburgh pick up and drop off and then also Pittsburgh to Meadville which is a small city of like 15,000 or less and then I tried Meadville pickup and drop off and it was just terrible I’m guessing it’s because of covid maybe supply and demand they had to sell a lot of cars no one was renting I guess or something but I’m ending up having to use U-Haul and rent a U-Haul truck for $20 a day. But that’s my next question is U-Haul has a $150 deductible for their insurance so can I buy insurance separately by itself for car rental?
Hi, I have a question and perhaps you can help me or even make a new article on it. I rented a car from Enterprise back in May and I had trouble from the very beginning. To start I was driving to Washington D.C. when their tire blew out on me, it was my first time ever renting so please do not judge what I am about to say next. Their first car almost killed my friend and I, thankfully I knew what a burning tire smell like. I pulled over called roadside finally got through to this one young lady. As soon as she was about to send someone of course we got disconnected somehow. She didn’t care if there was a spare or not she was going to send the tow with one just in case. So I called back in hopes to get that kind girl again but instead got some tired rude csr named Rodesha, I have to say her name because she was absolutely terrible to me! So Rodesha and I are discussing my problem the time around this time is probably 1:00 a.m. right. So as you can imagine I was tired, scared and unsure about everything else, I have terrible anxiety so I couldn’t calm it. But I wasn’t rude to Rodesha or anything of that nature, I couldn’t understand her at some point and then there were points where she’d threaten to hang up on me. At first it seemed as if things were going well, but then got to a point of frustration for her because I couldn’t understand her. Every-time I tried to redial I’d get her again, it was an absolute nightmare. Anywho she refused to send someone out, until of course I started crying.
🚩🚩🚩 Those websites are great but…YOUR RENTAL IS NEVER GUARANTEED NEVER PROPERLY COVERED WHEN YOU HAVE PROBLEMS WITH YOUR RENTAL!!! 🚩🚩🚩 So these outside sies are garbage. Don’t believe me…read the reviews of the rental company at the rental destination. You’re going to find a whole lot of angry customers. Don’t do it.
1. our carseats are 20 dollars, boosters are 10 2. Booking thru rental cars works the same way as booking hotels thru third party companys going on international travels AAA DONT COVER INSURANCE 3. Insurance from third party companys, hell nah, might be cheap, but make a damage on my car? I need money, the company will give back the money, normally will take a couple of months, if you don’t fill out a damage slip, you want be able to get your money back, BUY insurance with the company if you want a stressfree trip.
NEVER, EVER use Ace, Nu or FOX. these are crap companies. Ace cars have 100,000 miles and are gross. Some of this advice is not the best. Be careful renting off airport, there is NOT always a free shuttle. Uber rides back and forth might be $20-25 each way eliminating any savings and those off site offices close early so if your flight is late, you will not be able to pick up your car.
Hertz, they send you emails with promos. And no code #’s They tell you it’s faster, and cheaper to reserve online. Online you can put any info in. Like AAA or any of the promos. Now Hertz has a 55 + deal. I’ve rented several times. I got tiered of losing out on my discounts. So it takes a while to get a live agent. But when you do, the ask you for the promo code. None available. Lol so I get the AAA discount. I never get the 55+ deal. And you can’t make these people understand. Plus I’m a Gold Member. Oh…. And when you reserve by phone, you get charged $10 there goes your AAA discount. Please, somebody help me out with the email promos! And Sirius radio is $5 a day. Biggest ripoff ever.
