USA Car Rental Advice

jollylee

Hi all,

I need to rent a car at the end of July in NY. I'll be traveling from New York city to Pennsilvania for an event, on to Toronto for a couple of nights and I want to return the car in Chicago. Collection Friday 24th of July, returning on Thursday 30th July.

Any advise on how to get the best deal? All quotes I have received so far have been $800+

Also, has anyone hired a car in the states and driven into Canada for a couple of days? Do I need to pay for extra insurance?

coylemj

Previous posts have pointed out that the car will have to be sent back to NY from Chicago so that's why the cost will never go below a certain number i.e. it's unlikely you'll make a major dent in that number.

I think that for revenue (tax) reasons, each state insists that a car being rented out has to be registered in that state, hence the state of Illinois won't allow the car to be rented out from Chicago and it will have to be shipped back to NY.

irelandrover

Last time I rented a car in New York state I got a car from North Carolina. In fact I was there with work and of the 6 people with rental cars only one had a car registered in New York.

Sheldons Brain

There shouldn't be any problem driving to Toronto with any of the major companies, I've done it several times. Your one way rental will preclude a really good deal. For at this time of year I've noticed deals start about 4 days out, but that may depend on the balance between fleet size and demand, I wouldn't be sure that the same would hold true at a different time of the year.

purplestar77

As far as I know some rental companies allow cross border travel, to Canada, but you may have to advise them. If you are looking at booking through Argus car hire - you can click into the rental conditions of each car option and you can see if there are any restrictions on regions/cross border travel.

I'm looking for car rental from Atlanta, driving up to PA and back to Atlanta and didn't realise that some rental companies only allow you drive within a certain geographical region (or maybe they'll charge you extra for it, I'm not sure). So some rental options are no good for my drive to PA.

For me, the best price I'm seeing at the moment is with Alamo.co.uk/brits and they give you an extra driver free. I'm getting a 7 seater minivan for 2 weeks for under €600. Also I've read you can possibly check-in online for your reservation before you go, so you just head straight to the garage with your printout to collect your car and bypass the counter. I haven't booked anything with Alamo brits yet - prices are in Sterling so I'm waiting to see if the exchange rate will drop a bit.

tricky D

coylemj wrote: »

Previous posts have pointed out that the car will have to be sent back to NY from Chicago so that's why the cost will never go below a certain number i.e. it's unlikely you'll make a major dent in that number.

Min $250 add-on for dropping off at another outlet when and wherever I checked.

coylemj wrote: »

I think that for revenue (tax) reasons, each state insists that a car being rented out has to be registered in that state, hence the state of Illinois won't allow the car to be rented out from Chicago and it will have to be shipped back to NY.

Mine was a NV plate out of SFO, though you never know some states might have such a requirement.

northknife

Hi


Found this website that has some good discount codes and advice for renting.


http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/car-rental-programs-partners-392/

I booked with National before and had a one way rental which they didn't charge extra for but that was a good few years ago and might have changed now