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 guys,

Voting for this years British Travel Awards is well under way now and as you may be aware we have been nominated in 2 categories this year.

Every person who votes for these awards is automatically entered in to a prize draw for some fabulous holiday prizes.

So why not vote for usrentacar.co.uk for Best Leisure Car Hire Company and Car Hire Company of the year by clicking here (http://www.britishtravelawards.com/vf_rl.php)

Thank you and 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,

Just got some interesting data from the nerds at usrentacar HQ regarding things that just get your back up about car hire.

In true family fortunes style, we surveyed 100 people (lead drivers) collecting car rentals in the USA in July 2010 and asked them to rate their experiences and comment on possible improvements (if applicable).

Here are the top five pet peeves.

1. Queuing - on average customers were willing to wait up to 15 mins to get to the car counter, anything after this was deemed unreasonable.
2. Hard sell – generally the people surveyed were not against being offered the chance to upgrade their car hire, what they didn’t like was the feeling of being pressured to accept.
3. Dirty cars – should never really happen, as our hire is pre-paid they know when you are coming, but the 3rd  most popular pet peeve was a dirty interior.
4. Credit Cards – having to produce a credit card to collect your vehicle put some of your backs up (Alamo have been pro-active on this http://blog.usrentacar.co.uk/index.php/2010/07/01/alamo-car-hire-now-accepting-visa-debit-deposit/)
5. Not getting the make I wanted – Not a lot we can do about this one I’m afraid, we never guarantee make or model of any of our suppliers vehicles but perhaps these blog’s could help (http://blog.usrentacar.co.uk/index.php/2010/07/06/dollar-car-hire-confirm-customer-choice-for-us-rent-a-car-clients/ and http://blog.usrentacar.co.uk/index.php/2009/09/29/alamo-car-hire-choice-product/)

I hate queuing so I think that would also be my major grievance.

What things about car hire in the USA get on your nerves?

Regards,

James

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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

Miami International has unveiled its new consolidated rental car garage, a facility that will house 16 rental companies and their 6,500 cars.

Located east of the airport, the building’s first three levels are dedicated to storing and maintaining cars and the top floor is a customer service lobby. A fleet of buses will transport travelers to and from the terminals, eliminating the need for rental companies to operate their own shuttles.

The $480 million facility is the first phase of a broader construction project by the Florida Department of Transportation to build a major “intermodal center” that will house the county’s metro rail and buses, Amtrak and possibly high speed rail service.

Hi All,

We are delighted to announce that for the first time we have been nominated for Best Leisure Car Hire Company at the prestigious  British Travel Awards, in the open vote category.

To our delight we have also been nominated for car hire company of the year. So fingers crossed we could win something.

We would be grateful if you could take the time to vote for us by clicking here

Kind 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

About 96 percent of all the rental cars available at Orlando International Airport should now be ready for visitors in the airport’s parking garages, now that a $60 million renovation of rental car service areas is completed.

Orlando International expanded its rental car service areas adjacent to the terminal parking garages. That means more room for rental car companies to prep returned cars for their next use within the airport. The companies may then pull them into rental car spaces reserved in the parking garage to be ready for customers.

As a result, all the major agencies now can have cars ready for use parked in the parking garages, so visitors can walk over from the terminal to claim them. In the past, much of the rental car business operated from remote lots outside the Orlando International property, and many rental car customers had to board shuttle buses to go get their cars. In the past few months, Thrifty, Enterprise, Hertz and Advantage are moving rental cars into the parking garages, joining Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, National and two small rental-car companies, E-Z and L&M.

There’s still a handful of independent and niche rental car agencies that prep and offer their cars at remote locations and run shuttle buses from the terminal.

The $60 million project was paid for with a special $2.50 tax levied in 2008 on airport rental cars.

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