Car Hire Abroad

xdcx

xdcx

xdcx

Soldato
Joined
24 Apr 2013
Posts
3,067
Hi,

Looking for some advice on this if possible.

I have went around the major players - Sixt, Europcar, Hertz, Avis, National etc and they are all extremely expensive versus the likes of Holiday Auto's, 121CarHire and other such budget/comparison type places. We are talking a difference of at least £120 for 16 days car hire collecting and dropping off at Barcelona airport.

I was all set to book through Holiday Auto's, a VW Polo for £232.... However, I scrolled down the list and the cars a bit more expensive than this boast as having "airport terminal pickup", which the VW Polo does not list.... It also doesn't list how you actually get the car. Does anyone have experience of this? Do they send some agent guy with your car to meet you?

On 121carhire they have a similar sized car etc, for a little bit more and at the bottom of their page it says you simply pay online, get a voucher, present the voucher at a car hire desk in the airport and get your car. AKA, what I am used to and done previously.

So any input much appreciated, just weary of going the cheaper option, getting to Barca and getting mucked about. Similarly if anyone has used 121carhire before, please let me know if they were OK.

Thanks :D
 
Catanonia said:
Can you call and ask ?
Click to expand...

Yes, but their phone lines are chargeable and I am at work. Willing to call after work but as always I would be more happy with customer experience and knowledge over what a company tells me. A combination of both of the above would put my mind to rest and I do plan to phone them later as you hint at also.
 
Some smaller companies operate out of car parks, or just run shuttle buses back to the airport, to save having to pay for a desk.

I'd recommend getting excess insurance online here : www.insurance4carhire.com that way you can decline all the very expensive insurances.

http://www.economycarhire.com/ can offer decent prices, plus they are very clear about excesses and fuel policies.
 
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I used to work for Rentalcars.com (free telephone number from land lines btw) :)

We used to get a lot of complaints about 121carhire, but its all relative and the majority of issues are not to be blamed on the company you get the voucher from (or the broker) but more to do with the supplier of the car at the other end and clients not reading T&C's

Beware that you need to have a credit card in the main drivers name to collect ANY car. This is for a security deposit which will be held on the card whilst you have the car. This is normally around €300 (depending on the supplier). You can pay for extra insurance when you collect the car to reduce the amount that is held on your CC, but it can amount to a lot of money.

You also need to read and pay attention to the fuel policy. A lot of the companies in Spain make their money on these dodgy policies. For example:

Pre-pay for a tank of fuel and return empty (no refund for unused fuel)

This sounds great, but the car supplier will not charge you a normal pump price for the fuel. The price they will charge will be at an inflated rate. On the smaller cars (Ford KA etc) you can be charged up to €85.00 for a full tank. And as the term states, you will not get this back. If you plan on doing a lot of driving and you are not too bothered then not to worry. But I know that Rentalcars.com (and probably others) do have different fuel policies for different suppliers, as well as package deals which will include the first tank for free, so it is worth considering this when you are looking.

Rentalcars have good cancellation policies for most suppliers (double check with them if they offer Hertz or Sixt) and the amendments are free 90% of the time (again double check this)
 
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Excellent, thanks for the advice guys. Much appreciated.

Regards fuel, I will not touch anything unless it is pick up full, return full and also unlimited miles. Everything I have looked at so far and read the small print, this has been the case/policy.

Good shout regards credit card!! We got one from Sixt last time and overlooked this, lucky my girlfriend has a credit card on that ocassion but this time around I am alone, so I will get myself a credit card, always better to book my flights and the car on this anyway for my protection, so thanks again for the heads up there, that's very helpful.
 
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