Another car rental USA thread...

[straitman]

So two completely different answers but both equally useful!

Warks,

I just bit the bullet and rang them and ended up getting the girl who sent your email.

I have sent her my query and she will get back to me when their servers are up again. The short answer though was it has to do with the proximity of Seattle to the Canadian border and the cost of car hire in each country. To allow a cross into Canada they would have to substantially raise their prices to where 'Dollar' etc are. They believe that they are better situated in the market at the lower price and restricting the border crossings by limiting insurance. It is allowed from further away as the extra distance and consequential hire time compensates them adequately.

 

[Warks]

Warks,

I just bit the bullet and rang them and ended up getting the girl who sent your email.

I have sent her my query and she will get back to me when their servers are up again. The short answer though was it has to do with the proximity of Seattle to the Canadian border and the cost of car hire in each country. To allow a cross into Canada they would have to substantially raise their prices to where 'Dollar' etc are. They believe that they are better situated in the market at the lower price and restricting the border crossings by limiting insurance. It is allowed from further away as the extra distance and consequential hire time compensates them adequately.

Thanks for that. I guess that makes sense. Alamo are the only ones in the same ballpark so it looks like I'll go there then. They have no such restrictions.

 

[Warks]

Okay with time running out I've booked the car through Netflights and Alamo for 510 pounds ($A1000 with add-ons) for 21 days. They have pick up at the airport which will suit us after our epic trip from SYD arriving at 1930.

Will file a trip report in a month or so!

 

[Warks]

Quick note from Canada. Alamo went well (not for Davy Crocket perhaps!) and I got upgraded from the small/intermediate car I'd booked to a brand new SUV - the GMC Acadia - nice vehicle and seems pretty good on fuel so I might have to take back what I've said before about Septic Tanks. Cost me $10 per day extra and when I saw the amount of luggage we took off the plane I knew we'd need a bigger car than booked.

Might manage a trip report when this is all over!

 

[leucopogon]

We're going to the states leaving in just under 2 weeks and will need a car rental for 6 days (Denver pick-up and return). I searched this forum and it seems that Netflights is the best value for car hire by far.

Just a couple of questions about booking through them for people that have done this in the past.

1) Is it okay to be a non-UK resident to book through their site? (I'm an Aussie resident)

2) If so, do they accept Aussie credit cards?

3) Is an Australian Drivers license all that is required to be able to drive the rental car in the States, or is some kind of international drivers license required?

4) Any experiences with renting child seats in the US from Thrifty? We have a 16 month old so will need to rent one of these. Netflights say that they can request it at time of booking but can not guarantee one. Hopefully this won't turn into an issue.

Thanks in advance for any info that people can provide.

 

[file51]

In answer to your questions:

1, Yes

2, Yes

3, Yes, Aussie License is all that is required

4, All rental companies have the same policy, they can request a Child Safety Seat, but it cannot be guaranteed. The same would be in effect if you booked directly with any of the major car rental companies themselves.

HTH

I currently have 5 paid bookings with Netflights in November & December (all different locations throughout the U.S.) and have already used them 4 times this year in the U.S. and have never had an issue.

 

[straitman]

leucopogon,

As per the comments from file51.

I used Thrifty through Netflights for car rental on 3 occasions recently. The only issues were Thrifty trying to up sell me items that were already included in the Netflights contract and Thrifty in Seattle being difficult to deal with.

Depending upon the age of your child it may pay to look at buying a child seat and then either giving it away or bringing it home afterwards. My daughter did that recently and it was much more economical over a three week period than renting the seat from Thrifty. For this either Super Target or Wal Mart were the best.

 

[leucopogon]

Thanks guys for the prompt replies. Looks like I'll go ahead with the Netflights option.

Cheers

 

[Warks]

Yes worked out fine for us - way cheaper than anyone else and insurance is included. As I mentioned above I did get sold on an upgrade by Alamo but it was such a good deal and in hindsight I don't know how we could have managed our trip in a smaller car. I did get sold some sort of "roadside assist" package which I'm not sure was warranted but if something had gone wrong then I guess it would have been worth it.
As long as you don't drive into Canada, Thrifty is okay!

 

[Maca44]

As long as you don't drive into Canada, Thrifty is okay!

Having read your comment I thought I might have a problem with future bookings because I have driven from SEA into Canada, and then I checked the Thrifty website and found this, and although it might be okay to drive into Canada it stipulates that only lower British Columbia, but that might also be because it relates to rentals out of SEA.

https://www.thrifty.com/Reservations/index.aspx?SavedState=True&ControlTarget=TransitionLocationTime
Unlimited mile rates are for the Continental United States and lower British Columbia only.

 

[Warks]

Do they define "lower BC"? Assume it's south of Highway 1. Or does it mean lower altitudes?
As we went into Alberta and right up to Jasper we would have contravened this rule if we'd gone Thrifty.

Do these cars have tracking devices on them? The car we had was equipped with some sort of emergency satellite phone - I only discovered it accidentally when I pushed a button on the rearview mirrow and a voice came out "dialling emergency services" or words to that effect. I couldn't press buttons fast enough to switch it off! As there was no manual in the car I couldn't find out more about it but I may look it up now.

 

[file51]

Do these cars have tracking devices on them? The car we had was equipped with some sort of emergency satellite phone - I only discovered it accidentally when I pushed a button on the rearview mirrow and a voice came out "dialling emergency services" or words to that effect. I couldn't press buttons fast enough to switch it off! As there was no manual in the car I couldn't find out more about it but I may look it up now.

What you pressed the button for is "Onstar"

OnStar By GM | OnStar.com, Car Safety Device and Vehicle Security System

One of my favourite features of premium GM badged vehicles. Depending on the rental company and the Onstar service plan they are subscribed to you can have emergency assistance at the touch of a button, even directions and other advice such as how far to the next gas station, etc etc.

It also has sensors in the car so if an air bag is deployed they will call all emergency services and advise of your location via GPS co-ordinates. They can also remotely unlock some cars in the event of locking the keys inside them (needs to be done by vehicle owner).

Oh, yes, being a GPS based feature, they can track you