<p>need some advise on car rental. we plan to be in andover, MA area for 1 week. we are from Asia, never renting a car in USA before. plan to stay near school (andover) for 4 days, may want to go to boston for 1 day. need an automatic car, pick and return point has to be boston airport. hassel free, good quality of car and service.
questions:-
1) what price range - total US$350 is reasonable?
2) need GPS, but not sure what insurance is needed and price for that?
3) avis, hertz, budget atre good names?</p>
<p>I know these could be really simple and basic for local people there in US, we are simply clueless.</p>
<p>$350 is a reasonable price for a one week rental, especially given the higher prices always associated with airport rentals. Check to see if you also have unlimited mileage (pretty common but worth checking). You might also consider doing the car rental as part of your airline reservations package; car companies often give you nominally preferential rates for linking to them through an airline.</p>
<p>The cost will depend partly on the size car you rent. I usually look at a website like travelocity.com to see price comparisons but book directly through the individual car rental company. I’ve had good luck with Alamo and Enterprise as well. Good luck.</p>
<p>All of the companies that rent from the airport will be reputable. To get the best rate, either do as Klements recommends or book directly through one of the companies’ websites. </p>
<p>Enterprise is the company that we usually use because they have always been the cheapest.</p>
<p>I’ve never seen a rental car that was not automatic and GPS is usually an option, but you may have to reserve that feature. </p>
<p>Insurance can be purchased with the rental for about 10 dollars a day (seems right - someone correct me if I’m wrong). Even when I have picked up cars that I have already paid for, they always try to sell me the insurance, so don’t worry about that part - they WILL mention it when you pick it up!</p>
<p>Another thing that you may not know is that they will place a 300 dollar hold on whatever credit card you use beyond the price of the rental until you return the car. There will also be additional taxes, especially when picking up at an airport, beyond the published price. </p>
<p>I agree with the above regarding the airport-based car rental agencies and websites to book.</p>
<p>With regards to your concern about automatic transmission, unlike Europe, US rental locations are all automatics. I haven’t seen a manual shift car at a rental agency since the 1980’s. And all cars at the airport are less than 1 year old and under 25,000 miles, so dependability is not an issue. Also, if you do have a breakdown (a very rare experience), simply call the rental agency and they will bring a replacement car to you (while picking up the original).</p>
<p>You might want to check out the rental agency sites to see if you can pre-reserve the GPS in the car. </p>
<p>Additionally, I’m not sure what size of vehicle you are used to driving. If you are not used to driving a larger car, be careful what size vehicle you select. If you mention which car you drive at home, perhaps we can help you select a size that you will be comfortable driving. Granted, our roads tend to have wider lanes than many places in the world, but you don’t want the additional challenge of driving a larger car than you are used to in an unfamiliar place.</p>
<p>For non-US/Canadian drivers, I do recommend buying the insurance they sell. Most countries insurance companies do not insure their drivers on another continent. For US/Canadian drivers, typically your own auto insurance covers rentals if you have broad coverage.</p>
<p>Best wishes for a safe trip and let us know if you have any more questions.</p>
<p>OP, it’s possible that $350 will not cover all your rental expenses. Checking alamo.com, Boston Logan airport, Sept 5th-12, smallest car, GPS, collision insurance = $553. Insurance alone is $161. Of course, this is just one example, but it gives you an idea. We have used Alamo or Dollar car rental from Boston Logan or Manchester (New Hampshire) airport. Almost always, our car rentals from Manchester (airport code is MHT) are significantly cheaper than from BOS. MHT is about 20-30 minutes from Andover; it’s north of Andover, and thus north of Boston. Good luck, and welcome to the school!</p>
<p>If you would like to see many options at once, go to Orbitz.com. You can always book directly through the actual car rental company after looking at all their prices on Orbitz. I would also compare prices at carrental.com. I recently got a very good deal with them out of Boston and the car was from National Car Rentals, which is very reputable.</p>
<p>I agree that Manchester is much cheaper, but that doesn’t really help if you are flying in and out of Boston. I recently booked a rental from Manchester and used Priceline.com which allows you to namr your own price. I ended up paying only $17/day for a mid-sized car! If you do this, there are no refunds and taxes and fees are always additional.</p>
<p>IIRC the Bluebird is approximately the same as a US Nissan Altima or Toyota Camry. In that case you should be able to handle all but the largest size class of US automobiles with comfort. If you are looking for US cars equivalent in size on a Hertz or Avis website, it would be Ford Fusion or Chevrolet Malibu.</p>
<p>thanks everyone. i ended up booking a cr with budget via orbitz.com. the price seems to be much cheaper than book the same car via avis.com ($290 vs. $600).</p>
<p>See if you can get Avis or Hertz gold service before you come. Then you just walk up to car and leave with all the paper work having been done before you get there. All have discounted rates with different companies or programs. Check with your travel agent.
If you request GPS and are “gold”, it will be in your car when you get there.</p>
<p>As per insurance which is quite expensive, most credit cards provide it free - so check with your credit card company. AmEx does not put the “hold” on your card.</p>
<p>Urbanflop - car size could depend on how many passengers more so than the volume of supplies. Count on making a couple trips to stores; you’ll get a load of stuff into the dorm and realize you forget to buy a few items. If the car rental prices make a difference, consider the smaller car. Our lessons learned: don’t buy/bring so much stuff, and don’t spend much time/money on organizers or storage containers that you are sure will be really great. They might end up empty or crammed with so much stuff that they become disorganizers. Have a good year at Exeter!</p>