Different availability on different websites
 

I am about to rent a car out of CRW over the 4th July weekend. Using the Avis.com, a Camaro appears to be available, albeit for a princely sum. However Avis.co.uk doesn't even list the Camaro as a bookable category of car. The reason this matters is that the .co.uk site includes a greater level of insurance as part of the booking over the .com site. I am keen to avoid pranging a car such as that, and then having a delightful bill from Avis :)

Any ideas?

Thanks.

Be aware of the following:

1. CDW/LDW in the US works differently than in Europe. If you buy it in the US, it covers damage down the last penny. In Europe, often no matter how much coverage you buy, you still have sizeable deductible that they can bill you for afterwards if they find any damage.

I'd be concerned whether the UK site is adding European-style coverage, while the US isn't adding any automatically, but if you add it manually (either now or at the rental counter) it'll actually cover you better.

2. Yes, you can add these coverages at pickup. Somewhere on avis.com it should tell you what they would cost, but it may take some rummaging around to figure it out, depending on how you are making the reservation. (If you are making the reservation without logging in, it may show them as options for you to buy; if you are making the reservation while logged in and you Wizard account is set to decline everything, it may show "declined" in the space where the price would be. So one trick would simply to go through a dummy reservation process while not logged in to get those prices.)

Having said all that, the CDW/LDW prices in the US can be very high, or at least seem espcially that way when coupled with daily rates that are (in some cases) very low. (In the US, if you take this insurance, it can often double the overall rental cost.) That's why in the US people often decline this, using either their own personal auto insurance or credit card insurance (on the chance that they'll be hit with one of those "delightful bills").

Very true, and good point to note.

Actually, the prepaid all-inclusive rates available through the .co.uk sites actually do provide the full CDW/LDW and SLI/ALI products. They also typically do so at a cost far below adding them at the counter.

In fact, I've seen the prepaid all-inclusive rates on the .co.uk sites actually be lower than the bare-bones, no-insurance-included rates available on the US .com sites.

I have a "W" class SUV booked for Savannah 29/7/11, Booked Via the .co.uk site and came out $600 cheaper than through the .com site and all inclusive with LDW and SLI plus one way fee included.

Oh, wow! So can an Avis member based in the US use the UK site and their regular Wizard number for those rentals where it works better for them? Does the UK site use the same login as the US site or need to set up a separate login?

If you choose "USA" as your country of residence, it redirects you to avis.com. That said, if you fake your country of residence to continue booking at .co.uk, I don't believe it saves that information anywhere, and I have never seen a specific prohibition against U.S.-based renters using those packages. (The T&C don't prohibit it.) I haven't yet heard anyone say they've attempted it (either successfully or unsuccessfully), though...be sure to report if you try it and it works!

I haven't tried using my U.S. Wizard number on .co.uk--I'd try it now but I can never remember my password...

I can't use my UK login details on the US site however I still get better rates if I put in country of residence as UK rather than USA. normally get LDW and SLI thrown in free !!