Hire companies always take your credit card details and charge you at the end of the agreement (except those that you pay up front to get a discount). This is so they can add on anything extra, like damage (if you haven't got LDW etc). We were charged when we dropped the car off two weeks later, but we had already queried this with Virgin whilst we were away and they arranged the refund within 10 days of our return. We haven't got our credit card statement yet so the debit and the credit will come through on the same statement meaning we won't have been out of pocket at all.

If you're travelling in the States you do need a credit card for hotels etc.

Hi oozdat, Just to clarify, did they make you pay for the insurance on the day, even though I presume you explained to them that it was included with your contract with virgin? If so, how long did it take for it to be credited back to you?

Also I phoned dollar about the deposit I had to pay and they said it was $200 + tax which can only be paid by credit card which totally contradicts virgin's TOS as they state in can be paid in cash or credit card. This has confused me somewhat and it sounds to me like one hand does not know what the other is doing.

I don't remember anything about a deposit, but we left our credit card number anyway, so I presume this would have been used if necessary. They do try and get you to up grade to the Platinum package, that gives you an extra driver etc. but we didn't want that, so just stick to your guns. Paying for the fuel (so you return the car empty) is another one they try and get you with. This may be convenient, but if you are trying to save money they charge $2.90 something per gallon and you can buy in Miami at about $2.15 so it will cost you. We had no pressure about upgrading as that was the problem, they didn't have our SUV so we had to go for the cheaper mini van for one night.

Stick with booking the compact/economy car. They are often better than the next level up (as we found out in Washington one year) and if you don't like what you get (again often they haven't any left and they have to upgrade you for free anyway) you can always go back into the office and ask for an upgrade.

Thanks for your reply oozdat, Can I ask, other than the insurance they tried to con you with. What other charges did they apply? did they ask for a deposit? In virgin's terms it states a deposit will be required and can be paid in cash. was this the case with you. and did you get any hard sell from the sales staff?

We've just returned from Miami and also booked a car via Virgin Holiday, and yes it was much cheaper than booking direct with Dollar! However, when we went in to collect the car Dollar said the voucher did not include insurance and charged us a whopping $700+ for this - more than the £400 we had paid Virgin in the first place. We complained to Virgin and they have dealt with Dollar who have now refunded us in full. Virgin say that Dollar had everything on their system and should never have charged us. So in the end we did get very cheap car hire - huge SUV seating 6 for two weeks. I suspect Virgin will be down on them like a ton of bricks if Dollar keep doing this to their customer!

Have a great holiday!

I just hate the hard sell practices of some firms. Well they can try the hard sell all they like. The reason I booked an economy is because I don't have a great deal of cash for this holiday.

I stll can't figure out how virgin can be so much cheaper though. I smell a rat. Hope I am wrong.

You'll get the hard sell when you go to collect the car - the staff are on commission and an Economy car leaves lots of scope for upgrades etc

We have just booked an economy car with virgin for two weeks in miami. the cost was 345.27 dollars they are using dollar for their supplier.

After booking I did a comparison on the dollar website which came up with 512.89 dollars, a wacking 167.62 dollars more than virgin. This was because dollar quote the basic price for the car then add all sorts of taxes at checkout.

2 Weeks at $174.15 per week. Unlimited mileage.
Rate Code: RXHW8
Weekly Rate*
$174.15
Total Base Rate*
$348.30
U.S. Dollar (USD)
Est. Grand Total
Facility Charge
$56.00
Energy Recovery Fee
$4.50
Privilege Fee
$35.54
State Transact Tax
$28.42
State Tax
$33.55
Vehicle License Fee
$6.58
Total Est. Mandatory Charges
$164.59
Est. Grand Total
$512.89


This left me a little confused to say the least, so I phoned virgin who told me that all charges were included in the price and the price i have paid is the total price of the car hire. which also included a free use of a satnav.

I know I will have to pay $200 dollars refundable deposit when I collect the car. But even though I phoned virgin I am still unsure about the price I have paid. Am in for any nasty surprise when I collect the car? Will dollar ad the $164.59 in charges above to the 345.27 i have already paid to virgin.