UKC

The usual question regarding your experiences here. Who to avoid and who to use - all advice welcome.

The usual companies seem to be there, with the addition of Fox who seem to be undercutting everyone by 20%. 

Thank you!

Hired from Enterprise at the airport a couple of times, no particular issues.

Hired with Avis last year and no problems but always feels dodgy handing a key back without somebody checking the car before you leave... 

Do the usual: check all small print, take detailed pics/ video of any little scratch, email them to the company if poss before you leave. 

I believe these companies to through phases of scamming to get the cash then a few honest sells to keep the reviews looking ok. Sort the Google reviews "newest first" to get a good idea. 

Buy excess protection cover online from a separate company (around £50 for the year) then you only need the basic cover that comes with the rental.

Check out Google reviews of FOX at Denver airport...would deffo stear clear of them myself!! 

One thing I've heard but not confirmed is that if you buy the excess cover in the UK and have to claim on that, it'll appear as a claim next time you renew your UK car insurance. No idea if it's true, but something to check.

Only that it is unusual for the need to take a shuttle bus to get your rental, no matter which company you use  

I booked a hire car though Happy Tours when I flew to Denver. They were considerably cheaper than any others at that time (about 6 years ago) and they were fine, no problems at all and included all the upgrades (free second driver, full CDW etc) in the price, not as hidden extras.

No issues with Enterprise a few years back. Saved a good few hundred dollars by going for one in Denver itself rather than the airport (was in an industrial estate but easy to reach via an Uber from the airport).   

I used Alamo last summer. Booked them through a reseller called VIP cars that made it cheaper than going direct.

They were fine. No hard sell for their insurance or any other extras. No hassle, and no problem adding a day and returning the car at 3am when my flight home got changed. With Alamo you book a car type, and then at rental time you go to the parking lot, check out what they have in stock and choose your car. Which was nice.

Did you mean usual or unusual? I think all the car hire companies at Denver are off-airport. But the shuttle busses are very quick and run 24 hours.

i meant it is unusual for a big city airport in North America to not have walk up car rental desks (even if it is a big slog in some of them).  

Yep - one thing to watch is how they deal with the toll road pass- Express Toll. The quickest way to Boulder for example - takes the E470 which only takes the passes. Alamo wanted some ridiculous daily price for a pass which I didn’t take. Then mistakenly got on that road and Alamo charged me $120 “admin charge”. I believe some companies throw in the pass for free. Perfectly easy to avoid the toll road and no issues if you are heading to all points west on I70. Finally, if you are renting an SUV, make sure it’s actually a 4x4 - some rentals are only 2wd. If you want any local climbing tips let me know.

I'd like to hear the evidence to support that claim.

For several years I have used Questor for excess insurance cover and made a claim which they settled quickly. 

It has no bearing on my vehicle insurance on which I have not claimed on.

That's odd. I took that road to Boulder and didn't get charged any fees, just the toll for the road. That was with Alamo.

Good. they may have changed their policy.It was a few years back.

We were there last September and used Avis.  It was fine, with a three 'excepts'.

The first was that it took an age - over an hour - queuing up before anyone would deal with us.  After a long flight, this really wasn't good. The desk was woefully understaffed for the amount of people waiting.

The second thing was toll roads.  There are a number round Denver.  We were offered, and accepted, a toll road pass.  I forget what this cost, but it was worth it.

The third was at Denver airport on the return.  Dropped the car off without issue, the bus dropped us off at departures no problem, but the signage at Denver airport is dreadful.  It turned out that we had to go to floor 6 for departures but no-one in the bus drop-off area or anywhere close to it knew about this.  We found it eventually by ourselves.

Nice part of the world, Colorado.  Hope you have a good trip.

T.

It's been a while, but never just rock up at the airport desks and rent a car. Expensive and very slow. I've always prebooked. Also, external insurance is much cheaper. Make sure you've read all the small print and are 100% confident in what you have. The car hire desk staff tend to lie through their teeth to get you to sign up for their insurance - telling you all sorts of tales about your insurance not being valid. I have resolved this by asking them to put it in writing and sign - then the problems normally dissipate. Colorado is fab. 

I assume you're going in summer? Winter hires bring another level of fun if there's a lot of snow!