Car Rental Extras

Hi,

I%26#39;m renting a car from LAX to San Francisco. Are any of the extra insurance options below compulsory and if not what would happen in case of accident?

What would people recommend taking out if anything? I%26#39;m from Ireland so it probably differs for US residents.

Loss Damage Waiver Full

Personal Accident Insurance/persone

Supplemental Liability Insurance

Cheers,

Chuck.

Car Rental Extras

I%26#39;m a fairly frequent traveller to the US (2-3 times a year for the last 20-odd years). I%26#39;ve edited a post I gave a while back in response to a simial question. I%26#39;m UK based but I%26#39;m guessing that the situation will be identical for Irish visitors. Hope it helps.

The ';must haves'; in my opinion are CDW (sometimes known as LDW) and SLI but I decline PAI as my travel insurance covers that. I%26#39;ve seen UIMP (uninsured motorist protection) offered recently too.

If you look at prices on US based sites these costs will not be included in your quote and sometimes it is very difficult to find out what they will be before you collect your car. Many times they are more than the basic car costs.

Over the past 2-3 years my experience is that best the deals are to be found by booking in advance through a UK company that acts as an agent for the big car hire companies. The good UK companies will make sure all the necessary insurance is included. Particularly look for agents that deal with either Dollar or Alamo. from the UK, you can get either Dollar%26#39;s platinum package or Alamo%26#39;s gold package. Both of these cover all the necessary insurance, additional drivers and full tank of petrol. Shop around for who is giving the best deal for the time you are travelling. Some of these deals are full prepay in advance whiles some are deposit only so look out for cancellation fees if your plans are still not fixed.

My bookmarked agents from my research for my recent California trip are:

fifteen02.com

airline-network.co.uk

carrentals.co.uk

yescarhire.com

Car Rental Extras

I rent cars in the States three or four times a year. I have tried many different companies and means of booking. I came to the conclusion that the most easy and price efficient way is to book a car with Alamo through any representative of the German TUI tourist operator. I always book the ';Alamo Gold'; package, which includes everything you need.

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