Dear Fodorites, I have done a provisional booking through Economy car Rentals. As expected, the Loca

I am coming from India and do not know the finer details to look for in a Car Rental contract and what would be a reasonable rate. Can someone please suggest if the terms are Ok and should I go ahead and book it...
I would email or go directly to car rental agency pages and ask them for your dates and to be clear on the drop off fees. I know sometimes it says " A drop off fee MAY be incurred at your destination".
cheap hotels venice italy So to be sure, I prefer cheap hotels venice italy to never reserve a car if I have to give my credit card number. The car agencies themselves do not require that, usually, giving you time to find out the details in an email from the agency directly which you can carry as proof when you arrive.
As you mentioned correctly, they suggest that there will be some charges applicable. But they do not mention the figure, insist on booking first and then contact the car agency. Some of them do not include CDW or LDW. Becomes very uncertain.
cheap hotels venice italy It depends, greatly. IF the agency you use has a car they need to have returned to SFO they may rent it to you and not charge a drop fee. I have done this between the Los Angeles and San Francisco airports but you have to ASK at the rental counter.
cheap hotels venice italy Thanks Dukey1, I need confirmations before I fly into US. So cant afford to wait and ASK at the counter. I have checked cheap hotels venice italy and found that there are many rentals which dont charges one way fees within California but not when it is another state.
This thread has a discussion about Economy Car Rentals (albeit cheap hotels venice italy in Italy). Part way down someone mentions that the insurance is included, but if there is damage to the vehicle the renting agency will charge your credit card and then Economy will reimburse you. So keep that in mind. At this point I think you should at least book the car because it is a very good price, then take some time to search around for customer reviews and decide if you're cheap hotels venice italy comfortable with them or not.
Your best bet is probably Hertz.com .........at the top of the web page where it says "United cheap hotels venice italy States English" you should change it to INDIA, and then you will get rates that include all the fees and insurances that you need. Click through to the final quote which will include cheap hotels venice italy all taxes and fees.
Paragkash, If your hotel is downtown SF I would take the car back THERE, downtown, instead of at the airport ( probably cheaper) so you don't pay garage fees in town on top of it. However, if you have free parking, you can use it to get to the airport if your flight is that last day. Otherwise it can be a burden to have a car in the city and pay a LOT every time you want to park.
You're cheap hotels venice italy not interpreting the Terms Conditions correctly. Not all of their rentals include the same things. There's cheap hotels venice italy no way that they could, because Economy Car Rentals is not a rental agency, they are just a middle-man dealing with several agencies, a type of travel agency cheap hotels venice italy if you will.
What the site actually states is "Details on the Inclusions/ Exclusions or Mandatory items relating to your rental are shown on our website during the booking procedure". (In other words, each booking cheap hotels venice italy will have different terms and conditions.)
There are constant "horror stories" from foreigners who deal with such "agencies", then show up at the rental counter with a "voucher" cheap hotels venice italy that does not even cover half of what the actual charges turn out to be when they return the car.
clarkgriswold, like you, even I thought that the rate seems quite low, and rather suspicious. I have been doing search on the web for last 10 days. Most websites have hidden charges and open ended contracts where we do not exactly know what is the Plus+Plus amount that we may have to pay at the end of the period. This website has the most transparent terms among all of them. Though it does not state the maximum value of CDW cover, but I assume with Zero deductibles, it covers cheap hotels venice italy me sufficiently.
Para....Hertz is one of the more well-regarded rental car companies cheap hotels venice italy in the U.S. and you will have no trouble with them. They are quoting $257 per week with no additional charges if you book on the hertz.co.uk website and note at the top right that you are booking from India.
clarkgriswold, Thanks for the efforts and warning me. I did go through some of the 144 replies to the Economy cheap hotels venice italy Car Rentals scam. They are scary. Plus, all is rosy if nothing happens to the car. You need a reputed company when such a thing happens.
After going through all that, I was planning to contact the local agency that is going to give me the deal. You do get the name after you do the booking. If I find them trustworthy, I continue with the booking. Unfortunately, the local companies don't give the same deal when you approach them directly. They have a special tie up with these agents and have a separate quota for them.
Check Autoeurope website, I almost always use them for car rentals all over the world. It's much easier cheap hotels venice italy to see what is included or not, as a non US citizen you need all the insurances you can get. Picking up a car in one place dropping off in another is not unusual esp in the US. I have done so many times eg pick up SFO drop off in LAX.