Thank you for the info! I’m still a bit confused how or when is the best time to rent. Some say early, some a couple days before, and the big kicker is at the last moment . Which do you get the best price? Also what company has reasonable insurance. I want back to front, top to bottom, side to side, everything covered from tires, wheels, mirrors. Aka: the whole shebang walk away insurance. Please help the lost and confused! !,😮
What about those deposits. I left Enterprise who increased the deposit to 300. Was told that I had No deposit charge at Avis. Rented from December thru March then all of a sudden a 200 hold was put on my card. I was livid bcuz I wasn’t given any warning of this. Also the Insurance is like $30 per day. Hell To The Nah Nah.Nah
I agree be kind to the car rental agent. I was, and the woman agent actually went beyond helping. I ended up saving more then I expected and she upgraded us into a luxury car when she heard it was the first vacation in a long time ! She said, I hope this helps to enjoy it even better. Wow….I now am going right back to that company regardless if she’s there at the time… it’s taking months to plan and coordinate to get all the ducks in a line, time wise, expense wise, and a check list that I almost forgot to include umbrellas if it rains. ! It never rains on vacation…LOL And Umbrellas cost how much…on the road that wont end up in the garbage ( The price of a nice dinner ) . Wont rain on this Parade …LOL
I worked for Avis and Budget for merely 10 years and I must tell you and to be britally honest, some ppl are pigs. I’ve been known to tell customers if they didn’t want to be charged for a cleaning fee to take 30 minutes and I will backdate/time so you won’t get a late fee or extra day fee. Most were cool and understood. But I had those ppl that are just plain rude. “Isn’t that your job to clean the vehicle?” My response was always yes, that is our job. To vac, wash and clean. However, the vehicle wasn’t this dirty when you picked the vehicle correct? Fumbling customer, we’ll it was dirty when I picked it up. OK, so if that’s the case why did you wait until you came back to say that when you had the opportunity to call us or come back and we will offer to clean or take $$ off your final receipt or issue a gas credit, whatever. Customer: I was too busy and was driving and you caused me to late etc. Those customers refused and again responded, very uppity, that’s your job. Me: Mam, I’m not your maid or house keeper, I didn’t trash this car. In this case I will send the vehicle back to the airport/distribuion center for an intense cleaning being that I’m limited with my local neighborhood location.Then weeks later they get a bill for 250.00 and try to say otherwise. But what they didn’t know, to cover our a$$, we always took pictures of every car that was rented out and returned, religiously. So, this is about cleaning cars.
I use Turo and give the finger to these horrible car rental places. Turo is like airbnb for cars. It’s where you can rent a regular person’s car instead of a car from a rental company. The person even drops the car off at the airport for you. The last time I rented from Hertz there is a clause where if you are served a ticket, it goes to the rental car company and you can’t protest it. The fine gets charged to your bank account and you have no recourse. Never again!
Why don’t they have 5.00 a day cars? Am i the only one confused by the fact that they would have a haul of base mode cheap vehicles to rent for the low. 5*30 is 90.00 a month and when they wholesale these cars most times they get them for 1/3 what we see in showrooms. So a new Toyota that would be 21k they can buy 100 for 7,000.00 if they pay in advance lol just confusing to me I guess. Would be smart to maybe do something like Cisco where the rental is bare minimum but make money off a subscription
40 yr old guy here who’s never rented a car before … just trying to find out how much a one-day car rental in Portland in 2021 would cost including all the insurance paperwork handling fees and whatever other BS little hidden fees all added up like ‘how much out the door’ so to speak… Anyone who’s not paid to switch and bait me got a straight answer for me? I’m not dumb, I get that it will be a ballpark number not an exact number or more likely it will be what you paid a few months ago kind-of-thing not necessarily what I will pay next month. I get that but can someone give me an idea of how much to be ready for… I’m not trying to rent anything fancy just whatever they have that can carry one driver and one passenger… so no need for a Camaro or Bentley just a Corolla or Civic or something would do. (Not counting gas)
So I travel to Vegas several times a year. I always rent a car. I rule out several rental companies because of the terrible reviews. Fox, Ace, Nu Car and the surprise agency option. I used Auto Slash vs Kayak, Kayak was actually cheaper. By around $50 per vehicle. I always rent from the airport because the taxi or uber rides in Vegas cost more than the difference in price. Have you tried Kayak?
My wife and I traveled to Memphis recently on vacation. This was during the week and while COVID was still hot and heavy. We got off our plane and hurried to the Thrifty to get our vehicle. I had an empty pit in my stomach when we saw the line was about 20 people deep. We finally get to the counter and are told it’ll be at least an hour because the need to clean out a vehicle. I’m thinking “ok” it is a Tuesday and the airport is very dead but I’m game. So I believe we waited a total of 90 minutes for the world’s slowest workers to find a car and clean it. Trip went well and we had a good time. All is well until we get home and find our card is billed an extra $400 because it was deemed that there was a breach of contract and we smoked in the vehicle. $400 dollars for someone smoking in a vehicle? I can see $200 or something like that but for $400 they’d better let you spill a bag of sunflower seeds and leave a used diaper under the seat. The car was immaculate when we got out. We’ll never do business with Thrifty or it’s parent company Hertz ever again.
Sometimes, third party websites for car rental is not reliable. It will say there’s cars available. But when you arrive at the location. Boom. No cars available for you. I highly suggest book with the website of your prefered car rental company, or call the reservations department. PS: I work as a Reservation specialist for Enterprise, Alamo and National.
