Avis Car Rental Questions for first time renter?

The Caveman

Hi all

Ok, I am over 30, have licence for more than 15 years

Booked a car and paid in full for 7 days in advanced.

Only thing left to do is pick it up in a few weeks.

2 Questions:

1)We will 90% take the Super Collision Damage Insurance @ €16/day extra (mainly for piece of mind) - But, is this worth it?

2) Fuel, they offer 3 options from what I can see... What would be the best option?

a) Purchase a tank of fuel from the rental company and return the vehicle empty
b) Drive the vehicle away with a full tank and return it with a full tank
c) Pay the rental company for the fuel you use

What would be the best option for fuel?

Any advice will be welcome? Anything else we need to be aware of?

Thank you

com1

€16/day seems like a lot to pay. I am assuming that this insurance covers the excess on normal rental insurance (dont get me started on that...) there are companies who specialise in this excess cover. Just google (or bing or whatever you are having yourself) car rental excess cover and you should get a few more cost effective options. I am paying €30 for 10 days rental in France (from tomorrow )

As for fuel options I would go for pick up and drop off full. I have been charged for a full tank in the past even though the car was over 3/4 full when I dropped it back and they also manage to find the most expensive petrol station in the country to fill up. It is also unlikely that you would leave the car back exactly empty so you would be paying them for fuel you did not use.

By the way, read the small print on your rental agreement carefully so you know what other charges you may incur (mainly fees for passing your details on to the local constabulary for traffic violations - Italy is a B*t*h for that) and go over the car with a fine toothed comb when you are picking it up. Highlight even the most innocuous scratch or dent because it may well come back to bite you on return. The rental agent may not seem interested but make sure they take a note of the damage on the rental contract (there will (should) be a section detailing the state of (damage to) the car in the contract)

R.O.R

Don't take the Super CDW, unless you plan on having an accident. If you aren't 100% sure you'll be fine without, use a 3rd party insurer which is much cheaper, but you will still need the excess amount on your credit card.

Pick up full, drop back full. Just don't fill up at the Esso on the old Airport road - it's massively overpriced. There is another station nearer the returns area which is normal price.

Did you check Budget before you booked? Usually cheaper than Avis, despite being the same company. Bit late now....

The Caveman

Well, main reason we wanted to go for the extra insurance, if anything happens, we have to cover the 1st €1200, then the claim kicks in.

so it is better to pay 100 something for piece of mind

And, pickup is Dublin airport, so will be sure to check fuel cost locally and return full, so will go with option B

whowantstwoknow

Do look at the google for 3rd part excess cover as com1 said, it will be cheaper. Just be careful who you pick as they tend to be for people living in a particular part of the world. ie if you are living in the USA, there's no point selecting one that assume you are living in Europe and you want European cover.

If you do take a policy out you can get daily or annual cover, so if you plan more rentals over the year it might work out cheaper...

W.