U.S. Rent A Car's Car Hire USA Blog

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Hi all,

Ever fancied doing a road trip in the U.S.? Yeah me too… here is usrentacar.co.uk ’s guide to planning the perfect car hire USA road trip.

1. Plan ahead. This is a road trip, and will involve some cost. However, you can make it as cheap or as expensive as you like, depending on accommodations, food, etc. Research the locations you are going to ahead of time you will be glad you did.
2. Hire an appropriate vehicle you’re going to be spending a lot of time in this vehicle so make sure you pick something comfy and that can carry all your luggage.
3. One Way Rental Costs remember to budget for the additional cost of picking up a vehicle in one location and dropping at another, Orlando to San Francisco for instance could add another $500 to your hire costs.
4. Make a list of about 10-15 places you want to visit. It’s easier if you make the list so that you stop in places that connect. You will also get a keen feeling if you are being over ambitious or not, the USA is a big place and travelling does take up time.
5. Decide exactly where you’re going to be and also how long you’re going to stay there. (i.e. Orlando, Florida 3days)
6. Make sure you and your travel companions can all get time off – it sometimes helps to book a few extra days off at the end to recover, travelling is tiring.
7. Go online to usrentacar and take advantage of our trip planning section 
8. Accommodation shop around for hotel details and use sites like bargain villas for great rates on privately owned holiday homes.
9. Hire A Sat Nav although part of the fun of a road trip is getting lost, America is a big place and having a Sat Nav is a nice safety blanket.
10. Maps if you’re going to use maps, print a few copies off.

I’m sure I’ve probably forgotten something, if I have, please feel free to comment below.

For those of you starting a road trip, have fun and enjoy the experience.

Kind regards,

James

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Hi all,

For a limited time we will be offering Budget Florida Car Hire prices for 2011 at the prices currently being displayed for 2010!!!

This means that you can get

• Unlimited Mileage.
• Loss Damage Waiver (LDW) which is a combination insurance of both Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) and Theft Waiver. As long as you adhere to the rental policy of the supplier you will not be held responsible for the cost of replacement or repair to your hire vehicle.
• Uninsured Motorist Protection (UMP) up to $1m Liability Cover. Offers an Uninsured/Underinsured/Hit-and-Run Motorist Protection (UMP) that provides the renter and family members traveling together in the rented vehicle with up to $1,000,000 of non-stacked coverage for bodily injury sustained while driving the rental car, and caused by another driver who has no insurance, minimal insurance, or is a hit-and-run driver.
• Supplemental Liability Insurance (SLI) up to $1m Liability Cover. All drivers included on the rental agreement will not be held liable for third party claims for bodily injury or property damage resulting from an accident.
• Basic Roadside Assistance
• All Taxes and Airport Fees.
• 1 Additional Driver Free of Charge (a saving of approximately £50 per week)

For as little as £16 per day…… and the beauty of it all is that you can secure this great car hire deal with a £50 deposit.

So don’t delay, book today at www.usrentacar.co.uk

Regards,

James

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Hi all,

Continuing the series showing which vehicles our customers are collecting, I decided to take a look at the people carriers (minivans). From my research, it appears that this category doesn’t have the same depth of product as the convertibles and the sports utility vehicles do.

Mr S Taylor picked up a 7 Seater minivan from Orlando International Airport on the 31/07/10 from Budget Rent A Car.

Mr J Hampton picked up a 7 Seater minivan from Orlando International Airport on the 31/07/10 from Budget Rent A Car.

Mr J Sterling picked up a 7 Seater minivan from Sanford International Airport on the 31/07/10 from Alamo Rent A Car.

Mr S Brown picked up a 7 Seater minivan from Orlando International Airport on the 30/06/10 from Budget Rent A Car.

Dr N Reid picked up a 7 Seater minivan from Boston International Airport on the 28/07/10 from Budget Rent A Car.

They all got this.

Dodge Grand Caravan

Mr M Keeble picked up a 12 Seater minivan from Orlando International Airport on the 24/07/10 from Budget Rent A Car.

Mr S Mitra picked up a 12 Seater minivan from San Francisco International Airport on the 26/07/10 from Dollar Rent A Car.

Mr S Hearn picked up a 12 Seater minivan from Orlando International Airport on the 01/08/10 from Budget Rent A Car.

They all got this.

Ford E-350

Mr M Carroll picked up a 8 Seater minivan from Miami International Airport on the 25/07/10 from Alamo Rent A Car.

Mr S McGoven picked up a 8 Seater minivan from Orlando International Airport on the 03/08/10 from Alamo Rent A Car.

Mr N Glendinning picked up a 8 Seater minivan from Sanford International Airport on the 15/07/10 from Budget Rent A Car.

They all got this.

