Booking additional services along with your flights is becoming more popular as the companies involved in the tie-ups often give a cost savings advantage to customers purchasing a package. That said, it’s always wise to check your options, especially if buying as a bundle may tie you to a certain provider.
Cheapflights Cartrawler tie up
That’s why we quite like the new tie-up between Cheapflights and CarTrawler, which makes it easier to book fly + drive bundles. Both offer a range of options in each area, so you are able to choose the bundle that suits you best. This adds to their recently added hotel search functionality.
Along with the recent enhancements for desktop and mobile users, which include less expensive flights from nearby airports and a new tab design, users users may now choose between Cheapest, Quickest and Smart Value tabs before booking either direct with the airline or an online Travel Agent.
What does CarTrawler bring to the table?
CarTrawler, with a home base in Ireland, offers a wide range of choices -1500 car hire agents in thirty thousand locations spread across 174 countries. This writer used them on a recent trip in Australia, through a tie-up with the airline we used. We found the range of cars to be impressive and the prices were easier to compare than going direct to each car hire company. Be warned though, that the cheapest company isn’t always the best as their pick-up/drop off points may not actually be at your airport or other transport options.
We found the interface easy to use and the bookings were made and confirmed without any delays.
We were also attracted by their option to pre-purchase excess waiver insurance, always a large additional expense that is wise to take, especially if you are in a different country. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to make the purchase for either of the cars we booked in Melbourne and Devonport and were obliged to take the much more expensive add on when we collected each car.
We’ve sought feedback from CarTrawler, who have confirmed that they were unable to accept our insurance business with their provider AGA Allianz ” due to recent legal and regulatory compliance reasons, CarTrawler have had to withdraw its insurance product offering for source Australia since January 2016.”
However, the issue seems to be close to resolution and the company hopes to have the capability enabled by 20th July 2016. A similar situation in Malaysia is expected to be resolved by mid-August. Although making a claim may be a little more challenging than dealing directly with the car hire company, the savings are significant, so the third party company insurance cover is worth considering.
To book your car with your flight
To book your car with your flight, just select the ‘Car’ tab at the top of the page on the Cheapflight website. You can complete all your details on the same page.
Cheapflights Chat
Cheapflights Australia have recently launched their Cheapflights Chat – a Facebook Messenger bot, so if you need any more information – give them a shout.
They’ve also produced a little video showing how it works.
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