I have been researching for the cheapest intermidiate car for a 19 day trip in california later this month, and Dollar seems to beat all competition, with Enterprise in second place.

However I need to add an LDW but am having difficulty finding out how much this is per day in SFO. Is this a fixed amount for all the rental companies or might it be very cheaper with Enterprise or AVIS.

Intermidieate car
Dollar 315 usd
Enterprise 338 usd
AVIS 450

The LDW charge will significantly raise the cost of your rental ($10-20 a day). Since you probably don't have a US based credit card with car rental coverage you might be better off getting an all-included European rate (not sure if Dollar has this, but Avis, Hertz, and co. ask for your country of residence) which will look more expensive but will have all coverage included. I'm not even sure if liability insurance is included on California rentals since the companies expect you to have liability coverage on your car insurance. Really much cheaper to get hold of a US based credit card somehow.

They don't provide liability.

They don't provide collision/comprehensive to cover the vehicle.

You got to pay up if you want those.

A credit card wouldn't cover liability in any case, so best suggestion is to look for an all inclusive rate so you know what you will pay up front. A google search for USA car rental should come up with different agencies mostly located in the UK. Prices seem to be about double what you've been quoted, but include the insurance. Try different countries of residence since the rates vary, just make sure they include insurance. Also try the Avis/Hertz forums with their discount codes, which might reduce the rate significantly.

i am listening... still considering what to do... will post once i finish my research...

By the way LDW is 9 dollars per day in SFO, so not to bad...

When looking at what avis is offering if i book from their danish website it seems only to be LDW and ALI... Will this cover the car if it gets stolen, and any expenses if I hit another car or person? ANy other insurances that should be included?

I have my personal travel insurance that covers me in all situations.

Thanks for your help. It really is a jungle to fully understand these insurances.

I assume ALI is liability insurance, which would cover another car/ person damaged/injured to a certain limited amount depending on the insurance. LDW would cover loss (theft) and CDW would cover collision damage to your rental car. They are sometimes bundled together. I assume your personal travel insurance gives you medical coverage in case you were injured. Am no insurance expert by any means, so please correct me if I'm mistaken. The $9 LDW would be per day so don't forget to calculate for 19 days and see if it includes CDW. Try to find out how much liability insurance would be per day also. Here is a site that explains the differences better than I could. Good luck

LDW depends on the size of the vehicle. For compacts and smaller, it's $9 per day. For midsize, it's $14.99 per day. Don't know about the bigger vehicles.

Define all.

yeah "all" is the exact problem. I have written an email to them to find out if they cover "third party liability" when (i hope this never happens) i am driving a car and hit someone or somebody.

Now after having researched some more i see that if i have to pay CDW and SLI up front at the dollar office, I will be better of taking an avis package and using my SAS discount 10% which will include CDW and SLI and represent a saving of roughly 150 usd compared to what i will pay at dollar. Have tried almost all the AWD in the AVIS forum but most of them do not include insurance, and thus not really of any interest to me, as they still can't beat the very good rate at dollar.

However if my personal travel insurance will cover my SLI then Dollar is still by far the cheapest.

Thanks for all the responses and the link cardesigner. IT's a bit of a jungle, but interesting to get to know and understand the abreviations and terms in the insurance area.

Kind regards
Mogensen

If you do end up using Dollar don't forget to sign up for their Fast Lane program to avoid waiting in line as the Fast Lane saved me! thread mentions.

Are these rates state wide? What about LAX?