US Car Hire

[BMRed]

Hey,

I’m heading to the US in April and driving from Atlanta to New Orleans and heading back to Atlanta.

What car hire type would to recommend? My sensible head is saying RAV4 but my petrol head is saying something stupid. It will need to hold 4 suitcases.

[djc206]

How many people in addition to your 4 cases?

I’ve generally found a larger suv to be only marginally more expensive than a mid size like the RAV4 as a rule. I’d be tempted by a Tahoe or even a Suburban.

Are you parking in New Orleans?

[HJG]

Quite a non eventful drive that.
Careful parking in New Orleans....I saw 8 pick-ups in a row with their windows smashed in an open air carpark by Cafe del Mar.

Another tip...do not hang around in Atlanta!

Stop for a burger en route at the Mugshots Grill&Bar in Biloxi , Mississippi.

[BMRed]

One additional person. Will be parking well valet parking in New Orleans or using hotel onsite self park (yet to book hotel).

[HJG]

I recommend the Westin, Canal Place.
It also has a secure carpark attached to it.

[djc206]

BMRed said:

One additional person. Will be parking well valet parking in New Orleans or using hotel onsite self park (yet to book hotel).

Valet parking in NOLA is generally fairly extortionate, $45 at the hotel we stayed at a few weeks back. Self parks are often just regular car parks and car crime in NOLA is out of control. The homeless will just wander in and do the whole lot. NOPD are next to useless.

I’d take a look at one way fees, it might actually be cheaper. Avis have a very convenient location on Canal Street, I dropped our car off there and they couldn’t have been nicer or quicker, took seconds.

If you’re not fussed about staying in the French Quarter then St Charles Inn has a free secure underground car park. I’ve booked into there for my Jan trip.

[chopper602]

I hired a Rav4 recently in Tulsa. Perfectly adequate for 4 adults and 4 cases (plus hand luggage). They're a bit more wobbly than us Europeans are used to and there was a large dead spot in the steering. It was fairly new too, with about 3k miles on it

[Martyn76]

We've booked a holiday for next year which involves driving from South Charleston down to Clearwater spread over 2 days, we chose a Tahoe (or similar), probably over kill but wanted something big, comfy and American!

[BMRed]

Thanks all, you are right. AVIS one way is a good price and saving costs of parking/damage.

Chevy Traverse isn’t a bad price. Do you recommend booking though Avis.com or .co.uk?

[Truckosaurus]

BMRed said:

.... Do you recommend booking though Avis.com or .co.uk?

If you book through the .co.uk site then it will include all the necessary insurance options, whereas the .com site will seem cheaper but you will have to add insurance to it (Americans often can use their own car insurance policy to cover rental cars).

In other rental car news, I had a nice V8 Chrysler 300c in August which was much more amusing than any of the big SUVs I'd previously had. Although might be tight on luggage space if the '4 suitcases' are large ones.

[BMRed]

Funny you mention Chrysler 300c, I’m tempted by that option. Also remembered I’m a gold status with Sixt, so I shall book with them.

[djc206]

BMRed said:

Thanks all, you are right. AVIS one way is a good price and saving costs of parking/damage.

Chevy Traverse isn’t a bad price. Do you recommend booking though Avis.com or .co.uk?

Definitely .co.uk it will include CDW and zero excess.

Traverse is a brilliant car. We had one last year for north of 2000 miles. Faultless. Reasonable on gas, very comfortable and with acres of room inside.

[djc206]

BMRed said:

Funny you mention Chrysler 300c, I’m tempted by that option. Also remembered I’m a gold status with Sixt, so I shall book with them.

Do Sixt have a New Orleans location or are you just going to do a return trip to Atlanta? I’ve always found them to be quite expensive in the US vs the usual suspects, mostly because they seem to primarily offer nice European cars rather than yank tanks.

[HJG]

I always use AutoEurope for US car hire

[parabolica]

BMRed said:

Thanks all, you are right. AVIS one way is a good price and saving costs of parking/damage.

Chevy Traverse isn’t a bad price. Do you recommend booking though Avis.com or .co.uk?

We booked a “RAV4 or similar” via Avis this summer and when we got to Chicago, there was a line of suvs, trucks and mid-size cars to choose from. We ended up with this with only 100 miles on it. It was the V6, but still a good steer for a week or so. Ended up with a Dodge Ram with the same engine for a few days later in the same trip and I was smitten - I get the appeal of big US trucks now.

[BMRed]

Funny enough I forgot we have really strong us car hire discount. Suburban for £295 with everything included, 7 days hire.

Edited by BMRed on Wednesday 18th October 07:37

[Whoozit]

BMRed said:

Funny enough I forgot we have really strong us car hire discount. Suburban for £295 with everything included, 7 days hire.

Edited by BMRed on Wednesday 18th October 07:37

Do it. I just got back from a week in Quebec. A Ram 1500 crew cab pickup with 5.7L Hemi engine cost £10 more a day than a boggo intermediate car. Bucket list item well and truly ticked. 99% of my driving was out of town so YMMV however it was little more hassle to drive than a car, with much better visibility.

[romeogolf]

BMRed said:

Funny enough I forgot we have really strong us car hire discount. Suburban for £295 with everything included, 7 days hire.

Edited by BMRed on Wednesday 18th October 07:37

Go for it! We had a Suburban for a few weeks in California last year and loved it.

[98elise]

BMRed said:

Funny you mention Chrysler 300c, I’m tempted by that option. Also remembered I’m a gold status with Sixt, so I shall book with them.

I had one last time I was in Florida. I love driving proper American cars in the USA

[x5tuu]

I hired a Rav4 for a few weeks in Orlando recently and ended up with a GMC Acadia which was nice to ride around in. Im back in a few days time for another 3weeks and I have booked a full-size with Budget so we shall see what it becomes on collection - TBF the worst Ive ever had in the US was a Nissan Atlima IIRC and it wasnt that bad really.