John Cletheroe's
USA and Canada Holiday Hints

Car Rental in the USA and Canada - Purchase in Advance in the UK or in the USA/Canada?

If you are flying to the USA from the UK and want to hire a care in the USA then it is always less expensive to purchase the car rental in the UK in advance. It is usually but not always less expensive to obtain the car rental as part of a fly/drive package because the airline will then subsidise the cost of the car rental to some extent.

You do not need to purchase any accommodation as part of the fly/drive package and we would advise you not to since there are much less expensive alternatives available including independent motels and the budget motel chains such as Motel 6 and Super 8.

We would advise visitors from Britain to the USA and/or Canada to obtain a selection of fly/drive brochures from travel agents and compare their offerings. Be sure to compare the overall cost, since some operators may offer car rental vouchers which only include the basic rental costs while others may include CDW/LDW and sales tax. Sometimes an inclusive voucher works out less expensive, sometimes it is less expensive to only pre-purchase the basic rental and pay the other costs directly to the car rental operator in the USA or Canada.

It is almost always less expensive to purchase any car upgrade (to a larger size than that supplied by default with a package) when you book, rather than directly with the car rental company. As well as the size of the car, you might also consider upgrading at the time of booking from a two door car to a four door car.

It is much easier to obtain unlimited mileage car rental by pre-purchasing it in the UK.

It also usually less expensive to obtain Top-Up Insurance in advance in the UK than to purchase the equivalent EP (Extra Protection or Extended Protection) insurance from the car rental operator in the USA or Canada.

Car rental vouchers often only include the basic rental cost. You may well need to make a considerable payment directly to the car rental operator in the USA or Canada for the various other cost elements.

Car Rental

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As with all the other pages on this personal web site, all the information on this page is solely the opinion of the author, who has no connection whatsoever with any of the companies and organisations mentioned other than as an actual or potential customer.
About this personal web site JohnCletheroe

EMail me Please note that I am not in the car rental business or the travel trade and I cannot provide any more information on car rental other than that presented here. Nor can I process any requests for quotations or reservations for car rental - these should be directed to car rental companies or travel agents.

Most recently modified 30-Apr-00