As someone who worked for Enterprise in an airport. 1) Only some of the counter people make commission. As a customer service agent yes under Alamo and National(both owned by Enterprise) but as an Management Trainee or higher position we do not make commission at all however we do need a certain percentage of tickets to qualify at the end if the month. 2) I recommend renting through the actual website only because I had at least 10ppl a day have some kind of travel issue or problem with the reservation and we could not do much on our end, they had to crawl thru hoops calling the 3rd parties they booked for to get anything fixed, they also don’t always tell you or inform of some other fees such as a local security deposits or policies that might require additional documentation that can prevent someone from getting a vehicle depending on the location. 3) At least with Enterprise the prepaid fuel is cheaper than any of the gas stations with a 10mile radius of the airport by at least 15cents as we have someone who daily checks the flutuations of the gas market and adjust our area accordingly. 4)The National emerald club is definitely worth it in certain locations like Atlanta and Las Vegas as you do get a different selection of vehicles higher in the ranks while only paying for the midsized car rate. For example a Camaro SS for the price of a Corolla and the program is free. Also depending on the location and number of available cars Emerald club members were given priority to available vehicles, by some employees, they also get the newest sometimes straight off the truck vehicles with 5 miles, and free upgrades to luxury vehicles
Take pictures of the vehicle BEFORE you leave the car lot. I take an overview shot of the car with something distinctive in their own lot. Interior, exterior, trunk, engine, and dashboard with odometer. This saved me a charge from the car rental company trying to accuse me of a dented fender which I didn’t do. I had the proof on my phone! They dropped the accusations after showing it damaged before I left the lot.
I was going to rent a subcompact for a few days added on to cross country flight. The car, which I didnt desperately need was going to be one and a half times AGAIN of the cross country airfare. What in the …? I thought even if I get a high taxi fare, I’ll STILL save five hundred dollars over getting a rental car. Small cars never used to be nearly so costly to rent. Its pure rip off. How about I just dont rent, their crap car, nor deal with a shyster agent, at all. There !
2:00 Secret? don’t book directly through website? book through 3rd party? haha this reveals that you know nothing. there are ways of savings and additional benefits if you book through company, e.g. avis, national. Also for insurance there are also ways to save, but this is not mentioned at all. You call these secrets?
This is how connected people get all of the benefits. And ordinary people are left wondering why they work hard and smart but do not get ahead. There is no laws on the internet. But the connected people have data centers, federal kick the can down the road budget, and no wrong doing is ever found. Go figure what is wrong.
Just got back from Dollar Car Rental in Denver. Booked 2 months ago for a 3 day rental … about $400 due to covid shortage. One week before cancelled and booked new at about $200 … suddenly no shortage or jacked up rates. Line at counter … but no obvious Dollar Express member line … so when I asked they said stand at the Express sign all the way down the counter from where they were checking in people. Someone else 5 minutes later said just go to head of line. Gee thanks for the frickn tip! When we returned the car 2 hours late, they charged the 2 hour extra fee of $16 per hour, but then changed the daily rate for the 3 days to a higher rate! What The F? No, the contract fine print says they can only change the daily rate if we return 12 hours late! We don’t have to notify them before that. And if you do notify them that you will be an hour or two late, they might charge you a change fee of $16 to $80 for changing your return. Best just to return late and get the hourly fee charge. So after the trip, we called but they just reduced the daily rate as a courtesy, but not down to our original daily rate. Now that I read the fine print, we now decided to write them and tell them that they violated their own contract because they can’t change their daily rate until after a 12 hours late return. How many times have you returned a car late and what happened?
I’ve used AutoSlash and they are AWESOME!!!! I’ve saved at least $60 per rental when I did rent for 3 or more days. That is now my go to when I am renting a car now….Thank you for the tip. Oh yeah you are right about using your own insurance I had a rock that cracked the windshield of the rental car and it was a nightmare dealing with the car rental place….They finally did come to an agreement with my Insurance company to do 50/50 so it would not count against me…..Thank you again for all of this info.
In terms of auto insurance, the vast majority of credit card companies offer blanket coverage if you use their cards. I generally use either Avis or Hertz. Reason being is when I do rent a vehicle I generally prefer a fun sports car and I do not think you can get that type of car through a 3rd party. Even if you could I have noticed that when I work direct with those places they are incredibly accommodating in allowing me to switch in and out of cars in some occasions multiple times. That is one HUGE advantage of doing an airport rental. Offsite you kind of are stuck with whatever car they brought down from the airport. I know the examples I have used might sound silly but flexibility in which car I end up with is important to me so it is worth paying more.
God bless you man! My Mom hit a deer in a foggy day (she is ok) and I have to rent a car so I can drop off my car at a collision place. With this whole Covid my job is laying me off for 2 weeks man and I was worried about the prices all these companies where charging me for 1 week. Thank you again, you are a blessing when I needed someone the most.
