Free Car Hire for trip to Orlando.

Hello all,

First of all I'd like to apologise in advance if I have posted this in the wrong area. I'm new to the site so am still finding my feet as to where everything is located.

My questions was regarding the free car hire virgin offer. I've recently booked a 10 day holiday to Orlando through virgin holidays and the woman who was booking it for me informed me that although the car hire is free you HAVE to go with one of the insurances. She said the basic car hire was not enough.

I was hoping someone could give me some guidance on this as I purchased the £186 fully inclusive car hire and I'm not sure if it was necesarry or not.

Thanks everyone.

Chris

The full car insurance is well worth it- comming from someone who rolled a car 5 times in the Aussie outback a few years ago to a cost of $3500.

All inc car hire can be cheaper elsewhere than the holiday companies insurance top up.

Hi chris, and welcome to the forum!

The US being the litigious country that it is, fully inclusive car insurance is vital. All insurances offered by tour operators and UK brokers like uscarhire, floridacarhire, tripwheels, and many more, are tailored to the UK renter, and hence, include the CDW, SLI etc that is so important, should the unfortunate happen.

The so-called "free car" is somewhat a myth, in that the insurances, which make up the bulk of the cost are rarely included. The £186 quoted to you by VH, is about on par with many of the above UK brokers. I presume this is for an economy vehicle?

Virgin's car hire used to considerably more than many of their competitors, but since their partnership with alamo a few years ago, their prices are much more on par with the others. Plus, you have Virgin exclusives like on-line check, which basically means you can go straight to the parking lot across the road, once you have completed your on-line check in before you travel. Also, i think Virgin still have a 2-hr grace period with alamo, which can be handy if you pick up your vehicle at say 1600 on the outward leg, but wish to return at 1700 for your return flight home.

Just done a quick like-for-like dummy booking with uscarhire ( using alamo), and they're coming in at £185, so your price is pretty much on par. The only other option you have is to either pre-pay for your fuel, and bring back empty, or choose to refill yourself on the way to the airport. ( Avoid those very close to the airport, as they can charge some silly prices. Enjoy!