Toyota Sienna

Mrs E Hewitt picked up a 7 Seater minivan from Cape Canaveral on the 18/07/10 from Budget Rent A Car and got this.

Kia Sedona

Mr G Williams picked up a 7 Seater minivan from Tampa International Airport on the 31/07/10 from Alamo Rent A Car and got this.

Dodge Ram Van

Have we missed any makes and models that you have hired?

Is there a category you’d like me to look in to?

regards,

James,

usrentacar.co.uk

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Hi all,

In response to a comment made by Jane on a previous blog, I have been through our customer reviews to see what Convertibles our customers are collecting. The list is surprisingly short.

Mr S Carey collected a Convertible from Orlando International Airport on the 29/07/10 from Budget Rent A Car.

Mr A Johnson collected a Convertible from Miami International Airport on the 19/07/10 from Budget Rent A Car.

Mr C Reid collected a Convertible from Orlando International Airport on the 03/07/10 from Budget Rent A Car.

Mr D MacDonald collected a Convertible from Orlando International Airport on the 06/07/10 from Budget Rent A Car.

Ms K Sandler collected a Convertible from Sanford International Airport on the 01/07/10 from Budget Rent A Car.

Mr S Brown collected a Convertible from Orlando International Airport on the 02/07/10 from Budget Rent A Car.

Mr D Bellemy collected a Convertible from Washington Dulles Airport on the 27/06/10 from Dollar Rent A Car.

Mr M Ayres collected a Convertible from Washington Dulles Airport on the 25/06/10 from Alamo Rent A Car.

Mr C Campbell collected a Convertible from Orlando International Airport on the 24/06/10 from Budget Rent A Car.

Mr P Womack collected a Convertible from Fort Lauderdale Airport on the 14/06/10 from Alamo Rent A Car.

They all got this

Ford Mustang

Mr M Meadows collected a Convertible from Tampa International Airport on the 26/07/10 from Budget Rent A Car.

Mr S Hutt  collected a Convertible from Orlando International Airport on the 10/07/10 from Budget Rent A Car.

Mr K Wakefield collected a Convertible from Miami International Airport on the 12/05/10 from Budget Rent A Car.

Mr T Bannan collected a Convertible from Orlando International Airport on the 24/06/10 from Alamo Rent A Car.

Mr G Roberts collected a Convertible from San Francisco O’Farrell Street on the 18/06/10 from Alamo Rent A Car.

Mr P Stananought collected a Convertible from San Francisco International Airport on the 27/06/10 from Alamo Rent A Car.

They all got this.

Chrysler Sebring

Dr R Lucio collected a Convertible from Fishermans Wharf,  San Francisco  on the 07/06/10 from Alamo Rent A Car and got this.

PT Cruiser

Mr J Wood collected a Convertible from Miami International Airport on the 25/06/10 from Alamo Rent A Car and got this.

Mitsubshi Spyder

Mr G Maxwell collected a Convertible from Orlando International Airport on the 25/06/10 from Budget Rent A Car and got this.

Lincoln MK2

Having previously picked up a Mustang from Budget at Orlando International Airport, my eye is now on the Lincoln MK2, although I suspect this is an upgrade from the usual convertible.

Which convertible would you fancy?

Have you hired any of the above, what were your thoughts?

regards,

James,

U.S. Rent A Car

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Hi all,

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about what vehicles were being collected by our customers, this blog proved to be very successful and led to a couple of requests. 

Today’s blog will fulfil one of those requests by showing what SUV’s (sport utility vehicles) our customers are collecting at the moment. Remember we are never able to guarantee make or model of our vehicles.

Mr C Mullarkey picked up a standard size sports utility vehicle with our supplier Budget Rent A Car from Miami Airport and got this

Jeep Grand Cherokee

Mr W Viant collected a 7 seater sports utility vehicle with our supplier Budget Rent A Car from Manhatten East 43rd Street and got this.

Ford Explorer 2010

Mr L Neighbour picked up a 7 seater sports utility vehicle with our supplier Alamo Rent A Car from Orlando International Airport and got this.

Ford Expedition 2010

Mr J Flanagan picked up an intermediate sports utility vehicle with our supplier Dollar Rent A Car from Phoenix International Airport and got this.

Ford Escape

Mrs C Higgins picked up a standard sports utility vehicle with our supplier Budget Rent A Car from Sanford International Airport and got this.

Ford Edge

Mr M Speak picked up a soft top sports utility vehicle with our supplier Alamo Rent A Car from Miami South Beach and got this.

Jeep Wrangler

Mr D Hannah picked up an  8 Seater sports utility vehicle with our supplier Budget Rent A Car from Orlando International Airport and got this.

