U.S car hire through flight centre

[woolnough04]

My daughter is off to the states in September.She booked everything through Flightcentre.I won't say which office.The car hire booked was avis and when she requested a gps with the car they said to ask for the gps when she gets there otherwise Avis would have to send the gps over here and she would have to take it back with her.I find that very strange as i have booked Avis twice in the states requesting gps with booking.No problems.Has anyone else had that info given to them.

 

[drron]

Sounds a little bit stupid.In future if thinking of Avis you can book direct through the UK site-often a lot cheaper and you can book your GPS on line-though have to pay separately I believe-being a dinosaur i just use my trusty Walmart map book.

 

[woolnough04]

I contacted my daughter and told her to go back to Flightcentre and get them to put in a request for gps with the booking.I was just wondering if anyone else had been told that.I normally use Hertz over in the states.My personal experience with Hertz has been great.I know other people have had problems but thats just my experience with them

 

[drron]

copying of the info from the Avis UK site-

[h=2]How to book your Avis GPS[/h]

The Avis GPS can be reserved during your booking process by ticking the GPS request box which is located on the right hand side of the booking engine under Optional Accessories. Reserve a GPS via our call centre or add to an existing reservation by calling 0844 581 0147

So yes I would go back to flight centre and ask them to request it.This number of course is for those booked through the UK site.

 

[uncreative_mastermind]

As a consultant of flight centre I understand what has happened here...

We often use a particular wholesaler to book our car hire thoughout the world as they are dedicated to car hire this offers cheaper prices for our clients. This particular wholesaler offer the service of GPS but provide it from their Australian office to (a) maximise the commission they receive and (b) maximise the commission we as agents receive on the booking. If at the agents discretion as to how they sell if but I know myself and the agent in this case has advised the client that if they do it direct with avis upon collecting the car it will save them dollars.

You daughter should be impressed that her travel consultant has worked hard to save her a couple of dollars!

 

[woolnough04]

And what if she does as the agent suggested and ask for a GPS when she picks up the car and none are available as it was not booked.She will have to go and spend $150 on buying one.She is only hiring the vehicle for two days so i suggest $27 for two GPS hire isn't going to break her.

 

[DrAndyC]

And what if she does as the agent suggested and ask for a GPS when she picks up the car and none are available as it was not booked.She will have to go and spend $150 on buying one.She is only hiring the vehicle for two days so i suggest $27 for two GPS hire isn't going to break her.

You can get a cheap GPS in the USA for about 69-79 USD if you shop around. I appreciate she is only driving for 2 days. In my trips in the past I have always bought a GPS over there for this price then sold it on ebay afterwards (in its carton all nice and new looking) for about 20 dollars less. That is an option, although I appreciate a time consuming one in terms of hassle for such a short trip). For my 7-14 day trips this has always been more cost effective to the tune of up to 100 dollars if considering hiring for protracted periods of time.

 

[BAM1748]

And what if she does as the agent suggested and ask for a GPS when she picks up the car and none are available as it was not booked.She will have to go and spend $150 on buying one.She is only hiring the vehicle for two days so i suggest $27 for two GPS hire isn't going to break her.

Is a GPS needed for two days? If she is a regular or planning a second trip GPS's are cheap there, cheaper than the maps to update the one you have here.

LA and SF are laid out in a straight forward manner, I find a $10 map good enough when there.

Matt

 

[woolnough04]

This is her first and only time . She is not driving in L.a .Will be down in the Louisiana area.

 

[BAM1748]

This is her first and only time . She is not driving in L.a .Will be down in the Louisiana area.

Even easier, Louisiana towns are flat and laid out in a grid.

What about a few google maps printed off before hand?