We've just paid a deposit for a flydrive holiday in western USA next year; it will be our first time and we've decided to take the easy option of going for one of Virgin's packages, with one or 2 minor alterations.
As there's only 3 of us (2 adults + 12 year old) we've just gone for an 'economy' grade car which the brochure says is a Chevrolet Aveo or similar. I appreciate this is going to be fairly basic, but I like the idea of keeping (petrol) costs down.
Having said that, the cost of upgrading to a Pontiac G6 (or similar) is only £66, and that looks quite a bit more substantial (and attractive) and better for touring around in. Don't know what the difference in mpg would be though.
I'm tempted to upgrade, and take a chance on the fuel bills - is that wise?
Cheers
F
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Refuse the upgrade - likely they will not have so basic a car and you will get an upgrade FOC.
More important is CDW - cheaper to buy now and not at airport.
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Refuse the upgrade - likely they will not have so basic a car and you will get an upgrade FOC.
Haven't been offered one (yet) - just looking at the pictures in the brochure. But I would hate to get there and find they do have such a car, which surely must be possible if it's all booked in advance? I think I would rather pay £66 and be safe rather than sorry.
More important is CDW - cheaper to buy now and not at airport.
Thanks.
F
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Definitely upgrade. Fuel is cheap so the difference in expenditure on petrol will be small compared with the total holiday costs. You will be more comfortable in the bigger car and more in tune with the USA experience.
Enjoy your trip.
alfalfa
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I can recommend the Ford Fusion with the 220hp V6. Very nice to drive, comfortable (we did nearly 800 miles in one day), and cheap as chips to hire. Also has excellent CD player / climate control / toys etc.
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I would upgrade. You need a car that will carry all your luggage easily.
The rental is almost certainly auto transmission, and a small auto - especially in hilly country is awful. Some of the vehicles in the USA are *huge* - you do not want to be in a tiny car when surrounded by some of these 'cars' on their multi-lane highways.
I would agree with the CDW comments. If you have portable sat nav here, then consider getting the USA maps & taking your satnav, rather than renting.
Parking - especially valet parking - may be more significant than fuel ! (depending where you go / stay etc)
Have a good trip - it's a fabulous region to explore.
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Thanks folks. I'll be upgrading - can only specify a class, but hopefully it will be something reasonably good.
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Make sure your passports and driving licences are up to date won't you ? Can be very inconvenient if they aren't I believe. Sounds like a great hol you have planned. Got to beat Bognor any day !!
;-0
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Make sure your passports and driving licences are up to date won't you ? Can be very inconvenient if they aren't I believe.
I shall bookmark your thread and move the link to a prominent position in my browser to remind me :-)
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I'm tempted to upgrade, and take a chance on the fuel bills - is that wise? >>
IMO, the minimum size you should go for is the "Full Size", but if pushed to save money, then choose one grade below "intermediate".
As for fuel, it is currently around $3 [+ or - 10%] per US gallon.
So at worst, if you get a gas guzzler giving you just 20 mpg[US], it will cost you $3=£2 per 20 miles, i.e. 10p a mile. [assuming you get $1.50 per £ ].
How many miles is your western adventure likely to be? Which route have you settled on?
www.californiagasprices.com/index.aspx?fuel=C
p.s. I see Virgin have not updated their website for months!
"Book our Fully Inclusive Package before 30 Jan '08 and we'll upgrade you "
www.virginholidays.co.uk/brochures/usa/info/flydri.../
Edited by jbif on 23/07/2009 at 19:12
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Just spend a moment considering what luggage to take so that it will fit in the car of choice.
I found out the "hard" way with 4 nice new Delsey cases that would only fit in the biggest upgrade short of a US van.
We now have a mix of hard cases and holdalls plus chucking in a few empty bags for life.
That way we can always decant stuff from a holdall to fit in any shape boot / trunk.
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We have just returned from hiring a Pontiac G6 GT in the USA from Alamo. We paid for the upgrade in the UK.
The car was 3.5 litre V6 and averaged 30 miles per US gallon over 2,400 miles. Petrol was approximately $2.60 per gallon for 87 octane.
There were only two of us and we had two Samsonite hard cases which when laid flat in the boot left some space on top and around the sides for soft bags.
Take out all the car insurance Virgin offer in the UK. I can tell you from experience, on a previous fly-drive, those emergency services and hospital treatment does not come cheap, fortunately we were fully insured.
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We have just returned from hiring a Pontiac G6 GT in the USA from Alamo.
Thanks for the info Pug - I'm glad the mpg wasn't too bad. We've already booked the platinum level insurance, which must be hideously overpriced because you get a satnav with it :-)
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I'm doing something similar later this year. Quite fancy splashing out on a Dodge Charger ("or similar" of course), which Virgin do. Should be big enough for most purposes. Only a V6, but probably as close to a good old fashioned Yank tank as you'll get these days (even if it is cobbled together from bits of old Merc!).
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Just spend a moment considering what luggage to take so that it will fit in the car of choice.
Thanks for that - there's only 3 of us and the Virgin person told us to travel light, so I think we'll be ok.
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IMO the minimum size you should go for is the "Full Size" but if pushed to save money then choose one grade below "intermediate".
I think the intermediate should be fine for us - that's what I'll be asking for.
So at worst if you get a gas guzzler giving you just 20 mpg[US] it will cost you $3=£2 per 20 miles i.e. 10p a mile
According to the brochure it's about 1400 miles - I wish you hadn't told me that :-(
p.s. I see Virgin have not updated their website for months! "Book our Fully Inclusive Package before 30 Jan '08 and we'll upgrade you "
We've got the Jan-Dec 2010 brochure, and booked in person at the Virgin in Reading today. So hopefully it's all ok.
Thanks for your help.
F
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[me] >> So at worst if you get a gas guzzler giving you just 20 mpg[US] it will cost you $3=£2 per 20 miles i.e. 10p a mile >>
[focus] >> According to the brochure it's about 1400 miles - I wish you hadn't told me that :-( >>
[pug] >> The car was 3.5 litre V6 and averaged 30 miles per US gallon over 2,400 miles. Petrol was approximately $2.60 per gallon for 87 octane. >>
[focus] >> I think the intermediate should be fine for us - that's what I'll be asking for. >>
Based on the above four statements, you should find that your intermediate car does about 40 mpg on the long straight runs on the highways, and your actual cost may turn out to be something like 4p a mile.
Edited by jbif on 24/07/2009 at 10:43
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If the Chevy Aveo is like the ones I have seen overseas, then it is a small three box saloon with an old, under powered and uneconomical engine, especially mated to a slush box.
The upgrade will get you much more comfort with little effect on economy and may improve it. For £66 its a no brainer.
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