If it is not clear on the website about dropoff charges, you can call Autoeurope to find out. Sometimes they might ask you to book the car once booked cheap hotels venice italy they will call you back in a day or two to confirm whether there is a dropoff fee or not. If there is one you don't like the price, you can cancel with no penalty. This is how it worked for me.
You can also check local Indian sites eg Expedia India, this way you will get correct insurances added to the cost. If you go onto US sites like Travelocity.com you will get US based info re insurances.
Maybe we aren't looking at the same website? I clearly see on the booking form where you state what country you are living in AND that is includes everything mentioned.. does not exclude anything, just like the OP said.
Dear Fodorites, I have done a provisional booking through Economy car Rentals. As expected, the Local car supplier at Las Vegas Airport is Dollar Car Rental. (I have booked another car at Fresno through RentalCars.com - which I shall cancel now--- and the supplier is Dollar again)
I have also booked a suppliment of 1 Tank Fuel and an additional driver fees for 7 days for 57 USD--- This also looks extremely low, as the other vendors charge extra driver fees at 70 USD per week plus 1 tank full of Fuel (13.2 gallons) would be approx. 50 USD.
Dollar rentals do not come with any coverages. Those will be extra and will add up to about $25 per day. If the Economy website is leading you to believe otherwise, it is a poor business practice on Economy's part.
There are oodles of posts from travelers who have shown up at "Dollar" and "Thrifty" rental counters only to be told that what they thought was actually covered, cheap hotels venice italy was not. And again, I think people are reading the "terms" on Economy's website incorrectly...they are very misleading and obviously written to confuse.
I never buy the gasoline offer because cheap hotels venice italy they say to bring it back empty then.. and that is almost impossible.. so you are always giving them gas or the last day running around on low.. I prefer to fill the tank a few miles before I return the car and that's that. But do as you wish. It's nothing cheap hotels venice italy to worry about really.
You want to be sure and go with a reputable company that will "make things right" should anything go wrong. When renting in Nevada and dropping in California, the rental company must make sure to give you what they call a "California cheap hotels venice italy Car"...a car that will pass smog inspection/California law. The more reputable rental agencies will find a car for you, or send you to another rental company and pay the difference. The less reputable companies will say "sorry, we ran out of California cars and there is nothing that we can do about it". (Translation: Someone else came around willing to pay us $500 to drive the car to San Fran so obviously we gave them your car, and left our poor desk agent to tell you we're sorry.)
clarkgriswold: As has been mentioned several times, foreign visitors are able to get packages w/ full coverage cheap hotels venice italy and no dropoff fees through brokers. Just like we Americans can rent cars all-in and cheaper in Europe than locals there can.
There is nothing to be concerned about. I would point out that if you go to the dollar.co.uk site, it was slightly less ($211 for Intermediate cheap hotels venice italy class car) for the same. Extra insurance, taxes, cheap hotels venice italy etc included. ClarkG, Dollar.com is for US/Canada residents. Dollar.co.uk is for non-US/Canada where they will get the extra insurance included. This is a business practice of US renters. It is not something cheap hotels venice italy a "broker" adds.
Any speculation as to why Dollar, cheap hotels venice italy or any other car company, would rent vehicles out at just $199 per week, allowing the renter to put 1000 or 5000 miles onto the odometer, cheap hotels venice italy and to return them smashed to bits if desired with no liability on the renter's cheap hotels venice italy part, all damage waived?
Okay I'll bite. The car companies realize that most tourists will be talked into spending on GPS, upgrades, fuel, additional insurances, child seats, additional driver etc. It all sounds so reasonable, just $9 per day, but many won't read the "grand total" until they return the car.
If you are unsure you can record the conversation on your phone, and it is a good idea to take a photo of the odometer and gas level when you return the car, and of course of any apparent damage when you collect it and mark it on the contract diagram.
clarkgriswold, I shall keep your suggestions in mind. Have already included the cost a full tank of fuel and additional driver. I am planning to buy the Garmin GPS when I arrive in the US instead of paying rent for it. Shall take care that I return at the specified location, cheap hotels venice italy well before time. I also feel that I should give myself enough time while picking up and dropping off, as lack of time while returning may create a panic situation, if I am charged any additional fees and if I have to leave urgently to catch a flight.
Gretchen, I did check up on the insu