Rental Car Surcharges and Taxes

Try AARP Travel too, if you are a member. I've gotten great car and hotel deals from them. It's powered by Expedia.

I wonder if that will work with our Australian Costco membership...
We're planning on travelling to America for the first time in 2015 & I'd love to drive the west coast from LA to Seattle.
Still in early thought prior to planning phase though, so have a some time to research more!
Great advice though Donna, thanks.

Hi and Welcome to the Great American RoadTrip Forum.

It might pay to check with your local store, but I recall being in the States when it was announced that Costco was coming to Melbourne. At the time, when visiting Costco in Boston with my son.They seemed to be of the opinion that the membership would be honoured in both countries.

Since those days I have discovered that my local grocer is cheaper than Costco, so have not bothered with a membership.

Lifey

Whether you save enough on anything with a Costco or Sam's Club membership, really depends on how you shop. For us, it's not usually the food that we save a lot on. Instead, it's things like motor oil, car tires (we haven't needed new tires on the truck yet), liquor, men's shirts, and a few other things. The car rental thing was happenstance and I'm glad for it. They are also good for tickets to things both local and far, like movie and theme park tickets.

My parents shopped in Canada's Costco stores when traveling with their USA Costco card, so it would surprise me if an Australian Costco card would be turned down!


Donna

but can you really buy a car and just drive it? I guess as a foreigner it is not that easy? anybody has some information on this topic?

As a non-resident, you would have a great deal of problems with the issues of a car. Buying one -- not so difficult. Any seller is going to be happy to take your money. Registering and licensing it?? Big problems! You need a permanent address in the USA. Insuring it? Same issues. We have at least one member on here who has jumped through many (expensive and frustrating) hoops to own her own vehicle in the USA while a non-resident. She will probably chime in.

Overall, unless you are planning to be here more than the usual 90-day visit, it doesn't pay to go through this hassle. By the time you conquer all the problems, it would be time to go home -- and then there's selling it at the end of your stay.


Donna

ah okay! thank you very much for this information!!!

Post number 1, so firstly Hello!

I'm just starting my planning of a road trip. I have friends in LA (Riverside) and will start and end there.

I'm sure i'll have plenty of questions over the coming weeks but this looks a great site for a lot of useful information.

First question based on this thread is: Do you know what I should expect to pay on tax hiring a car from Riverside area?

Thanks

Peter

Hi Peter, and Welcome to the Great American Roadtrip Forum.

Have you checked with the many rental car consolidators for a rental vehicle. From what we hear, members have used these with great satisfaction. Consolidators seem to be able to minimise and in some cases complete waive certain charges.

If you still want to know how much you would pay in tax, go through the booking process without paying, and you will see them there when you check of taxes and fees - they are usually itemised. You will then also see how the taxes vary at different locations. e.g. airport to off airport, or city and outer suburbs.

Lifey

Hi Pete and welcome to RTA !

I'm not sure about taxes [could be 8 or 10 %] but what I would recommend you do is to book your car rental via a European consolidator as they often offer the best deals and can take care of all the possible surcharges and give you an 'all inclusive price' including tax and Insurances etc. Always check the fine print and know what you are getting directly with the company you are dealing with. Rentalcars.com has worked well for us in the past but it's best to shop around.