Car Rental in the UK

Shicky

Shicky

Shicky

Associate
Joined
13 Jan 2007
Posts
2,424
Location
Belfast,Northern Ireland
Hello all,

never done this before so looking some basic advice. We'll be flying into Edinburgh, is it a big no no to try and rent from airport or is this purely no pre-booking as you'll get stung.

I'm aware to avoid paying for a full tank and to get excess insurance separately. Can anyone recommend a particular company for not attempting to screw me over? Happy to pay a little extra to avoid hassle.

I still need to get this DVLA code despite it being in the UK?

Thanks for any help you can provide!
 
You need the DVLA code more than anything in the UK - it's the UK firms that know about it, most overseas rental locations don't care.

Prebook first with whichever of the major rental firms (Avis, Hertz, Europcar etc) offers a price you are happy with and then use your excess insurance.

It is typically slightly cheaper to rent away from the airport as you'll avoid the premium location fee but often it isnt cheaper by enough to make it worth the bother.
 
I got car hire rental excess insurance through a company like https://www.icarhireinsurance.com/. I used to rent cars quite a lot when I was still living in the UK, and one time, I rented a brand new Astra Sport. I was pretty happy to have the car, but unfortunately some people decided to key it all the way down the passenger side of the car. Enterprise charged me the full excess, which was £600 at the time, and the bill to them was £650 in total. My excess insurance's claims process was pretty straight-forward and I received a full refund via a BACS transfer within about two weeks. The policy only cost me about £40 at the time, so it was a win. :D :cool:
 
Don't forget to have some ID when you collect the car.
1. to prove who you are - photo driving licence or passport
2. to prove where you live - eg. utilities bill, council tax - bring two to be sure.

If you've pre-booked you will probably need the credit card that you used to secure the booking.
 
Tomsk said:
Don't forget to have some ID when you collect the car.
1. to prove who you are - photo driving licence or passport
2. to prove where you live - eg. utilities bill, council tax - bring two to be sure.

If you've pre-booked you will probably need the credit card that you used to secure the booking.
Click to expand...

The only rental company I have used who want a pile of crap like utility bills (Seriously, who carries them around incase they need to rent a car) was Thrifty.

Everyone else was fine with just a drivers license and credit card.
 
1. Check the condition of the car against the paperwork before you drive the car, and report any differences, making sure they are marked up on your paperwork and signed by a company representative.
2. Take photos of the car before and after your hire.
3. Check whether you have to leave the car back with a full tank of fuel, and check you have a full tank before you drive off if you do. Check what the penalty is so you can make an informed choice if you are running late for your flight on the return drive.
 
[TW]Fox;28820025 said:
The only rental company I have used who want a pile of crap like utility bills (Seriously, who carries them around incase they need to rent a car) was Thrifty.

Everyone else was fine with just a drivers license and credit card.
Click to expand...

Only happened to me once with County Car and Van hire. They lost my online booking and wouldn't give me a car on a walk-in hire without a household bill.

Wouldn't accept an online booking from my phone while I was in their offices, so I made one with Enterprise and they drove into the County site to pick me up. :p
 
I was genuinely surprised to encounter it with Thrifty. I've rented all sorts of cars in various places throughout the world, inc the UK, and have never had it before or since.

What was even more odd was that they only required it for British license holders. For everyone else, a credit card and drivers license were fine.
 
I've used Thrifty a few times now as they're good with 135/435/640/740/M4 rentals... never been asked for a utility bill.

They did take both my driving license and passport, however.

They're also the only company I know of to take massive deposits in full and credit it back to you, rather than just a pre-auth without deduction.




For shicky:

www.rentalcars.com is a reasonable comparison site, it will give you a reasonable idea of what is available within budget. But when you make you mind up, double check the price by getting a quote directly on the provider's site as, depending on the company, it can be cheaper on their own site.
 
Hey everyone,

just wanted to say a quick thank you for all the help and advice here, saved me an absolute ton of effort and feel a bit more confident I'm not going to get completely raped by the hire company!
 
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