Great Deal from AVIS !!

[Tracie1976]

Okay so I decided ERAC isn't gonna stick it to me with mileage charges and guilting me into their "insurance" I found out my credit card will cover damages if something were to happen. I know that doesn't include "down time" but that's fine.

Today I was doing some research online and found a great deal from AVIS. First, I do plan wayyy in advance I know but I'd rather be safe than sorry. Anyway I got an intermediate car (G6 or similar) and unlimited mileage anywhere in the USA (unlike ERAC) for $289 total for 10 days and that includes taxes and fees. I have a coupon too for a free tank of gas !!

Has anyone else used AVIS before ? Anything I need to know that isn't obvious ?

Tracie
NC

[D.N.R.]

I always loved that phrase "or similar". No matter how many times an erac employee says that, the customer always comes in and says " I was PROMISED a G6!!! Well, anyways, enjoy your busted up 2 door '03 chevy cavalier with manual windows and no cruise control. Probably will reek of cigarette smoke or wet dog.

[Tracie1976]

So okay are you tryin to say AVIS is worse than ERAC ? Atleast AVIS isn't trying to charge me 15 bucks a day to have unlimited mileage

[slave no more]

There is usually a reason why companies who generally have much higher prices and offer larger vehicles for lower prices and that is that they are floudering and need to get as much business as possible. ERAC resells there cars so they need to be able to justify the miles being racked up with mileage charges. Avis is a decent rental car comany and I would tell you to take that deal from them but don't expect a G6. Expect the "or similar" vehicle which would be a Grand Am, Stratus, 4 door Cavalier. Usually the G6s don;t hang around too long since they are the "nicer" of the group. They will offer you the coverages just like ERAC will but since it is hit or miss how hard the ERAC rep will sell you you will again be better off with Avis. I know everyone says the CDW is BS but keep in mind that the ease of use and the coverages are better than most other forms of insurance including personal. Downtime is not paid by most credit cards or insurance companies, the avg deductible is about $500 and can be claimed by your insurance company as an "at fault accident" regardless of the way the damage occurred (that is up to your insurance company", with credit card coverages you have to buy gas, hotel, and meals related to the trip on that exact same card or they will deny it (check before you leave with your credit card company) and lastly some credit card companies will also deny the claim if you have your own full coverage since they are considered secondary coverage. Sometimes you still have to file a claim with your insurance company and then have them deny it to have the ccard take over (and they don't cover every vehicle as well). Make sure you do all of that research before you go there and remember it so you have a good trip and not some nightmare that will end up on the www.avisneedstotryevenharder.com website that will be started by ????? soon. PEACE OUT LAKE TROUT.

[TravelingAshley]

An interesting tid-bit on the down time charge.

I went in depth discussing with my insurance agent all the insurances that rental cars offer and seeing excately how I would be covered. What it came down to is I would ONLY have to cover my $250 deductible. I then called my Credit Card company and they said they will cover that deductible. Even if I did have to pay the $250 it's cheaper than paying for the damage waiver for 14 days a year (which is an average of how many days I'm in a rental car).

Then I brought up the "down time" with my insurance agent and all she did was laugh. She said that rental car companies are now trying to collect for that but she said that their company has NEVER - and she did say NEVER- have to pay for down time. She said all that would have to be done would be that my insurance company's lawyer would contact the rental company and state that down time is expected in their line of business and the charges would be dropped. It must be a legal thing, I don't fully understand, but she does. She said that any insurance company can fight it and win it with ease.

So don't be taken advantage of with these insurances! If you have good insurance already, you are covered. Do your research.

Ash

[slave no more]

I agree with you up to a point about the CDW. I agree that if you have a lower deductible then the DW may not be as valuable of a product but if you are going to have a car for only a few days I would say to take it every time. I no longer work at ERAC and I take it each time. It's cheaper than my $500 deductible and I don't want the claim. I don't want to have a possibilty of my Insurance going up and I don't want to have to worry about jack shit. Now since I know the way it works I can also call BS on ERAC or any other rental company if they try to get over on me. 14 days I would chance it with my own insurance or the credit card (I have a plat amex and Diners Club) but for a weekend, especially when I am traveling I go with the rental car coverage from whomever!

[Splitmaster]

Originally Posted by TravelingAshley

An interesting tid-bit on the down time charge.

I went in depth discussing with my insurance agent all the insurances that rental cars offer and seeing excately how I would be covered. What it came down to is I would ONLY have to cover my $250 deductible. I then called my Credit Card company and they said they will cover that deductible. Even if I did have to pay the $250 it's cheaper than paying for the damage waiver for 14 days a year (which is an average of how many days I'm in a rental car).

Then I brought up the "down time" with my insurance agent and all she did was laugh. She said that rental car companies are now trying to collect for that but she said that their company has NEVER - and she did say NEVER- have to pay for down time. She said all that would have to be done would be that my insurance company's lawyer would contact the rental company and state that down time is expected in their line of business and the charges would be dropped. It must be a legal thing, I don't fully understand, but she does. She said that any insurance company can fight it and win it with ease.

So don't be taken advantage of with these insurances! If you have good insurance already, you are covered. Do your research.

Ash

Ash, you are somewhat correct on the downtime part. When I used to work for Erac, I talked to someone in lossed control as to why they don't collect for downtime when we always tell customers that we will collect. She said that in order to be able to collect for downtime, the entire groupe would have to be extremely tight on cars so that they could justify the loss in income by having the car in the shop. Since it is pretty rare for an entire group to be extremely tight on cars, it is very rare that they would even try. Also, Erac has agreements with several of the major companies to not collect for downwtime regardless of the situation.

I do want to point out one thing though, NEVER trust your agent when they tell you what will or won't be covered or collected. Most agents really don't know shit about the claims part of the process and will tell you whatever you want to hear so you remain happy with your insurance company. If you really want to know what is covered, etc., get in touch with the claims department for your insurance company and they can set you straight. I knew of many occassions where a customer got burned by their insurance agent giving them the wrong info.

[slave no more]

I also forgot to point out that most agents have not been sold CDW correctly. You can get a lot of agents on your side if you talk to them about loss ratio. I had 8 of my 10 agents seling CDW to their customers and we would have a $120 to $150 package monthly at an 85% Ins replacement branch. You bring up Loss Ratio to an adjuster and their tune usually changes.

[Former24FFer]

I used to work in Loss Control and I can say that of all the claims that I was responsible to collect on, only a small majority ever paid loss of use. It is true that insurance agents would say that loss of use is part of the business and 99 times out of a 100, I would write it off. The only time I would ever collect is when I was pursuing a renter who violated the contract and or a 3rd party who did not have coverage.

[TravelingAshley]

I would agree not to trust your insurance agent whole heartedly...but in my case she is an old friend. She grew up next door to my husband and I taught her daughter how to swim for a number of years. So, I'm pretty sure I can trust her.

But overall, I wouldn't trust most in the insurance industry:)
Ash