Nov 10

Please sign here, here and here…

Why you shouldn’t sign anything before you read it

Andrea contacted me with her car hire experience in Italy:

“I’ve booked a car with a car rental agent and also bought the car hire excess insurance along with the booking. When I arrived the guy at the desk was really nice then gave me the rental agreement and pointed out where to sign.
Please sign here, here and here.. he said.
So I did. When I get home they emailed me the invoice about the rental and I found out they were charged me 53€ more than it was stated on the voucher. I checked my agreement and indeed I signed next to the Super Cover box stated “Accept” for 15€/day+VAT. I signed where I was told but never checked what was it… I sent my complain but didn’t get a reply yet. Do you have any advice?”

Andrea, you had a double car hire insurance cover one with the car hire excess insurance company and an other one with the rental company directly. I’m afraid none of them will you offer a refund on their policy because you signed for it. The best thing you can do try to contact with your car rental agent maybe they can help to resolve the problem.

[notice]When you sign up for a car hire excess insurance please check the terms and condition carefully, what it covers and what not. When you sign your rental agreement at the rental desk also read what you are signing for. If something not clear ask the agent to explain to you.[/notice]

Nov 03

Young driver fee – Sebastian Vettel should have pay it!

Young driver surcharge for car rental clients

Is Sebastian Vettel too young to rent a car?

Sebastian Vettel just won his second Formula One World Champion title at the age of 24.
He is also one of the best and quickest drivers in the world.
He was born on 3 July 1987 which means if he is renting a car he would pay the “young
driver fee” which usually applies for drivers under 25.

The “young” drivers

Car rental companies and insurance providers believe the younger drivers not that responsible
as the older drivers on the road.  If the driver between 18-25 year old they have to pay for
the young driver surcharge. This fee will cover the “extra risk” because the younger driver have a
bigger chance to cause an accident.

The young driver fee

The amount of the young driver fee and the age could be different country by country and by car hire companies.

Young driver fee USA
If you are renting in the US you have to be at least 21 years old and held a driving licence for minimum1 year.
The young driver fee charged by Alamo, Avis, Hertz, National or the other big companies is 25$/day. In some
cases if you want to rent a bigger or a luxury car this could be as high as 45$/day.

Young driver fee UK and Ireland
You have to be 21 years old (with some companies 23 at least) to hire a car in the UK. But they are more
likely to rent a smaller car without extra fee for a 23 year old driver. If the young driver fee applies it is around
10-15£/day.
In Ireland 25 years or older driver can hire cars with out extra fee. However the minimum age is set to 23 with the most companies if you are under 23years old it’s not really possible to get a rental car in Dublin.
Renters under !28! or 30 with Budget won’t be able to rent a 9 seater minibus or a luxury car.
The young driver fee in Ireland is between 10-15€/day

Young driver fee Europe
Similar age rules are in use in rest of Europe. In some countries (ie. Hungary, Sweden, Germany) rental companies would rent a car for younger (18-19years old) drivers if they have 1 year driving experience.
If drivers need to pay the young driver fee in Europe it’s between 5-20€/day.

As you can see it must worth it to check the price with more rental companies if you are under 25 years of age at
the time of the pick up.
Sebastian Vettel could rent a car in Stockholm or Budapest without an extra fee but he should pay 25$ extra
a day being more risk on the road in the US.
(Just for the record he was just 19 when he scored his first point in the Us Grand Prix in 2007)

 

 

Oct 27

Autumn road trip in the US – Texas Hill Country

Texas Hill Country Morning

Our first US road trip has taken place in New England the second one leads you to the “Teaxs Hill Country” -as Aaron Reed described it. This road trip is very popular in Austin and San Antonio too.

Autumn brings milder temperature to this part of US and our road trip will be more enjoyable too. It’s perfect time to visit the charming German town – called New Braunfels – which is famous for its different kind of German sausages i.e bockwurst,bratwurst, bierwurst – the list is endless.

