How Are the Valet Services on the Las Vegas Strip?

How are the valet parking services in Las Vegas? We always drive in from Tucson in our own car, but we're meeting friends from Texas who are flying in and renting from Hertz. Is it safe for them to valet park the rental car at MGM Grand, to avoid the very long walk from the parking garage to the room?

And at the end of the answer is your link to the new poll on what to do with Circus Circus when it changes owners.

This might seem like a simple question, but it brings up a number of issues.

The simple answer is as follows. In our experience and based on the lack of complaints we receive about valet parking, we'd say that as a generalization, most people who valet park their cars in Las Vegas have a seamless experience. Sure, mishaps occur and probably more frequently than we know, given the number of cars valet parked, especially at the big Strip casinos, but by and large, we'd say it's fairly predictable that when you turn your car over to a valet parker, you'll get it back in the same shape as when you dropped it off.

That said, the first issue to the more complicated answer is the cost. Since your friends are staying at MGM Grand, unless they're upper-tier members of M life, the MGM Resorts players club, they'll be charged $15 per day to self-park in the huge garage. Valet parking, meanwhile, is $24 per day. That's a lot, in our opinion, but it's only $9 more than self-parking, which could ease the price pain, especially if your friends don't want to fade the long walk from the garage to the room elevators.

But the larger issue, to us anyway, is the problem with handing a rental car over to a valet parker.

Valet attendants are not authorized drivers on any car-rental contract. In fact, any unauthorized driver, including a valet who spends two minutes coming and going in the car, completely cancels all collision coverage from the rental agency if you buy its insurance on the car and coverage on rental cars from your credit card company.

That’s right: If you buy, for example, the CDW while standing at the rental counter, or you have rental-car insurance coverage from your credit-card company, and a valet parker smashes the car, you’re liable. Perhaps you're in the know and are renting with your AMEX card, on which you've subscribed to AMEX Premium Rental Protection? So sorry. Denied instantly. Unauthorized drivers probably even negate any personal auto-insurance coverage.

Now how does that $25-per-day fee to valet park a rental car look?

And try this on for size. Once your insurance coverage is denied, you're on the hook for all kinds of costs. In addition to the repairs themselves, you might be liable for loss-of-use costs while the repairs are taking place. Did they take three weeks before completion? Sorry about that. Pay up. You might also be liable for "diminished value," because the rental car now has an accident history. And it won't be cheap, given that rental agencies like to sell off their cars when they're two years old or less.

Bottom line: Valet parking is high-risk, financially speaking, but especially fraught with pitfalls with a rental car.

Got any valet parking stories, bad or good? If we field enough comments today, we'll consider running a poll on the subject.

And speaking of polls, here's your link to the new poll on what the new owner of Circus Circus should do with all that property.

Is it safe for our friends to valet park their rental car at the MGM Grand?

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Comments

Toad Oct-16-2019

Does this stand up in court?

Has this ever been argued in court? Seems like it wouldn't stand up as they are not "driving" the car, but just "parking" the car. Do the contracts spell out the definition of "drive"?

Also wouldn't the valet be on the hook for damages?

O2bnVegas Oct-16-2019

no

Toad, are you kidding?  This is about insurance companies.  Are they ever sympathetic (truly) to the customer?  Willing to go outside of a legally constructed contract including every word of that contract?  

And I can tell you that valets have been known to 'take a spin' in an upscale car for fun, even if just around every level of the parking deck, if they think nobody is looking.  It happens. 

If your OWN car is damaged, if you can prove damages occurred while in the hotel's possession...good luck on that too.

David Oct-16-2019

It isn't about "driving"

The key word is "operating"

Debra Grimes Oct-16-2019

Valet parking

The Trump Hotel doesn't even allow you to self-park.  You must use the valet.

Dave in Seattle. Oct-16-2019

Valet drivers.

NO. Not my 600 horsepower Hemi 'Cuda.  
Good point about the liability for rental car "parkers".As they hand you the ticket for your car:"good luck".
  Go get free parking? Nope.

kinosh Oct-16-2019

Great Question!

I NEVER use valet because I don't trust ANYBODY!

That aside, the liability between a rental and a private vehicle are totally different. LVA explained rentals. The insurance on private vehicles follow the car, not the driver. When you hand the keys to a valet, you are giving them permission to drive your car. If there is an accident, your insurance should cover it. The gray area is if the valet took your car out "for a spin," then crashed it. The coverage for a "stolen" car is different.

Jeffrey Small Oct-16-2019

Problem Solved--DC Card

Problem solved:  Although I don't use it often I carry a Diners Club Card.  The reason is that they cover "all damage to a rental car" regardless how the damage occurred--valet, yourself, unknown, etc...  The coverage does not extend to another car or personal injury--your auto insurance will have to be used for that.  However, they act as the "primary insurer" on the rental car, so you don't even have to report anything to your personal auto insurance company regarding damage to a rental car.  Although the fee is $ 95 a year I felt it was well worth the cost when I was renting cars many weeks a year!  (I called Diners Club to verify the above before I replied to this Question.)

Kevin Lewis Oct-16-2019

Whee!

I would never put a valuable car in the hands of a valet. I also would never pay for valet service. Fortunately, I never drive cars that are worth anything and only park where parking is free.

I heard of one instance where the valet attendant pulled up in a customer's fancy BMW Roadster, and the customer dashed up, slapped a $20 bill in the guy's hand, and peeled away--and a minute later, the guy who actually owned the car walked up and asked where his car was.

Brian Oct-16-2019

Valet and Hertz

I don't think the article is correct in stating that valet drivers are not authorized on any rental car contract. We can look at the Hertz Gold master rental agreement and see the following:

PART II. B. TERMS AND CONDITIONS APPLICABLE TO RENTALS IN NORTH AMERICA

...

2. WHO MAY OPERATE THE CAR

Only You and, with Your permission, the following persons [snipped for comment length restrictions] ... Except to the extent necessary for valet parking or in an emergency as permitted by law, no other persons are permitted to operate the Car;

John Dixon Oct-16-2019

Valet

First, I will not pay for valet. Second, I trust the valet staff much more than the jokers driving POS cars in the self park area, cram parking, slamming doors into your vehicle, walking between vehicles with keys and who knows what dangling from their hands.

Brent Oct-16-2019

Technically true, but not the whole story

The answer is probably correct about how the rental car company and a credit card company would view an accident, but that's not the whole story.

Do you have auto insurance? Most auto policies cover rental car usage, which would pay for the damage to the car (minus deductible). That wouldn't cover the loss of use claim by the rental car company, but it's not nothing.

But the real question is the liability of the valet operator. If the rental car company seeks payment from you, sue the hell out of the valet company because it is the primary tortfeasor here, not you.

Yes, I know that the ticket says "not liable for any damages." That's to try to scare you into not suing. It's a contract of adhesion, and it's not going to hold up in court.

Valet operators have insurance for a reason---because they are liable for damage to the cars that they park.

Question of the Day - 16 October 2019

Comments