Last update:
12-Dec-99

Your rental car

Please note that the information is for general guidance only - please always check with the car rental company, paarticularly when it comes to the insurance!

It isn't the intention of this section to tell you the best way of renting a car. It starts from an assumption that you have already arranged a rental car, but haven't actually picked it up.

The "hidden" costs of car rental
Many British visitors turn up in the USA having paid for their car rental before they left, either as a separate booking, as part of a fly-drive package or as a holiday package that includes a "free" car. Then they discover that there is a bewildering array of additional costs to be paid once they arrive in the US, but before they can drive the car away.

Many holiday companies do now explain this in some detail before you leave, but it seems that many holidaymakers don't see this in the brochures. Sometimes, some of these extra costs are now included in car rentals from some companies, but fly-drive and free-car packages rarely do. So what can you expect?

Well, there are some costs that are optional, some that are optional but almost essential, and others that you simply must pay. Take a two-week rental of a small compact car that you pick up at Orlando airport, for instance. The following are the costs that you may have to pay (based on 1999 figures).

  Florida State surcharge ..... $2.05/day = $28.70
 Tax on surcharge (6%) ................. = $ 1.72
 Airport access fee .................... = $44.92
 Loss/Damage Waiver (LDW) ... $13.99/day =$195.86
                                   TOTAL =$271.20

This is an additional $271.20 which you will have to pay when you arrive, before they'll let you have the car. LDW (it is often also known as CDW, Collision Damage Waiver, or simply DW, Damamge Waiver) is actually optional, and you could save quite a bit by not taking it. It isn't insurance, but it is a waiver on any loss or damage to the car. Without it, you will be liable for the cost of repair and loss of rental income, no matter whose fault the loss or damage was, and this could come to $1000 or more. If you opt not to take LDW, you will be expected to leave a deposit of something like $1500 or more on your credit card.

Car rentals usually have to include a minimum of third party insurance, but only up to a certain limit. You may want to take supplementary liability insurance (SLI), which could cost about $10 a day. To make a decision on this you'll have to check what insurance is already included and then decide if it's worth taking the supplementary insurance.

There's yet another insurance that needs considering unfortunately ... that is personal accident insurance (PAI). If you already have travel insurance (and holiday companies will now not normally take a reservation unless you either take insurance with them or prove that you have adequate insurance of your own), then you're almost certainly covered. PAI will provide cover for medical costs if you are in an accident, plus there may also be some cover for personal effects. The cost may be $5 a day but check your travel insurance first as you're may not need PAI.

Of course, there are further additional costs that you may incur, depending on circumstances. For instance, if you want more than one of you to be able to drive, it will cost an additional $5 a day, and if any driver is under 25 you're likely to have to pay a further $15 a day. Also, if you wish you can pre-purchase a tank of petrol (with some companies this is obligatory); if you don't, you'll have to return the car with a full tank, and anything less than that will result in a further charge which could be as much as $5 a gallon

It seems a bewildering array of additional costs and it is true to say that some rental packages taken out before you leave may already include LDW. You may also be able to buy LDW/SLI before you go (one company charges £15/day as opposed to the US cost of about $24).

But, if you're in any doubt either before you go, or when you get there, ASK!