Hertz - PBI rental help please...

Hi all,

I'm looking to book from PBI and need a little assistance. I'm Marriott Plat, so used to digging out the best rates for hotels, but a bit lost on cars.

I've signed up for Hertz Gold. My dates are fluid, I'm there from 5/22-5/31 but I don't necessarily need a car for the first two days.

My thoughts are these:
1. If the rate is good enough I'd prefer to rent 5/24-5/31. The best rate I have found so far is the Marriott discount - ICAR @ $217.38
2. Or rent for 2 days on the 50% discount weekend special, + rent for a single day to get me from PBI to FLL, + 1 day back to PBI for outbound flight. But I'd only be saving a small amount over the total weekly cost and I'd have the convenience of the car for a week.

Another poster picked up a Mustang for $250 (waiting to hear back how) for a week on the 'Rent for 7, pay for 5' rate and Gold CDP, which I would jump at but can't get anywhere near (he's renting from MIA - last week of May). The closest I could get is $450.

I've been back through the forums and googled as much as I could to find appropriate codes I can plug-in but I'm spinning my wheels.

My other question is, as a UK renter I know LDW is included, but I still can't find the answer to whether I need CDW too, as the only optional upgrades I am offered is personal insurance.

I'd be extremely grateful for any help/advice/suggestions

Many thanks...David

If you're really concerned about price and you are going to be in the car for over a week then you may want to consider taking a cab to the nearest off airport location (I'm sure there would be one within 10 miles or less of PBI). Off airport rates are always cheaper and there aren't any airport concession fees.

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I'm not sure what you mean when you say LDW is included as a UK customer. Are you with a company that provides you LDW? Either way, Hertz does not offer CDW in the United States -- only LDW which is better.

The difference between CDW & LDW with most rental car companies is that if a rental car company offers CDW then they will only cover the car if it is actually involved in a collision. LDW covers the car in other situations such as theft and vandalism in addition to collision.

Thanks Spades, price isn't a major issue. I'd rather pay extra for a decent car. But I'll take a look at off airport locations and see if they come up any better.

Re the LDW, I might have imagined this, but I thought if I booked through hertz.co.uk LDW is included whereas it didn't appear to be when checking hertz.com - I was busy checking standard rates and making sure the Marriott discount was correct

Thanks for your advice, off I go ;-)

David

[QUOTE=spades097;11737768]If you're really concerned about price and you are going to be in the car for over a week then you may want to consider taking a cab to the nearest off airport location (I'm sure there would be one within 10 miles or less of PBI). Off airport rates are always cheaper and there aren't any airport concession fees.

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I'm not sure what you mean when you say LDW is included as a UK customer. Are you with a company that provides you LDW? Either way, Hertz does not offer CDW in the United States -- only LDW which is better.
QUOTE]

Thanks Spades,

I searched off airport locations and came up with $320 for 7 days for a STAR (Mustang/Sebring or similar), returning to the airport. Not as good as $250 but close enough. But this means renting 5/24-5-31 and most places are shut on a Sunday.

It's raised a couple of questions still,

1. The rental location I chose I'm thinking of is Amtrak station, PBI as the HLE is not open Sunday and the Amtrak is the only location I can get a STAR at a reasonable rate and is less than a mile from the hotel. Surely the STAR has to come from a local/airport office who are claiming no availability?

But it has this caveat, PLEASE NOTE: There is not a vehicle rental office at this location. This vehicle may need to be coordinated for pick-up and/or drop-off.

Not exactly sure what that means and what the implications are - I read it as hanging around as there is no counter and the agent will obviously be late ;-)

2. I take it the 'or similar' will probably be a Sebring, in which case I may just opt for an intermediate.

3 And rather cheekily, I noticed when using the Marriott CDP, I get a Marriott discount and a discount for the pre-paid rate. But when applying the current Marriott promo (Marriott discount + $35 off), I get a cheaper $ rate for the week, but the pre-paid discount disappears rsulting in a more expensive rate!!

I'll go back through the rate sticky, guess I'd be better off with a 20% discount and pre-pay.

I'd appreicate any advice...Thanks

OK - I'm sorry but I'm not very familiar with hertz.co.uk rentals. I went to the UK website and I don't see where it lists "STAR". Are you looking for a convertible or are you looking for an intermediate? If you're looking for an intermediate then it may be in your best interest to rent the car on the 22nd or the 23rd from the HLE on 3000 South Dixie Highway even if you don't need the car those days.

The rates I'm pulling up on the UK website are higher than through hertz.com. The intermediate rate is showing a total of $280 USD if you pick up on Saturday, 5/23 at 1PM and return back to the airport by 1PM o 5/31.

I didn't add any CDPs so you may get an even lower rate if you book through the US website. However, if booking through the UK gets you LDW then it would be much cheaper to take the UK route. I've never heard of free LDW for UK residents booking through .co.uk.

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I personally would avoid any location that isn't staffed such as the Amtrak location that you mentioned.

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**Follow Up** OK, I just searched the rates through .co.uk for renting on the 24th from the airport directly and the rate is the same as if you were to rent it for the extra day through HLE. I would just rent from the airport if I were you since the price is so insignificant. It just wouldn't be worth the hassle.

Hi Spades,

I think I'd rather pony up for a convertible. STAR comes up as a convertible, but is only available at Amtrak. The airport rental has no availability for the STAR class, just a Mustang which is $150 more.

The details for STAR, taken from the list of cars available at Amtrak is as follows:

Sebring or Mustang Convertible or similar
Standard, Convertible, Automatic, Aircon , STAR
Vehicle Details
389.00 USD 209.99 GBP

But I agree 100% that renting from a non-staffed location could/would be a hassle.

Hmm, back to the drawing board me thinks. Just scanned 30+ pages of the coupon sticky and google looking for a good CDP. Time for bed!!

Thanks...David

It's raised a couple of questions still,

1. The rental location I chose I'm thinking of is Amtrak station, PBI as the HLE is not open Sunday and the Amtrak is the only location I can get a STAR at a reasonable rate and is less than a mile from the hotel. Surely the STAR has to come from a local/airport office who are claiming no availability?

But it has this caveat, PLEASE NOTE: There is not a vehicle rental office at this location. This vehicle may need to be coordinated for pick-up and/or drop-off.

Not exactly sure what that means and what the implications are - I read it as hanging around as there is no counter and the agent will obviously be late ;-)


I'm pretty sure that means you need topre- arrange for a HLE staffer to bring car to you or drive you to the car.

fwiw, the closest full-service HLE to PBI is:located at 3000 South Dixie Highway West Palm Beach, Florida, Sadly they are closed on Sundays.

fwiw, most HLEs will offer free local pickup/return service. Not sure of the exact distance they will go but iirc, the Delray Beach FL HLE offered to pick me up from a location @7 miles from their location.