Car Hire and Insurance

[Tom Bradley]

Have put a post on already about our trip but wanted to add the question of how much insurance and the additional license will cost. Could anyone give us some estimates of total cost of an SUV or Mini Van for One month, pick up Miami,drop off in LA.....hire, license, insurance etc

Much appreciated.

[Robert Schaller]

The best way to get the information you need is straight from the source. You can get "no obligation" quotes from the companies themselves (Alamo, Budget, National, Enterprise, Hertz, etc). Try their own sites, and also the major travel planning sites like Expedia, Travelocity and the like (perhaps Priceline) where you can get multiple quotes at once. You'll be able to get a pretty good idea this way.

You can often find more "economical" deals, seemingly, by dealing with local companies that may not have a web presence, but these carry a much greater risk of "hidden" costs and often have more stringent limitations -- like not being able to take their cars across state lines, for example. I'd avoid places like those, if I were in your shoes. Bob

[imported_UK]

Tom,

I didn't spot your original post. Have you checked to see if you can actually hire a car at age 21 ? Many car hire companies have age restrictions or young driver supplements - shop around.

You will also have to shop around to look at drop off charges (the charge the car hire company makes for picking up and dropping off in different places) these can be very high.

For insurance you are often better off buying all your insurance here in the UK as an inclusive package with the car hire. This is usually cheaper than paying when you pick up the car over there.

If this is your first trip, my beginners pages may be of help.

http://www.uk-2-usa.com/absolutebeginners/cars.html

UK