abaheti

Perfect, thanks, that's what I needed to hear. So I'll pay the costs and roll with the flow. I have a letter from Chase for the CDW dated last week. And if it is legally required, then Chase coverage should still apply on any possible LDW out of pockets. Thanks!

TWA884

In November 2014, I rented a car directly from Eldan and was able to decline the CDW. The rental agent was not interested in seeing the letter of coverage from Chase which I had with me. He simply authorized an extra $2,500 on my Chase United MileagePlus Explorer card.

On the other hand, my rental was a lot more than $50 for the six days that I had the car (F class, total cost was $253 including a $28 airport drop off charge and $52 for liability insurance, which is mandatory).

abaheti

Looks like the mandatory insurance charge is making up for my good deal on rental price in Israel. :-) This one is from Enterprise (via Eldan), but I actually found $50 for 8 days in a few places, so there must be something going on to make the car portion cheap. Just checked Eldan directly and the car rental charge is much higher, but the insurance labeled "comprehensive" is much cheaper ($73), and it ends up being $20 USD more all in than with Enterprise (Eldan). So looks like it it is all fungible and gets you to about the same price regardless. The Eldan location addresses match the Enterprise ones, but the car choices are different, so I'm curious.

abaheti

Follow up: I emailed Enterprise (Eldan) asking why the coverage was so much less with Eldan for the same car class, same dates, same pick up and drop off. Classic "we'll get to the total we want however we arrange the numbers" answer: "The rate of the coverages is subject to change according to the reserved category, rental length and date of booking."

craz

Not surprised, however to be fair, youd get the same answer for a rental anywhere in The US if was with 1- Hertz,Dollar,Thrifty (all owned by Hertz) 2- Avis/Budget (both owned by Avis), 3) Enterprise,Alamo,National (all owned by Enterprise)

where the exact same car will have different rates and at times different rates for ins or extras as well

Try getting a quote from these guys,Ive been using them for the past few years 3-4x a year, no one has matched them or were cheaper, if you do please let me know if they beat what you have; http://www.noachcar.co.il/

abaheti

Wasn't making a comment about Israel, just musing over Eldan renting to me at one rate + insurance = $220, but Enterprise renting to me (thru Eldan?) gets me much lower rate + more expensive insurance = $200. "Your pizza will be $20, whether it is $19 for the base pizza and $1 for mushrooms or it is $10 for mushrooms and $10 for the base pizza".

(As a total tangential aside, tried to burn Enterprise points, but everyone should be aware that Enterprise points are not usable in Israel. The website won't tell you that, you just keep getting quoted in dollars even when trying to use points, but the phone rep was eventually able to figure it out and tell me.)

craz

Hertz is only good in NA. Problem even if they are good anywhere is in Israel all the companys arent Corporate , so AFAIK in order to use pts for a rental it has to be a corp location. Had that problem at some neighborhood locations where I wasnt able to use my pts since it wasnt a corp location

awayIgo

'Try getting a quote from these guys,Ive been using them for the past few years 3-4x a year, no one has matched them or were cheaper, if you do please let me know if they beat what you have; http://www.noachcar.co.il/

I too have been using them for years--multiple rentals coming to 50-60 days a year. They rent via Hertz, Budget and Shlomo Sixt. I would strongly strongly strongly suggest you use either Hertz or Budget. The complaints about Shlomo Sixt are more significantly numerous than other Israeli rental agencies.

craz

Was never quoted from Sixt, I think they only use them when Hertz and Budget are soldout or rates are thru the roof

I prefer Budget now only cause HZ you return to T3 and the last 2 ties I did that they werent any carts available and its alot easier to get to the counters when being dropped off in front of the Term, no 2 elevators to deal with.Ok its 1 if you do the long walk to the Term from the return area

More important with any company make sure you go over the car with a fine tooth comb before driving off. My last rental a few weeks ago they were more dents and paint missing on the car then the sheet showed

guv1976

If you rent in one of the U.S. states where the cost of LDW is regulated by state law, then you won't see variances in the cost of LDW.

Cost of renting the car itself can vary widely, depending on demand.

Ditto

I often take pictures with my phone as there is no one around in the parking area, when I return the car they keep on not noticing the same damages, so it seems a bit redundant, though I'm sure one time I will have to use it.... some examples attached...

abaheti

Update: Wow. If you rent from Eilat using Enterprise (Eldan), buckle up for the worst rental customer service and speed you've had ever. Consider Avis or another company within the same shopping plaza. 45 minutes in line while she rented someone a car (not a joke, we noticed the times because we were waiting to rent our car...). Typed single fingered, one letter at a time. Never acknowledged the growing line (or us). Wouldn't ask the guy to return other people's cars while we were all in line even as he sat waiting around for something to do. It was painful. It seriously was like a punked/stereotypical version of (insert country/state here) DMV. Never even looked us in the eye. And truly the worst possible first customer service experience as you enter a new country.

Efrem

I rented from that Eldan office earlier this year and had the opposite experience. Speedy, no problems. Maybe the fact that it was getting near closing time on Friday afternoon had something to do with it, maybe speaking Hebrew helped (though we don't know that you didn't), but I think it was just the luck of the draw as regards agents. Any company can have a slacker or two.

abaheti

It was interesting -- people renting from Eldan itself seemed to just walk in around to the left and a woman in Eldan-looking-colors shirt would help quickly. The woman at the front handling Enterprise was just painful. Even a simple eye or verbal acknowledgment and a "I'm so sorry we're backed up" would have gone a long way. I felt really bad for the people who were trying to get to the airport for flights. You're right, of course, that it was a single agent on a single day, but if I'm ever there again I'll probably not take the risk. One bad customer service experience can cost business especially if there are fungible alternatives within a few meters.

awayIgo

I have found rental processing in Israel just takes longer ( I don't use airport site, just office near my home) I am speaking English. I've gotten out quickly and I've taken an hour--in multiple different agencies.

BTW the guy sitting doing nothing. He may have been a driver--just authorized to drive cars and check them with customers, not authorized to do the paperwork--and may have no idea on how to do the paperwork.