Huge variation in prices for this August - thinking of booking through Virgin, any feedback?

[Bellasmummy]

They’re coming up at half the price of Alamo Brits and much cheaper than others too.

It’s still an Alamo booking but I’ve never booked a car hire only with them.

I’d be interested in any feedback, good or bad.

Do they deal promptly with cancellations and refunds?

As we’ve got a cruise booked we’ll be dropping at Port Canaveral but if the cruise didn’t go ahead we’d need to cancel and rebook (or could be just return elsewhere without penalty?)

We might also look to make another booking for the same period assuming the cruise doesn’t go ahead as I think prices will only go up. So we’d definitely need to cancel 1 booking.

I normally choose not to pay up front for car hire, just because I end up cancelling and rebooking when the price drops and prefer not to be waiting and checking for refunds. I don’t think they offer this option though.

[YorkshireT]

Had to do chargeback to get my car hire back from them on fully cancellable car hire in summer.

Having said that they refunded my December flight and hire very promptly when that was cancelled.

Problem is, if the flights are not cancelled and the hire is not part of the package, can you get them to confirm cancellation?

[hardly]

Virgin cheapest I’ve seen for Alamo. 499 suv as Appleseed to 750 with others.
Ive asked Andy to see what he can do.
I’m also considering royal pacific pick up and drop off and Uber to and from airport. Staying onsite last 4 nights and giving car up early. ( 4 nights saves 100 on parking at RPR alone).
In the past I’ve always wanted the car but prices getting silly.

[Bellasmummy]

Originally Posted by hardly

Virgin cheapest I’ve seen for Alamo. 499 suv as Appleseed to 750 with others.
Ive asked Andy to see what he can do.
I’m also considering royal pacific pick up and drop off and Uber to and from airport. Staying onsite last 4 nights and giving car up early. ( 4 nights saves 100 on parking at RPR alone).
In the past I’ve always wanted the car but prices getting silly.

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We always used to get a car but last year we used Uber from MCO to RPR. It was so easy and I would definitely do it again and recommend.

We did 10 nights at RPR without a car, using Uber/Lyft when necessary. We got an Uber to Beach Club when moving hotels and didn’t pick up a car until the the day before our cruise to drive to the port. It was incredibly easy to be without a car and if flying into mco I’d just go without now, particularly due to high parking charges.

We’re flying into Miami so definitely need a car this time.

[dave]

We had car hire for this year with Virging. We cancelled in June and got refunded end of September. No issues.
Just check details on the Extended Protection which Alamo is ending from today.

[Rac20]

We had car hire with Virgin in 2016. Much cheaper than elsewhere. Didn’t have any problems at all so can’t say how good they’d be if a problem arose. If you see what I mean?

[Mr Tom Morrow]

OP. I used Virgin stand alone car hire for donkeys years. I always booked it via Virgin Atlantic not Virgin Holidays even though VH fulfilled the contract. Reason being Flying Miles track quicker plus the contract comes quicker as well.

I must have had 30+ rentals with them and only stopped as in the end for the dates I wanted they were more expensive than Brits or Auto Europe.

Sadly you have to ring up or live chat to cancel as you cannot do it online which is a pain.

Would I go back to them? Absolutely.

Finally some customer service advisors if you cancel come out with a bit of nonsense about penalties etc. However tell them their T & C's allow free cancellations and they soon roll over. - I have that page saved!

Bottom line is all 3rd party suppliers get you a Ref No. The service from Alamo is identical no matter who you use.

[Jev1]

Originally Posted by dave

We had car hire for this year with Virging. We cancelled in June and got refunded end of September. No issues.
Just check details on the Extended Protection which Alamo is ending from today.

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Does anyone know for certain that this removal of Extended Protection has actually happened with Alamo? Just run a test booking through at Alamo Brits and it still says Extended Protection is included - and I can't see the warning about it being ended as of 1st Jan anymore either.

[Mr Tom Morrow]

Originally Posted by Jev1

Does anyone know for certain that this removal of Extended Protection has actually happened with Alamo? Just run a test booking through at Alamo Brits and it still says Extended Protection is included - and I can't see the warning about it being ended as of 1st Jan anymore either.

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I think it was all pants. Never been mentioned on Auto Europe. Plus if I have a booking with it included they cannot just remove it as that's a breach of contract.

[DFCH-Andy]

Originally Posted by Jev1

Does anyone know for certain that this removal of Extended Protection has actually happened with Alamo? Just run a test booking through at Alamo Brits and it still says Extended Protection is included - and I can't see the warning about it being ended as of 1st Jan anymore either.

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EP has not been removed from prepaid fully inclusive car hire packages. Its only been removed from reservations made directly with Alamo.com (where results are shown in $). The warning message is still displayed under the policies section when you complete the online check in... I've flagged this confusion with Alamo and they've told me they will update it.