Omg thank you for the warning! Not only did your comment about FOX rentals in Phoenix stop me from renting with them but all of the other lovely comments about their service (or lack thereof)! Was pretty skeptical before so it’s nice to have reassurance that it’s okay to not book with them just bc they’re mega cheap.🤣 looking at auto-slash for car rentals as well as possible discounted hotel stays!! Thank you again for the informative article! It really saved me!
When it comes to prepaid fuel, it’s best to buy it if you’re off airport and returning to an airport. Fuel near off airport is cheaper than it will be when you get to the airport. If you have the car for several days, in 2022, you never know what the gas prices will be like next week. So if you prepaid for the fuel, you got a deal if price shoots up again. Especially during holidays.
My families vacation was ruined yesterday after reserving a suv with vipcars.com through Alamo car rentals. The Alamo rep started questioning the promo code used by vipcars.com and treated me like I was doing something fraudulent. Then tells me he needed to get approval from his manager who tells him to refuse my rental, there not honoring my reservation based on the promo code used and attempted to rent me the same suv for $417 that I originally reserved for $141. Vipcars charged me $56.40 upfront I am still waiting to be refunded.
I take care of it: car rental prices are all budgeted and fixed. Can’t exceed a certain amount in a top suv is $240 the most to the 39.99 lowest. I found out about car companies abusing their status of last minute and charge astronomical prices. Return the money and stay on what you told to charge and if the client didn’t rent a Ferrari you must return the money unless you would like to rent bikes instead. A normal suv is no more than 150 a day with swing allowed if 20% any increase will be considerate frode and persecuted. I have automatic system that execute so let me express our conditions prior your understanding and your decision in regards.
I have heared expedia and like websites sell third party insurance add ons when you rent form them, but then later on the car companies say that insurance is not acceptable for them and it is compeletly seperate from the car company. Basically they seel insurance that wont be useful and beneficial for us if we get into accidents, and car company does not deal or hold them responsible, meanwhile Expedia does nto return your money for the useless insurance coverage you bought from them. Does anyone know anything about this?
Get the collision damage waiver. I rented a convertible camaro which has the worst retracting mechanics . It malfunctioned. Long story short, I got a phone call from the rental company probably about a month later asking me about the car and if I remembered renting it. They said oh you have a long history renting with us Yada yah he basically ended the conversation with the roof was 3 grand to replace but you had the insurance so we’re not blaming you you’re not at fault. Thanks to the insurance I wasn’t responsible for the camaros crappy convertible mechanics. Mustang is much better. When the roof retracts on a Mustang it has nothing to do with the trunk. With the camaro, the trunk lifts up/ is just clunky. I knew from my multiple rentals I’d have an issue with it and I wasn’t wrong.
If you’re booking through an agent, tgey often try to sell their own insurance so you’re fully protected. But then when you pick your car up at the airport I’ve been told before that I need to also take the car hire company’s insurance. Some people advise me just rent the car online and get the insurance when you go to your pick up. I’m very confused. Any advice?
I’m reading posts on reddit where people reserved a car through expedia or kayak etc and then got to the car rental and they weren’t in the system/there was no car. Do you know if this is common? I just reserved a car at Enterprise through Expedia (price was the same on autoslash but I signed up for emails to see if I get a better deal) Also, I know 2 people who did the third party insurance thing and their car was damaged (not their fault) on the trip and they dealt with claims and headaches for a year. Something I’m taking into consideration before I decide how to deal with the insurance.
I don’t like cellphone service resellers because I feel they misrepresent themselves and in fact offer I degraded product that they think most people won’t notice. I realize some of these companies are subsidiaries of the majors but I think that should all be exposed. There’s way too much marketing smoke and mirrors in this business.
My secret #7 – Don’t fall for the car class upsell. Many times the car class that I reserved is already sold and I get a free upgrade like the Mercedes sports coupe I got. My secret #8 – Thoroughly check for existing damage, current registration and a full tank of gas BEFORE YOU LEAVE. Take photos of any damage before leaving and notify an employee. My secret #9 – Don’t pay for any damage that you didn’t do. Take thorough photos when you return the car. That car lot jockey that was drifting the car you just returned isn’t going to fess up when he damages the car. My secret #10 – Use the right credit card. Chase Sapphire cards provide free PRIMARY COVERAGE. You have to have this card on file when you pick up the car. My secret #11 – Use the Gas Buddy app to find the lowest gas prices. Many airports have a Costco nearby.