airport car rental warning

[stevej37]

Have always declined car rental insurance at the airport...because of paying for that insurance on my own policy. Sometimes they ask 'which company?' but never any other problem.
Last week, renting at FLL, I went to pick-up the car and they demanded proof of 'car rental insurance' After hours for my agent....so I paid for theirs.
The gal that waited on me said "soon, they are all going to that."

One more thing to pack when traveling...but it will save money and headaches.

[Rick Lee]

Last time I arrived at Munich, I had a reservation with Hertz. I have the Amex Business Platinum card, which always covers rental car insurance, as long as you decline the rental company's. After a 90 min. wait in the line, my number was called. The lady said I had to buy their insurance for an add'l. €250. I, of course, argued that that wasn't part of the deal and that I had specifically declined the insurance when making the reservation. After some back and forth, she pulled out a laminated cheat sheet with a photo of the credit cards whose coverage they would accept. Of course, my Amex was on there. I laid my card on that sheet and asked if they looked similar. What a pain in the ass, though.

[stevej37]

The car rental pick-up is the worst place for a slow line.
It's the primary reason that I try to get the furthest forward seats on the incoming flight as possible. Get out and hike as quickly as possible to the rental. Leave the checked baggage until you secure the car.
You get ahead of the entire flight!

Return flight....doesn't matter. I'll sit anywheres then.

[stevej37]

Also...the rental's insurance coverage cost almost the same as the car rental.

[pmax]

Hours of waiting at the auto rental ?
Even the DMV is more efficient than that these days.

How big was the fish ?

[stevej37]

^^^ about an hour....still ridiculous.
No fish...going for gators.

[1990C4S]

Car rental top tip: Get on the bus to the rental car place LAST.

You jump off first and you're at the front of the line.

[stevej37]

I always just get on and stop at the un-loading door. Let the others go around to a slower exit point.
I have no courtesy when everyone else is trying for the same thing....lol

[rfuerst911sc]

Seinfeld: give me the insurance because I am going to beat the hell out of it .......... I laugh every time I see that scene 😅

[stevej37]

^^^ makes me laugh also every time I see it.

[GothingNC]

Tourists are now renting U-Haul vehicles in Hawaii due to the rental car shortage.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.caranddriver.com/news/amp36217613/hawaii-u-haul-renters-high-prices/

[stevej37]

^^^ They had a segment on that this am on CBS Morning News.
Didn't take long to deplete U-Hauls inventory...as word got out!

[Laneco]

I travel almost every week and have found unpleasantly long lines at the rental counter. The worse was in Seattle a few weeks back - think that was close to two hours. I do have "status" on that rental car company, so I usually just walk out and pick my car. That status won't help you if THERE ARE NO CARS....

We've had a few people in our company get stranded with "no cars" for as much as half a day. Last trip to DFW there were no cars available from Enterprise or National. Tried to make a reservation for two weeks with them. No joy. Wound up reserving a car with Hertz.

When COVID hit, the rental car companies took a hard hit. They shelled off alot of inventory. Now with reduced production (chip shortage etc), they cannot build the inventor back up fast enough for customer demand.

angela

[stevej37]

There were at least three people ahead of me and three or four behind and all were saying that they did not bring 'proof of insurance' with them.
So...as each reached the counter, it led to irate people and twice as long a wait as the agent had to go thru the reasons why.

When I got to the counter, I asked why we weren't informed of this when booking the reservation? She answered that on the car rentals own site...they do. But on other booking sites (Travelocity-which I used) they aren't responsible for those.

[onewhippedpuppy]

I would strongly recommend that anybody renting a car spend 5 minutes to sign up for that company’s benefits program. Pretty much all of them have options to skip the line and go straight to your car. I haven’t waited in a rental line for years.

[stevej37]

^^^
I always 'shop around' before booking car rental.
Too much variance in prices.

[stevej37]

I like paying in the $30-$40/ day range.
Now, it's a hundred or more/day

[speeder]

I made the right call buying a cheap used minivan in MN. last year. I don't live there, of course, and usually drive my vehicle from CA. if I'm going to be there a while. Still, it was an offer I could not refuse at the time and it's super convenient to never have to rent a car there again. My brother and SIL were going to travel there a couple weeks ago and I had this car there for them to use but their plans changed.

I think that the last time I went there and needed a rental, (in 2019), it was so expensive for a few days that I decided to just Uber everywhere. Really a stress-free choice and saved me a couple hundred bucks. I rode a bike around and used Uber.

[Bugsinrugs]

I am going to Virginia next month to help my son move from Blacksburg to Madison, Wisconsin. After pricing a rental car and a Uhaul truck it came out cheaper to ship my truck there. I’ll just see a bunch of sites driving home that I’ve never seen before.

[cstreit]

Used to travel 70k miles per year. Why rent cars when there is Uber?