Virgin Car Hire - Fully Inclusive Sufficient? And another Q please...

[katizim]

Hi again all,

I'm after some more assistance please.

I have booked our car hire through Virgin Holidays. We didn't book the holiday with VH, but their prices were best for the car hire, so we have just booked that.

We have booked two cars - an MPV and a Standard SUV. We selected the 'Fully Inclusive' cover.

This is what it says in the T&Cs on the Virgin site:
"- Third Party Liability up to the state minimum where applicable (Covers for damage to a third party person or car, not your own hire car)

- 24/7 Roadside Assistance

- Unlimited Mileage

- Collision Damage Waiver (Cover for damage to the hire car)

- Extended Protection (Extended third party cover up to $1million)

- Uninsured Motorist protection

- Pre payable State/Local Taxes and Surcharges

- Airport charges and fees

- One free additional driver"

Please will someone in the know tell me whether this will cover us sufficiently, and will we have an excess to pay should anything happen?

I have done Skip the Counter. What has confused me, and, admittedly, it doesn't take much, is that when I did the OLCI, it offered me the opportunity to pay for further things - like the roadside assistance, which it clearly states it includes above.

There are two under-25s coming with us (aged 24 and 23) and both want to have a go at driving out there. Will we be able to add them to the insurance for a period of the hire at the booth? And will they count as the 'one free additional driver' that we are entitled to, or will we have to pay for an additional driver AND the under-25 drivers fee?

Thank you!

[RobertWestwood]

blimey beat Tom to it... he must be having his afternoon nap

The insurances are fine, but I suspect it will cost you a fair bit to add on a driver under 25

[Mr Tom Morrow]

Mods Mods - Robert is bullying me!

The Insurance is fine, the same as Brits etc. The roadside assistance included is the standard Alamo one where they tow you in after a breakdown/bump etc. The enhanced one you pay for covers lost keys, misfuelling, flat battery due to lights left on etc. That can be bought cheaper through a 3rd party broker if you want it.

If you want to add on under 25's ring VH as they can do it cheaper than going to Alamo. If you want to do it via Alamo go to the hut in the garage as thats quicker than the desks.

Edit. It will cost hundreds to add 2 x under 25's

[duncanb]

OP under 25 fees are $25 per day so for 2 $50 bucks a day or $700 for a fortnight.
If you change to virgin platinum package you get 4 drivers and underage fees included.
The free extra driver does not include an under 25 driver.
For many hires I have used uscarehire.com as their 4 driver package including under 25 is between 125 to 150 stirling.
There carhire price is general near to others as well.
Also I'm not sure on virgins policy re what groups under 25s can be in with VA , i do know uscarhire its unlimited as my boys were on Mustangs Suburbans Tahoes 15 seat vans and lux saloons.
I'm not a VA specialist so unsure on groups or ability to cancel if a better package is available to allow under 25 drivers.

[Mr Tom Morrow]

Duncan. I think the Platinum only kicks in with a Holiday included. I know the Gold on a stand alone VH car hire gives the extra drivers as you say but not the underage ones.

However I bet if the OP rings them up and uses Platinum as you suggest they will engineer it as it's more money for them.

Edit. Just checked, how weird. For a flydrive or a holiday they offer Virgin Holidays Gold Plus. This does cover under 25's
Wonder why they dont offer it for straight car hire?

[duncanb]

Glad to be corrected as no virgin expert MrTM
Agree they may be able to sort without dates hard to see if a cheaper option with under 25s.
I have struggled in past to add single days to package hence eventually finding uscarehire.com

[katizim]

Thank you all for your assistance.

I'm satisfied to hear that the insurance is enough, thank you.

I have had a look at uscarhire.com and unfortunately their prices are coming in at double what we paid, even without the platinum cover! We paid £590 for the MPV and £450 for the SUV with the fully inclusive cover. uscarhire.com have quoted £1250 for the MPV with silver cover and £1227 for the SUV with silver cover. Neither of those prices appear to include the underage driver fee.

I have just spoken to VH on their online chat as it does clearly state in their T&Cs that they offer a 'gold plus' for their package holiday customers which includes underage driver fees. They weren't able to offer me this cover as we didn't book a package holiday through them - it seems completely absurd that they would have this facility but only offer it to some. I was told we would have to pay the underage driver fee directly to Alamo at the desk. Surely it doesn't make business sense that they have the option but don't offer it to all, and therefore miss out on a cut of the fee paid directly to Alamo!

I should have been clearer that we would only add the underage drivers for a week each - they just want to have a taste of it, plus it means that beers can be consumed with dinner if the drivers are on a rotation. We would only need them to be insured for maybe 6 nights total each since we are staying on-site at HRH for a night and also planning to spend a night at the coast, where we would walk to dinner, for example. But, yes, the fee is a lot of money!

[99plums]

I would be surprised if they let you add extra drivers for specific days of the agreement, I would of thought it would need to be for the full duration of the agreement or not at all.

[katizim]

I have sent Alamo a tweet and they confirmed that it is possible to add drivers for a few days of a rental period - though it does mean having to go to a location to add and remove them.

[99plums]

Originally Posted by katizim

I have sent Alamo a tweet and they confirmed that it is possible to add drivers for a few days of a rental period - though it does mean having to go to a location to add and remove them.

See more...

That's a positive response then, there are a few Alamo locations around the area, including the DCCC near the Magic Kingdom.