Author Topic: Hotels and cars in Israel  (Read 9596 times)

Offline skyguy918

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Hotels and cars in Israel
« on: June 07, 2011, 12:23:15 PM »
I'm going to Israel in the summer (8/25-9/5) with my wife. We have places to stay for free the whole time if we want but we're thinking of staying in a hotel for part of the time. I have starpoints and amex points to work with (and I can probably borrow hhonors points from my father if it makes sense). The Hilton and Starwood properties in Israel are either in Tel Aviv or Eilat, which I'm not interested in. Priority Pass has more options but seems a bit steep (I'll prob have around 100k amex to work with).

I think optimally I'd want to find something in Tiverya and stay 2 or 3 nights as a base for touring in the north. Starwood does have La Meridien Dead Sea, but I wasn't really planning to spend time in the south and there's not as much to do in the area that I haven't already done. I guess we could go there just to relax a bit, not to tour. Or a night in Yerushalayim would be nice too.

If anyone knows of any other good options there for the rewards I have, I'd love to hear about them. Also, if anyone has any good ideas for nice affordable places to stay in the north, I'd love to hear about that too.

On a separate note, what are some cheap options for car rentals?

Offline Yaalili

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Re: Hotels and cars in Israel
« Reply #1 on: June 07, 2011, 01:53:33 PM »

Offline skyguy918

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Re: Hotels and cars in Israel
« Reply #2 on: June 07, 2011, 02:22:47 PM »
Yeah, basically confirms that the only option in Yerushalayim for points is the Crowne Plaza. Terrible value for Amex points though. That's why I asked about other places, like up north.

Offline YudiG

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Re: Hotels and cars in Israel
« Reply #3 on: June 15, 2011, 07:32:06 PM »
Yeah, basically confirms that the only option in Yerushalayim for points is the Crowne Plaza. Terrible value for Amex points though. That's why I asked about other places, like up north.

for cars use noachcar.co.il - i use him and he will get you hooked up w/ a great car at a great price

for a hotel deal, you might want to look at www.anglodeals.co.il today and you should see a whole bunch of hotels all over the country now offering attractive packages at really low prices..good luck with those peak season dates though..good luck!

Offline Chaikel

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Re: Hotels and cars in Israel
« Reply #4 on: June 16, 2011, 01:33:07 AM »
for cars use noachcar.co.il - i use him and he will get you hooked up w/ a great car at a great price
Actually with the dollar the way it is, most Israeli agents have pretty crappy prices right now
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Offline Chaikel

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Re: Hotels and cars in Israel
« Reply #5 on: June 16, 2011, 01:36:54 AM »
I can get the car for you for $330 with MCW,
There is a $27 fee if picked up or dropped off at the airport
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Offline skyguy918

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Re: Hotels and cars in Israel
« Reply #6 on: June 16, 2011, 01:44:50 AM »
I can get the car for you for $330 with MCW,
There is a $27 fee if picked up or dropped off at the airport

I'm a little confused with car rentals. I thought it would be expensive, but I've found as low as $127 ($10/day + airport fee) for the lowest level automatic (thrifty and dollar). And I found rates almost as low at Hertz and Avis. Am I missing something?

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Re: Hotels and cars in Israel
« Reply #7 on: June 16, 2011, 02:03:28 AM »
I'm a little confused with car rentals. I thought it would be expensive, but I've found as low as $127 ($10/day + airport fee) for the lowest level automatic (thrifty and dollar). And I found rates almost as low at Hertz and Avis. Am I missing something?
That is probably not including insurance which is mandatory

Offline Chaikel

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Re: Hotels and cars in Israel
« Reply #8 on: June 16, 2011, 02:11:43 AM »
I'm a little confused with car rentals. I thought it would be expensive, but I've found as low as $127 ($10/day + airport fee) for the lowest level automatic (thrifty and dollar). And I found rates almost as low at Hertz and Avis. Am I missing something?
You're missing that the dates you posted are 11 days, and that you must take insurance in Israel
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Offline skyguy918

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Re: Hotels and cars in Israel
« Reply #9 on: June 16, 2011, 03:37:51 AM »
You're missing that the dates you posted are 11 days, and that you must take insurance in Israel

I'm actually flexible on the amount of days (I might do Sunday to Sunday or something similar, depending on my itinerary, which I haven't started on yet). The point was the $10/day. I see what you're saying about insurance, but even so it would be more like $22/day, not $33/day. Either way, I notice Avis doesn't state very clearly if there are any mandatory charges if you plan to rely on your cc cdw coverage. Anyone know if they charge as well? Or if there are any rental companies in Israel that will let you rent without any insurance related fees?

