Holiday car hire tips?

TimmyO

Going to Portugal for a week in August - re car hire what's the best approach? Get local tips or just hire early online for collection at Lisbon airport? 

(not done the car hire thing in Europe before) 

bloodandtears

I toured Italy; hired a Hertz car booked prior to departure, collection at Rome airport, returned to Milan airport. No problem.

I also got a Damage Waiver policy too , £30 approx.. http://www.insurance4carhire.com  ; hopefully better than being screwed by the unscrupulous vendors.

Plan your routes, google maps is extremely handy, and researched parking options at sites you intend to visit in advance and any no-go areas or traffic restricted areas, (loads in Italy's historic cities)

Sporky

Nothing smaller than a V8 is a good rule of thumb.

TimmyO

bloodandtears said:

I also got a Damage Waiver policy too , £30 approx.. http://www.insurance4carhire.com  ; hopefully better than being screwed by the unscrupulous vendors.

That sir is a great tip, thanks.

TimmyO

Sporky said:

Nothing smaller than a V8 is a good rule of thumb.

You not so much :-D 

ronnyb

Check the car thoroughly photograph any marks and scratches before you drive away. I hired a car at San Francisco airport last month. Got half an hour down the road and noticed a crack in the top of the windscreen (the sun visors were down when we set off so I hadn't noticed it) It caused great inconvenience because we had to go off our planned route to get a replacement. It didn't cost us anything because it was covered on the insurance but we had no proof it hadn't occurred whilst we had it. 

Snap

Hi Tim, long time no converse - hope all is well.

We've hired cars loads in Europe, Portugal a lot too. Had a crash in Portugal too, so can talk about that.

First, car hire is expensive in Portugal, so prepare for that. Brokers can be good - arguscarhire is one of the better ones. Thomson do a good service too.

Fuel - make sure you get a car hire with a pickup full, return full, rather than a prepay for full tank which is a total con. And when you return, make sure it is full.

Get a firm that is on airport so you don't ahve to faff with shuttle buses to a place off airport. Its an arse, and you will not want to be fannying around with that on arrival, and certianly not on your return.

Once you've checked the broker price, look at going direct to the company and getting a deal. Also, its worth considering not going for the cheapest option. When going throuigh a broker, if you opt for the cheapest eg Goldcar of Aruga remember that everybody else will be doing the same thing. What that means is that the queue for (e.g.) GOldcare at Lisbon could be big, meaning you will be waiting ages.

I usually go for Enterprise, Sixt , Hertz or Avis these days - costs a bit more, but you know that there won't be a massive queue at arrivals to get your car, and also that the car will be new and OK.

Excess insurance - this is the stuff that covers you when and if you have to make a claim. I've used an annual policy for this (which is cheap) but in the event that I needed it, it was chuffin useless. I had a crash in Portugal - bloke drove into us. His fault. I got the rozzers, and went back to the hire firm to swap the car. On getting there it was a case of - ah, but you need to pay the excess first, and then claim it back from your insurer. This was the princely sum of 1500 EUR. If I had taken out their additional insurance (someting like 5 EUR a day) I wouldn't ahve anything to pay. Until I paid, I had no replacement car.

So, when I got back I made a claim with the excess insurance company. THey wouldn't pay - said it was a no fault incident, and I should not have paid. It took me 9 months to get the money back. SO, in my experience, get the extra insurance. Its piece of mind, hassle free, and often not that expensive. What price is no hassle?

Make sure you have your drivin licence on your person when you are driving, and check if you need to have your passport too.

Sat nav - use your phone, or download Co Pilot which does off line Sat nav maps.

Finally, make sure you remember how to get back to the airport and the drop off point!

Driving in europe is largely easy.

Oh - ask your people if there is a local company they recommend. They may come and drop the car off for you at the airport and meet you there. I've done this too, and it can work out very easy.

octatonic

We hire a car once or twice a month.

We usually book in advance through BA's website and tend to pay quite a bit less than we otherwise would.
If you have frequently flyer points then don't use them for cars- they are a really inefficient use of your points.

If you are a regular booker you get upgrades from time to time- we were in Portugal last week and booked a small hatchback, usually something like a Hyundai i20- we got a BMW 1 series.
This happens about 30% of the time with BA.

I never bother with reducing the insurance excess- just don't have an accident.
If you are dealing with a large multinational hirer (Avis, Sixt, Europcar etc) then you shouldn't have too many issues, just mark down any damage.

