Car hire in Vancouver, help sought please.

Tommy Gunn

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I'm taking my Honey to Canada in September on a fly-drive holiday & really want a soft top car. I've tried all the on-line websites & I've spoken with my local travel agencies but have drawn a blank.
Can anyone point me in the direction of a company at Vancouver who do rent soft tops please?
 
With Fly drive, rent the cheapest car then negotiate when you land. If they have a soft top in the parking lot then you will be able to upgrade for a lot less than pre-ordering a posh car. Perhaps there isn't much call for soft-tops in Canada, though.
 
With Fly drive, rent the cheapest car then negotiate when you land. If they have a soft top in the parking lot then you will be able to upgrade for a lot less than pre-ordering a posh car. Perhaps there isn't much call for soft-tops in Canada, though.

Ah, good thinking. TY.
 
Who are you flying with? I'm going to Vancouver in July and the car hire through BA was literally half the price than going direct to the car hire companies.
 
Ah, good thinking. TY.

Another tip - you might find it worth joining AARP (American Assoc of Retired People - or something).

They have huge clout when it comes to discounts (and they will very likely apply in Canada too). It costs very little to join and you only have to be 50 or over (going by your avatar I'm guessing this won't be a snag :p).

With all my military/government etc discounts, nothing beats AARP rate at any hotel I've stayed at in the US & Canada. Although I've not hired a car recently in the US or Canada, they are all chasing the retired dollar, so it's worth thinking about...
 
I have copied this thread into the pub, where non-travellers may have so ideas and suggestions. Some of them may even be helpful.
 
Thanx both. I'm flying with Air Canada which I'm not necessarily looking forward to but I'll certainly see how there prices compare.
Not heard of the AARP but I'll check them out as well. Thanx again.
 
I have copied this thread into the pub, where non-travellers may have so ideas and suggestions. Some of them may even be helpful.

Thank you. The more help the better tbh.
We did a fly-drive to New England a couple of years ago and having a soft top turned it from 'just another holiday' into a proper 'immersed within the scenery experience '.
I'm very keen for Sarah to get the most out of this trip as well.
 
Thank you. The more help the better tbh.
We did a fly-drive to New England a couple of years ago and having a soft top turned it from 'just another holiday' into a proper 'immersed within the scenery experience '.
I'm very keen for Sarah to get the most out of this trip as well.

are the cabriolets in Canada bear proof?
 
Who are you flying with? I'm going to Vancouver in July and the car hire through BA was literally half the price than going direct to the car hire companies.

I checked BA prices when I flew with them to San Francisco in 2016 and they were 50% more than Netflights (£900 vs £600 for 17 days and Netflights included zero excess and an additional driver too).

I've booked with Hertz directly this year as I wanted a V8 convertible and they were the cheapest, although I did use my companies corporate discount code which secured a hefty discount. £1070 for a Corvette Stingray still seemed like good value compared to £3k for a bike from Eaglerider...
 
When I last went (3 years ago) Enterprise had a number of Mustang soft tops. I notice they aren't listed anymore, wonder if there has been a problem?
Mark
 
Another tip - you might find it worth joining AARP (American Assoc of Retired People - or something).

They have huge clout when it comes to discounts (and they will very likely apply in Canada too). It costs very little to join and you only have to be 50 or over (going by your avatar I'm guessing this won't be a snag :p).

With all my military/government etc discounts, nothing beats AARP rate at any hotel I've stayed at in the US & Canada. Although I've not hired a car recently in the US or Canada, they are all chasing the retired dollar, so it's worth thinking about...

I decided to join AARP but their website doesn't give you the option if you live in England/UK. Is this a new thing Mike?

https://appsec.aarp.org/member/join...rp.org/member/join?campaignid=UTJORGPWA&hbm=t



Edit: Actually it doesn't seem to give you the option to join if you live in any EEC country. Should I blame Brexit?
 
We did 3 weeks from Vancouver September before last. The best hire car deal then, pretty much usually lately (Stuttgart as recently as last month was the same), is via the BA Avis tie in, though you don't need to be a BA passenger to use it. I'm on the road atm, but Avis.com/BA might be it.

My relatively extensive experience of hiring cars in North America has always been hugely in favour of completing the hire from UK. the Americans seem to pay far more than us and upselling at the airport always seems to be a win for the hire company. Other folk may have had different experience, but I guess it rather depends on the UK deal as to whether the upselling seems cheap.

Convertibles can be a bit of a lottery, depending on start location - I've had good deals a few times, but sometimes the premium has been outrageous and sadly not worth it. I fully see the draw however. Out first rag top hire was from LA a dozen or so years ago and the experience in Sequoia NP and Yosemite NP, with snow everywhere, fleece and hat on, heater on full, meant our second car at home has been a convertible ever since! The roof is like an umbrella - it goes up only in the rain as opposed to down only in the sun.

Do go to Questor and consider their rental car excess insurance. I use them every time - in fact it's usually economic to have a years cover for any reasonable length trip. It'll save you a bundle over taking out all the various hire company excess covers and damage waivers.

What an awesome trip and a very good time to do it! Enjoy.
 
We may just be competing for a car. I'll be picking up a car in Vancouver on Sep 20th then heading up to Jasper where my sister lives.

We're heading out on the 19th. Taking in Jasper along the way.
 
We did 3 weeks from Vancouver September before last. The best hire car deal then, pretty much usually lately (Stuttgart as recently as last month was the same), is via the BA Avis tie in, though you don't need to be a BA passenger to use it. I'm on the road atm, but Avis.com/BA might be it.

My relatively extensive experience of hiring cars in North America has always been hugely in favour of completing the hire from UK. the Americans seem to pay far more than us and upselling at the airport always seems to be a win for the hire company. Other folk may have had different experience, but I guess it rather depends on the UK deal as to whether the upselling seems cheap.

Convertibles can be a bit of a lottery, depending on start location - I've had good deals a few times, but sometimes the premium has been outrageous and sadly not worth it. I fully see the draw however. Out first rag top hire was from LA a dozen or so years ago and the experience in Sequoia NP and Yosemite NP, with snow everywhere, fleece and hat on, heater on full, meant our second car at home has been a convertible ever since! The roof is like an umbrella - it goes up only in the rain as opposed to down only in the sun.

Do go to Questor and consider their rental car excess insurance. I use them every time - in fact it's usually economic to have a years cover for any reasonable length trip. It'll save you a bundle over taking out all the various hire company excess covers and damage waivers.

What an awesome trip and a very good time to do it! Enjoy.

Thank you for the suggestions, I'll certainly look into them both.
The insurance thing intrigues me. Do I just take out the bog standard insurance with the car hire firm and show them my paperwork from the insurance company? Have you had any issues doing this?
 


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