Offline YudiG

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Re: Hotels and cars in Israel
« Reply #10 on: June 16, 2011, 11:40:18 AM »
Actually with the dollar the way it is, most Israeli agents have pretty crappy prices right now

Chaikel, what can you do for aug 10th to the 24th pickup in jerusalem w/ mastercard world?

Offline Dan

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Re: Hotels and cars in Israel
« Reply #11 on: June 16, 2011, 11:49:18 AM »
I'm actually flexible on the amount of days (I might do Sunday to Sunday or something similar, depending on my itinerary, which I haven't started on yet). The point was the $10/day. I see what you're saying about insurance, but even so it would be more like $22/day, not $33/day. Either way, I notice Avis doesn't state very clearly if there are any mandatory charges if you plan to rely on your cc cdw coverage. Anyone know if they charge as well? Or if there are any rental companies in Israel that will let you rent without any insurance related fees?
Mandatory insurance is across the board and is probably about $15/day if you have a WMC and more if you don't.
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Offline skyguy918

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Re: Hotels and cars in Israel
« Reply #12 on: June 16, 2011, 01:33:07 PM »
Budget has $20/day (lowest level automatic) which includes standard CDW (meaning I don't have to make myself crazy getting one more card - a WMC- before I go). It was $9/day with the BMG code plus $11/day for CDW. So that's $227.50 if I do airport to airport, and $140 if I cut it to 7 days outside the airport. Plus I found someone selling Israel maps that will work with a Garmin GPS I can borrow. Even if we barely go anywhere it'll be worthwhile at that price.

Offline Dan

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Re: Hotels and cars in Israel
« Reply #13 on: June 16, 2011, 02:11:36 PM »
Budget has $20/day (lowest level automatic) which includes standard CDW (meaning I don't have to make myself crazy getting one more card - a WMC- before I go). It was $9/day with the BMG code plus $11/day for CDW. So that's $227.50 if I do airport to airport, and $140 if I cut it to 7 days outside the airport. Plus I found someone selling Israel maps that will work with a Garmin GPS I can borrow. Even if we barely go anywhere it'll be worthwhile at that price.
They make you take out more insurance than just CDW.
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Offline Chaikel

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Re: Hotels and cars in Israel
« Reply #14 on: June 16, 2011, 02:22:51 PM »
Budget has $20/day (lowest level automatic) which includes standard CDW (meaning I don't have to make myself crazy getting one more card - a WMC- before I go). It was $9/day with the BMG code plus $11/day for CDW. So that's $227.50 if I do airport to airport, and $140 if I cut it to 7 days outside the airport. Plus I found someone selling Israel maps that will work with a Garmin GPS I can borrow. Even if we barely go anywhere it'll be worthwhile at that price.
CDW alone isn't enough. With Avis it's CDW+TP, don't know about budget
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Offline Chaikel

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Re: Hotels and cars in Israel
« Reply #15 on: June 16, 2011, 02:26:00 PM »
Chaikel, what can you do for aug 10th to the 24th pickup in jerusalem w/ mastercard world?
$406
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Offline Jkhein

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Re: Hotels and cars in Israel
« Reply #16 on: June 16, 2011, 02:26:45 PM »
The best is if you take off the CDW at the time of booking, and take seperately from budget in Israel CDW and TP which is a must in Israel for $15 a day. Because if not they will charge you $12 just for the TP insurance.

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Re: Hotels and cars in Israel
« Reply #17 on: June 16, 2011, 02:33:21 PM »
CDW alone isn't enough. With Avis it's CDW+TP, don't know about budget
Everyone requires both in Israel AFAIK.
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Offline Chaikel

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Re: Hotels and cars in Israel
« Reply #18 on: June 16, 2011, 02:39:29 PM »
Everyone requires both in Israel AFAIK.
Very possible. Just seems screwed up to me that they charge TP and not LI, which is what they charge with MCW. Logic dictates that w/o MCW you would need the MCW ins + something else, not 2 totally different insurances. Then again, logic and Israeli rental car companys...
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Offline skyguy918

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Re: Hotels and cars in Israel
« Reply #19 on: June 16, 2011, 09:05:00 PM »
Budget's website shows 3 options (well 4, but one of them is fuel service and I can't imagine they require that too): CDW, SLI, and TP. CDW and TP is $15/day, which brings the total to $24.50/day. Still not terrible. My questions is, will I be saving anything if I get a card with CDW coverage? I understand they end up making you pay for something else anyway. What is this other charge and how much does it usually cost?