"Free" Car Hire

[SarahB]

Hi - We are flying to Orlando in April with Thomson who were offering "free" car hire as part of the package, but after a phone call with them we were told that to upgrade to fully inclusive we need to pay another £400. This is just for a medium size car, which I know without any discount we can hire ourselves from Alamo for £230 fully inclusive of insurance. I would just like some advice as to whether we are doing the right thing cancelling the car hire through Thomsons, and just booking it ourselves and also if fully inclusive really means fully inclusive? Or will we still have to pay more when we actually collect the car? I think I'm starting to get a bit paranoid now as I do feel a bit let down that Thomsons are being particularly greedy. I just dont want to turn up at Sanford airport to find a bit bill from whichever car hire company we go with when we are already out of pocket from Thomsons bad deal. Thanks for any help.

[florida4sun]

"free care hire' always costs a fortune in insurance, taxes and extras. I would simply book a car from the link above and not bother with the free car. It will save you money.


<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by SarahB
Hi - We are flying to Orlando in April with Thomson who were offering "free" car hire as part of the package, but after a phone call with them we were told that to upgrade to fully inclusive we need to pay another £400. This is just for a medium size car, which I know without any discount we can hire ourselves from Alamo for £230 fully inclusive of insurance. I would just like some advice as to whether we are doing the right thing cancelling the car hire through Thomsons, and just booking it ourselves and also if fully inclusive really means fully inclusive? Or will we still have to pay more when we actually collect the car? I think I'm starting to get a bit paranoid now as I do feel a bit let down that Thomsons are being particularly greedy. I just dont want to turn up at Sanford airport to find a bit bill from whichever car hire company we go with when we are already out of pocket from Thomsons bad deal. Thanks for any help.
[/quote]

[Albert the Frog]

I'm with Martin-watch though if you cancel the "free" car that they don't recover their profit elsewhere. The advantage of through this site is that you see everything up front-no hidden extras.

[SDJ]

If it seems 'too good to be true' then it usually is. I would do as Martin says and book through this site. Thomsons probably have a lot of 'no shows' at the airport.

Have a great vacation and don't let this spoil your looking forward to it.

Sandra

[MarkJan]

You get nothing for free! If you order direct from Alamo make sure you are not in the same situation, you don't want to get stung for insurances at the counter.

If you book through the Florida Car Hire link above, the rate is all inclusive and I suggest taking the Gold cover, this includes a tank of fuel.

[ShirleyD]

I was just speaking to some future guests of ours yesterday. They told me that on their last trip they used the tour operator 'free' car hire and were shocked at what they then had to pay out on arrival. They have booked the US car hire gold option for this trip, so they know there will be nothing else to pay.

[dawn burley]

Each time I have booked a charter flight with "free" car hire I have always cancelled it, booked separately and saved a lot of money! Your cancellation of car hire will show on your final invoice so you shouldn't need to worry about any confusion when you get to Florida.

I always book with US car hire as their prices are extremely competitive with no hidden extras and their service is unbeatable.

Dawn

[CERICROWLEY]

Sarah

I wouldn't tell them you are cancelling it, as sometimes the price is dependent on booking it as a flydrive, rather than flight only. If its free and the cost of the flights is cheaper this way than booking flights only, stay with the flydrive option BUT book the car hire with OV link above and just not turn up for the car hire.

That's what I have done in the past, book flydrive, and not bothered with the car, but booked it with USCARHIRE instead.

[dawn burley]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by CERICROWLEY
Sarah

I wouldn't tell them you are cancelling it, as sometimes the price is dependent on booking it as a flydrive, rather than flight only. If its free and the cost of the flights is cheaper this way than booking flights only, stay with the flydrive option BUT book the car hire with OV link above and just not turn up for the car hire.

That's what I have done in the past, book flydrive, and not bothered with the car, but booked it with USCARHIRE instead.
[/quote]

Each time I have cancelled a tour operator "free car", the price hasn't changed but as Ceri has stated it's best to check with the operator before you make any decisions[msnsmile] To be honest I even cancelled the accommodation once as well (as we stayed in our own villa) and when we spoke to the rep on arrival he was extremely relieved as he said the accommodation in the package was always being complained about[msnoo]

Dawn

[SarahB]

Thanks everybody. Now I'm worrying about the villa instead. Do you think I should try and cancel that one too? It was booked through Thomsons, and all I know is that its a 3 bed at Lake Cumbrian Villas. Do you think I'm likely to have problems when we get there? I don't trust Thomsons at all now.