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Get Car hire excess cover from £1.99/day >>

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If you visit the town at the end of October – last weekend of October – you can experience the American-German Oktoberfest here which is called – WurstFest. You can also experience Halloween here because it also get bundled into the big celebration. It’s fun!

For a short drive you can also visit the Natural Bridge Caverns which has beautiful limestone formations. Are you looking for quality accommodation then head to Gruene because there are plenty of upscale places are available.

If you’re into wine-tasting then Texas Hill Country is for you. There are plenty of things to do and see here.

Ferris Wheel

Oct 19

Car Rental Awards 2011 Winners Announced

The first Car Rental Awards Winners announced

The Car Rental awards gala dinner was held in Dromoland Castle in Irelands County Clare on the 13th of October 2011. The Car Rental award was sponsored by Cartrawler and Auto Rental News and winners announced in four category.

The winners of the 2011 Car Rental Awards are:

Large Enterprise Fleet Award:

National Citer Alamo, France

Medium Enterprise Fleet Award:

Europcar, South Africa

Growing Enterprise Fleet Award:

Niza Car, Spain

Overall Car Rental Provider of the Year:

National Citer Alamo, France

Oct 13

Autumn road trip in the US – New England

What can be more beautiful than a road trip in New England. The falling autumn leaves, the red sugar maples – autumn is probably the best time to visit New Hampshire’s White Mountains.

You don’t have to expect to much traffic either if you start your journey from Portland – you need to follow U.S. Highway 302. Then pass Maine along the shores of Sebago Lake and you head to Freyburg which is famous for its annual fair: the Freyburg Fair.

After you visited Freyburg then head north on state route 113. The landscape  is absolutely stunning here, don’t miss the beautiful birches and beeches with their yellow leaves. it’s a must see.

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Motorhome Excess Insurance >>
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If you’re looking for accommodation then stay in the Jefferson New Hampshire Applebrook Bed & Breakfast. It has a perfect location – just across the road from Waumbek Country Club which is famous for its golf course >> Waumbeck Golf Course. If you fancy something more stylish you can stay in the very elegant Mountain View Grand Hotel – it’s located nearby Whitefield.

On your return trip you can drive on the very famous Mount Washington Auto Road. You’ll never forget this place – the scenery is gorgeous. If you want to go up to the summit then try the historic cogwheel train.

Oct 10

Van hire excess insurance can help you save money

Badger Van Hire WA05FWM

http://www.flickr.com/photos/didbygraham/2230556287/

Many students are heading to university and their parents help to carry their stuff in a rental van. Alone in the UK appr. 2 million students are moving from one city to the other.

When parents rent a van is really important to know that if the rental van is damaged or stolen it would cost parents serious money  – a large excess bill.

Hiring a van is really cot effective but the excess insurance can be very pricey when you buy insurance from the van company – it can be as high as GBP 20/day and it will only reduce the liability to GBP 250-750 in case of damage.

You can reduce the excess when you rent a van – van hire excess insurance >>

Oct 07

The Car Rental Awards 2011 – by Cartrawler

The first ever car rental awards of the year competition! What does it mean this to us as a Car Hire customer? Cartrawler has lots of information about their car rental partners. They know how many complains each company gets, hoe they solve the problem (if they do) and which company selling extras for customers they don’t need. (ie. SCDW at the desk if you already have your own car hire excess insurance).

So I think over all it is a good Award and hope the rental companies feel the same and they will compete for it! They are serving us better!

Here are details:

The Car Rental Awards of the Year.

In association with Cartrawler and Auto Rental News

The Car Rental Awards was launched at the 2011 Car Rental Show in Las Vegas on March 9th 2011 where the details of the awards were announced.

Greg Turley from eTrawlers about the award: “We are delighted to announce these awards, which are the first awards to focus exclusively on the car rental sector. We believe that these awards will gain global recognition as they will be based on tangible data instead of unsubstantiated award nomination forms”.

The new Car Rental Award of The Year aims to award special recognition to rental car suppliers who achieve superior levels of service, performance and partnership.

Car Rental vendors worldwide will be entered automatically into the awards and divided into sub-categories relative to their fleet size and geographic region, eventually culminating in the selection of one overall Rental Vendor of the Year.