If I was going with a smaller car company then I'd think about insurance and be much more particular about where I parked it.

bloodandtears

ronnyb said:

Check the car thoroughly photograph any marks and scratches before you drive away. I hired a car at San Francisco airport last month. Got half an hour down the road and noticed a crack in the top of the windscreen (the sun visors were down when we set off so I hadn't noticed it) It caused great inconvenience because we had to go off our planned route to get a replacement. It didn't cost us anything because it was covered on the insurance but we had no proof it hadn't occurred whilst we had it. 

yeah.. take photos.. I did this too on the parking lot before i got in the car.. both in Italy and Florida...

bloodandtears

Snap said:

Excess insurance - this is the stuff that covers you when and if you have to make a claim. I've used an annual policy for this (which is cheap) but in the event that I needed it, it was chuffin useless. I had a crash in Portugal - bloke drove into us. His fault. I got the rozzers, and went back to the hire firm to swap the car. On getting there it was a case of - ah, but you need to pay the excess first, and then claim it back from your insurer. This was the princely sum of 1500 EUR. If I had taken out their additional insurance (someting like 5 EUR a day) I wouldn't ahve anything to pay. Until I paid, I had no replacement car.

So, when I got back I made a claim with the excess insurance company. THey wouldn't pay - said it was a no fault incident, and I should not have paid. It took me 9 months to get the money back. SO, in my experience, get the extra insurance. Its piece of mind, hassle free, and often not that expensive. What price is no hassle?

That flies in the face of their whole purpose.. who did you use?? Did you contact them immediately?

Electro_Ham

We used Centauro in Ibiza last month. We didn't skimp on insurance. We should have photographed all of the car on collection. After a few days I noticed a scrape to the front bumper. I worried for around 2 days as to what the repercussions would be. I checked the contract and I don't recall seeing any marks documented on the contract. We took the car back and they checked it over. They thanked me for my custom and that was it. My wife looked at the contract when we were back home and their was documentation about the scrape. It might have been there all along as it wasn't all that clear.
Taking pics beforehand would have stopped me worrying.
I think it cost around 130 euro for a week? Opal Astra 1.4 turbo petrol. Maybe around a year old?
So I'd recommend Centauro and would use again.

boogieman

Just Google for the best car hire places. We hired a car last year in Majorca. One of the cheapest companies turned to be the best value and least likely to rip you off. I think I got the recommendation from the Trip Advisor forum. 

As above, look for a co that does the "tank full on collection/return" policy, otherwise you'll pay through the nose for fuel. 

Take the paper part of your driving licence too, some companies want to check to see if you've got any points on it. They can actually check online but it seems some simply can't be arsed.  

octatonic

boogieman said:

As above, look for a co that does the "tank full on collection/return" policy, otherwise you'll pay through the nose for fuel. 

Not always.
A coupe of places are actually cheaper if you give them back a nearly empty fuel tank.
It pays to ask.

thebreeze

Pay by credit card.  Not debit card.

I made this mistake in Ibiza.  Unscrupulous companies can sometimes keep your deposit (often quite sizeable).  If you pay by credit card the bank will pay you back and deal with it.  Pay on a debit card and they won't/can't.

boogieman

octatonic said:

boogieman said:

As above, look for a co that does the "tank full on collection/return" policy, otherwise you'll pay through the nose for fuel. 

Not always.
A coupe of places are actually cheaper if you give them back a nearly empty fuel tank.
It pays to ask.

Ah ok, fair enoughski. I was just going by my experience in Majorca....everything I'd read about car hire there said this was the best option.

richardhomer

I was knocked down earlier by someone in a hire car.

Fucking Hertz....

revsorg

We went to Ireland last year and booked a VW Passat.  When we arrived at the rental company in Dublin a little Irish man who mumbled unintelligibly explained that they only had a Skoda which was the equivalent car. Or I could upgrade to a Mercedes for a couple of hundred Euros. My wife is convinced he weaved a magic spell over me.

chrispy108

octatonic said:

boogieman said:

As above, look for a co that does the "tank full on collection/return" policy, otherwise you'll pay through the nose for fuel. 

Not always.
A coupe of places are actually cheaper if you give them back a nearly empty fuel tank.
It pays to ask.

Yup this. I was asking the guy in Orlando if I could bring it back full, and he pointed out they charge less for petrol than the nearest petrol station, he said it's easier for them to plan to fill them all than to faff about arguing with people and then they haven't got people ready to fill them.

Also, you need to use a credit card. On a credit card they can hold money without actually taking it, when you return the car this hold is released. On a debit card they actually take the money, then give it back. Or not, as the case might be, and you're in another country so it's a tad tricky to fix.

I don't see how you can travel without several credit cards really.

chillidoggy

Avis doesn't charge for additional drivers as long as it's your wife or work colleague etc. That can make a huge difference to the overall cost.

dindude

Tip 1: drive it like you stole it - it's not your clutch after all.
Tip 2: don't ding it, it'll cost dearly.

stickyfiddle

Airport pickup is super easy - I do it every time I come through Heathrow.

It's a bit paranoid but a good idea to take photos before (if the car is anything but mint) and after (either way).

And get excess waiver insurance from someone else. Usually only a few quid. Good guide here: 

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-car-hire