Mr. Thrifty was recently in Israel and needed to rent a car for a few days to see more of this fascinating country. A lot of travelers are in a similar situation, and he thought he’d share some of the learnings he has acquired while they are still fresh in his mind. This post covers his experience in researching and renting a car at Ben Gurion Airport (airport code TLV – which services Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem), including how to save on the car rental base rate and avoid unnecessary insurance surcharges. It’s the kind of information he was searching for, but couldn’t find.
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Car rental insurance is surely one of the most opaque aspects of renting a car anywhere in the world. Even in this day and age, many car rental companies prey on inexperienced renters and try to upsell them on unnecessary insurance. Israel is notorious for these practices.
Moreover, many international credit card companies specifically exclude Israel from the countries in which they offer a blanket international Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) insurance as a benefit for premium credit card holders. Having driven in Israel, it’s easy to understand why: Mr. Thrifty estimates that 80% of the cars in Israel are scratched or dented — a result of the chaotic driving conditions in much of the country.
Mr. Thrifty is here to help. Read on for tips on how to save on car rentals at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel-Aviv.
Do your research ahead of time
The Internet is your friend when seeking out the best deal on a car rental in Israel or elsewhere. Depending on the country, Mr. Thrifty uses either an online travel agent like Expedia or goes directly to the site of an international car rental agency where he has a special deal (for example, through a professional association, an airline frequent flyer program, or a hotel/hospitality program).
Book in advance
After finding out the best rate for your days. you should make a non-guaranteed reservation. This is pretty standard for car rentals around the world and constitutes a free option. And Mr. Thrifty is never one to pass up something free.
In Mr. Thrifty’s specific case, there were two viable options at roughly the same “base rate”. The car rental companies play a cagey game by not divulging the full cost of insurance and other potential surcharges, although most such fees come in subsequent confirmation emails.
So, dear readers, don’t hesitate to play the game by making reservations with more than one car rental agency. In Mr. Thrifty’s case, he made reservations at Hertz and Budget which are, coincidentally, located next to each other at the car rental area of Ben Gurion airport:
This made it easy for Mr. Thrifty to get to the bottom line with both companies, including the specific car they would be offering (another major car rental scam is substituting alternative car makes and models from the ones shown at the time of the rental… you’ll likely end up with a Korean car regardless of what you booked). Apart from the make and model, another major factor to consider is the number of kilometers the car has been driven.
Look out for the airport location surcharge
Many on-airport car rental agencies impose a surcharge aka a “location service charge”. This is not exclusive to Ben Gurion Airport. Surcharges are typically based on a % of the car rental contract value or a fixed daily fee.
In the case of the on-airport car rental agencies at TLV which Mr. Thrifty investigated, the charge was between US$39.50 – US$42.00 and imposed as a one-time fee, regardless of the term of the rental. He assumes this is common to all such agencies and that the fixed fee relates to the class of vehicle being rented.
While you could avoid the on-airport surcharge by renting from a city location, you’d be on the hook for the cost of transportation to and from the airport. With a typical 1-way taxi fare between Ben Gurion Airport and central Tel-Aviv of around US$50, that would come close to covering the cost of an additional 2 days of a typical car rental. In Mr. Thrifty’s experience, city car rental locations are also more strict about minor scratches and dents, as they tend to be smaller Mom-and-Pop operations.
Getting into the insurance details
Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) insurance
After confirming the reservation, Hertz sent an automated email with instructions to furnish a letter from Mr. Thrifty’s alternative insurance provider specifically confirming that such insurance is valid in Israel. As discussed above, it seems that most international credit cards exclude Israel from their blanket CDW insurance coverage.
Mr. Thrifty called into his VISA credit card provider and was told that they don’t cover CDW in Israel. However, the answer was different with his freshly-imprinted Tangerine World Mastercard. They not only confirmed the coverage but sent Mr. Thrifty a letter within the hour. Things were looking up……..
“Mandatory” TPPD insurance?
……… except that in the same letter from Hertz they made it clear that, even with a confirmed CDW policy valid in Israel, the renter would still “… be required to purchase the mandatory *TPPD (Third Party Property Damage) insurance at a cost of between US$14 – US$17 daily. The added asterisk continues: “Please note – TPPD is a common charge amongst car rental companies in Isreal” [sic].
Notice how they cleverly state that it’s a “common” charge in Israel without mentioning any legal requirement. It was good of them to disclose this upfront as it gave Mr. Thrifty a chance to do a bit of research on what TPPD actually is. Unfortunately, a Google search was not very helpful. So having checked directly with a couple of other car rental agencies at Ben Gurion, Mr. Thrifty is not so sure how “common” the TPPD charge is.
Third-party liability insurance
For example, at the Budget car rental desk at Ben Gurion aiport, there was no mention of this “mandatory” TPPD insurance. Mr. Thrifty’s car rental reservation with Expedia explicitly included “third-party liability” (although without providing details about the extent of the coverage and any limitations).
The upshot
In the end, Mr. Thrifty walked away with a 4-day car rental contract from Budget which came out to US$151.50 including CDW insurance (provided by Tangerine World MasterCard’s insurance partner) as well as third-party liability insurance (included in the Expedia car rental booking).
He can confirm that there were no hidden charges at the closing of the Budget car rental contract either. Moreover, Budget did not ask for a written confirmation of Mr. Thrifty’s CDW coverage, consistent with all other car rental agencies in the vast number of countries where Mr. Thrifty has rented a car. It looks like Hertz at Ben Gurion is the outlier here.
Pay it forward
We hope this helps if you find yourself in a similar situation trying to figure out the industry jargon and opaque business practices. Our goal is to help you learn how to save on car rentals at Ben Gurion airport.
If our valued readers have any more tips, please leave them in the comments section below. This post will, hopefully, become a living resource for unwitting car renters to navigate the (apparently, intentionally) confusing and inconsistent car rental policies in Israel. Let’s band together and share information on how to save on car rentals at Ben-Gurion Airport!
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More money-saving travel tips from Mr. Thrifty
Mr. Thrifty’s Proven Strategies to Save Money on Air Travel
Compensation for Flight Delays in Canada: Know Your Rights
How to Save Money When Exchanging Currency
Fees are For Suckers: Mr. Thrifty’s Favourite No Annual Fee Credit Cards
Super helpful! I rented a car last year from Sixt Car Rental in Jerusalem and expected to have my collision insurance covered on my Visa card but was denied at the counter. Fortunately, I had a Mastercard on-hand and it was covered. I got lucky by having 2 different credit cards on hand but wish I knew about this in advance.
Interesting. So Sixt car rental in Jerusalem was able to tell you in real time whether your credit card covered you for rental insurance?
Good question……..it has been a year…….as I recall they knew the Visa card wouldn’t cover it and I think put me on the phone or verified with Mastercard.