Chevrolet Tahoe

Mr M Ali picked up a 7 seater sports utility vehicle with our supplier Alamo Rent A Car from Sanford Airport and got this.

Jeep Commander

Mr B Amor picked up an Intermediate sports utility vehicle with our supplier Alamo Rent A Car from Orlando International Airport and got this.

Jeep Liberty

Mr P Brewin picked up an Intermediate sports utility vehicle with our supplier Alamo Rent A Car from Sanford International Airport and got this.

Jeep Patriot

I hope you find this blog helpful.

Is there a category of vehicles you’d like me to look in to?

Have you hired recently and got something similar?

Regards,

James,

usrentacar.co.uk

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Hi all,

As reported back in July, Miami International Airport has recently upgraded its car hire facility, spending a whooping $480 million on it.

First reports from our customer seem to suggest its money well spent.

Mr Neil Maitland commented “Nice new rental car building at Miami Airport made collection and drop off very straight forward”

Mr Philip Carson added “Miami airport is a pleasure to hire a car from now. You catch any shuttle bus and they take you to a new building that all the car suppliers are there I was in and out within 15 minutes”

Mr Andrew Johnson wrote “The new rental centre at Miami Airport was excellent. When the rail link to it is complete it will be even better.”

Have you used the new car rental facility, what are your thoughts?

regards,

James,

U.S. Rent A Car.co.uk

Hi all,

I reported last week about the Budget Avis Group making a counter offer for Dollar Thrifty, the offer they made was more than the orginal offer made by Hertz. However last night the offer was rejected by Dollar Thrifty in favour of the lesser Hertz offer.

The reason behind this from the Hertz point of view is that they believe their offer will have less objections from regulators due to the fact that their presence on airport is less than Avis Budget.

However from what I understand Dollar Thrifty are concerned that Avis Budget are not willing to enter in to a “reverse termination fee” where if Avis Budget were unable to or pulled out of the deal, Dollar Thrifty would be compensated. Hertz have agreed to this clause.

From what I have read, if Avis Budget agree to this addition the deal could be on.

I wait for the next instalment of the latest car hire soap opera.

Regards,

James,

U.S. Rent A Car.co.uk

Hi all,

I thought for todays topic I would quickly cover One Way Rentals (OWR). A OWR is when you collect from one location but drop off in a different location. For example collect at Los Angeles Airport, California but return to Las Vegas Airport, Nevada.

Most OWR do incur an additional charge, based on mileage and sometimes car group. A typical scale of cost would be

Approximate Charges*

Distance Cost*
0 – 200 miles $50.00
201 – 500 miles $100.00
501 – 1000 miles $300.00
Over 1000 miles $500.00

Some of our suppliers also offer addtionalfree of charge special offer one way rentals, please see below for details.

Alamo Rent-A-Car

Free one way rentals within Florida.

Free one way rentals within California.

Free one way rentals between California and Nevada.

Budget Rent A Car

Free one way rentals within Florida.

Free one way rentals within California.

Free one way rentals within Texas.

Free one way rentals within Ohio.

Free one way rentals within North Carolina.

Free one way rentals within Virginia.

Dollar Car Rental

Free one way rentals within Florida.

Free one way rentals within California.

Free one way rentals between California and Nevada.

Free one way rentals between California and Arizona.

One way rentals are always on a request basis, which means our supplier has to agree to the one way. With some suppliers this can take up to 72 hours as both rental offices have to seperately agree.

Some popular one way rentals include.

Orlando to Miami

Los Angeles to Las Vegas

San Fransico to Las Vegas

New York to Orlando

New York to San Diego

Have you ever completed a one way rental?

What was your experience?

What vehicle did you hire and would you recommend it?

Regards,

James,

U.S. Rent A Car.co.uk

Hi all,

I just have heard today that Dollar Rent A Car have officially opened their12th Customer Choice l0cation in San Jose, California.

Just like the Alamo choice product, customer’s will be able to take their pick from which every vehicle they like the look of within their booked category, so for example if you’ve pre booked a Convertible and there are Mustangs and Sebrings available you can walk up and take your pick.

Here at U.S. Rent A Car we’ve been surprised that other car rental firms haven’t copied Alamo’s choice product sooner, perhaps this might lead to Budget Rent A Car following suit…

Kind regards,

James,

U.S. Rent A Car.co.uk

We are happy to announce today, U.S. Rent A Car customers booking with our supplier Alamo Car Rental can now take advantage of the SaveTime feature.

About Alamo SaveTime

Speed up your rental with our SaveTime process. Simply provide us with your driver details online, after you have made your reservation to save time at the rental counter.

Driver Details Required

The SaveTime process requires you to provide the following driver details:

• Driving Licence number, expiry date and country of issue
• Address
• Contact details
• Date of birth

Please click here to access Alamo SaveTime