In addition, their brand will receive international media attention in addition to specific industry promotion through the official media partner, Auto Rental News

The overall winner of Car Rental Awards will be presented with the award at a gala awards ceremony in Ireland, due to be held on October 13th 2011. The Car Rental awards will take place in Dromoland Castle in Irelands County Clare on the 13th of October 2011.

The Judging Citeria

Customer Care Cases

The Car Rental Awards will monitor the number of customer care cases relative to over all bookings of each individual supplier. A decision on quality of service will be made based on the overall  percentage .

Customer Feedback

Customer feedback will play a very important part in the judging criteria of the Car Rental Awards. This feedback will be gathered through surveys, customer e-mails and through monitoring review sites to determine an overall measure of customer satisfaction.

Car Availability and Supply

A providers ability to meet demand with adequate supply will be measured as a benchmark of excellence and customer support.

Fleet size

Rental providers will be categorised using the following fleet labels:
Growing Enterprise, Medium Enterprise & Large Enterprise. A winner will be chosen from each of these sub categories and from these finalists a single Car Rental Provider of the year will be chosen.

Participation in the Car Rental Awards is limited to rental providers who are part of the CarTrawler global network of Rental Car providers.

Source: http://www.carrentalawards.com

Oct 05

Customers think that car hire fuel and insurance excess are too high

picture via which.co.uk

Which? has recently conducted a survey among 2618 members of the public about their experience on hiring a car. The result is the following:

  • 70% of people thought that terms and conditions were far too complicated, it was hard to understand.
  • 60% wanted a map showing fueling stations with the car.
  • 69% thought that car hire fuel prices are unnecessarily high.
  • Half of the consumers felt that they were pressurized by car hire agents to buy insurance.
  • 44% of the people thought that the rental car wasn’t thoroughly checked before the rental.
  • Many people had to pay unexpected charges on collection of the rental car.
Unfortunately these are common problems with hiring a car. Not only in Europe but in the US too. Which? will be investigating this issue further.

Sep 28

Don’t forget to request full inspection when you return your rental car

car hire excess cover from

This is a very important rule to remember when you return your rental car. It happens many times that the car rental employees don’t want to check your rental car because they are either too busy or just don’t want to bother with it. Always request a full inspection no matter how hurry you’re in because it could save you a lot of money and you don’t want to end up like the following car hire customer in California.

He rented a pickup truck and when he returned the car he found everything fine. There was no damage, not even a scratch on the car.  When he returned the key the car hire employee said that everything is fine without checking the vehicle.

However a few months later he got a bill for $750 and he was completely shocked. The car hire company – National Rent-a-Car – sent him the documents where they showed that there were massive damage to the truck’s back gate and left rear side.

He refused to pay for the damage because he didn’t do anything to the car and the car hire company wanted to send the bill to collections.

A couple of mistakes have been made here:

  1. Always take a photo of your rental car – before and after the rental – never forget it.
  2. Always request a full inspection of your rental car – it’s really important not to forget it.
  3. The car hire company should have sent the customer a time stamped picture that shows the damage.
  4. They also should have sent repair estimate and an invoice from the body shop.

At the end the car hire company acknowledged that proper procedure hadn’t been followed and they dropped the claim against the customer.
But you may not be so lucky next time and always expect the unexpected.

 Car hire excess insurance >>

 

 

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44600122/ns/travel-travel_tips/

Sep 26

Men prefer driving the rental car

icarhireinsurance

A new survey has been conducted among 1103 people who hired a car between in 2011 summer and the result shows that mainly male drivers rule the wheel when they are on holiday.

Most Britons said that driving a rental car is very stress-free experience. The main reason can be that people can switch off completely when they’re on holiday. They leave behind the everyday’s life pressure and enjoy their driving holiday to the full.

Although it’s always important to get excess insurance for car hire because the rental car will could be damaged in any way or if it’s stolen the excess bill can be really high.

Icarhireinsurance can help you to protect your rental car because it covers tyres, windows, roofs and undercarriage.