** Vehicle Hire queries **

Quazzie

BlazingSaddler wrote: »

Has anybody got experience of Europcar in Nice Airport please?, I have a rental car reserved with Alamo but have now got a very good price with Europcar. The research seems to suggest though that they have very long queues and the cars are a bit of a trek away from the airport. Need to make things as painless as possible with the family of 5 travelling!

AFAIK Europcar and Enterprise (Alamo) are both a short bus ride away from the Airport in Nice, so you're in the same boat with both of them.

BlazingSaddler

Quazzie wrote: »

AFAIK Europcar and Enterprise (Alamo) are both a short bus ride away from the Airport in Nice, so you're in the same boat with both of them.

I've missed the boat on the Europcar price due to my pontification!, price increased €100 overnight. Alamo it is I guess!

Quazzie

BlazingSaddler wrote: »

I've missed the boat on the Europcar price due to my pontification!, price increased €100 overnight. Alamo it is I guess!

Sometimes it might be cheaper if you change website. So instead of enterprise.ie try enterprise.fr, or enterprise.co.uk.

I know with Avis we made serious savings doing this recently.

ifeelstupid

Any recommendations for car-hire in UK, we are travelling to Birmingham and will require 7-seater for 4 days in July. A quick search shows huge variation in prices. Haven't rented a car for a long time so wary of jumping in with cheapest quote!!

munchkin_utd

ifeelstupid wrote: »

Any recommendations for car-hire in UK, we are travelling to Birmingham and will require 7-seater for 4 days in July. A quick search shows huge variation in prices. Haven't rented a car for a long time so wary of jumping in with cheapest quote!!

who is offering the cheapest ?
the only catch can be in the insurance, and some (Thrifty maybe?) have a gigantic deposit needed of 2500 or 3000 at time of rental. A deposit of about €1500 is normal.
Also, many dont take debit cards, or if they do require you take all the extra insurances offered.

ifeelstupid

munchkin_utd wrote: »

who is offering the cheapest ?
the only catch can be in the insurance, and some (Thrifty maybe?) have a gigantic deposit needed of 2500 or 3000 at time of rental. A deposit of about €1500 is normal.
Also, many dont take debit cards, or if they do require you take all the extra insurances offered.

Best quote at the moment is for Vauxhall Zafira from Avis and thru AutoEurope roughly £375GBP, only blocking off a deposit of €250 so I think that's not too bad. Only thing is adding on child seats etc sends price way up. We're not going to be travelling too much so may just taxi it around instead. Just thought it would be more convenient to have a car.....swings and roundabouts!!

munchkin_utd

ifeelstupid wrote: »

Best quote at the moment is for Vauxhall Zafira from Avis and thru AutoEurope roughly £375GBP, only blocking off a deposit of €250 so I think that's not too bad. Only thing is adding on child seats etc sends price way up. We're not going to be travelling too much so may just taxi it around instead. Just thought it would be more convenient to have a car.....swings and roundabouts!!

if youre flying in, Aer lingus and Ryanair allow you to check in your child seats for free, so its not a cost.

from renting 7 seaters now and again, that sounds like a fair whack for just 4 days.

ifeelstupid

munchkin_utd wrote: »

if youre flying in, Aer lingus and Ryanair allow you to check in your child seats for free, so its not a cost.

from renting 7 seaters now and again, that sounds like a fair whack for just 4 days.

Thanks for that munchkin_utd

I didn't realise about the child seats - we can bring 3 boosters with us in that case. It is a fair whack for a couple of days but would be handy to have the car there. I'm more used to renting for small money in Spain etc. so was bit surprised at the cost too.

munchkin_utd

If you rent from downtown Birmingham with europcar or Avis it's about 400 euros cheaper for the tests dates I tried (and indeed mental prices from the airport for a 7seater) so maybe do that?
There's a train from the airport to the city so you can be here in minutes. The europcar office seems to be round the corner of the station in the city. Even the few pound for a taxi is more than covered by the savings on the rental

k123456

BlazingSaddler wrote: »

Has anybody got experience of Europcar in Nice Airport please?, I have a rental car reserved with Alamo but have now got a very good price with Europcar. The research seems to suggest though that they have very long queues and the cars are a bit of a trek away from the airport. Need to make things as painless as possible with the family of 5 travelling!

Not much can be done about Qs
however if your car hire collection point is offsite from the airport, maybe easier to have family and luggage wait at airport main door , drive back in hire car and load up at airport. We often do this when we have lots of luggage

ifeelstupid

munchkin_utd wrote: »

If you rent from downtown Birmingham with europcar or Avis it's about 400 euros cheaper for the tests dates I tried (and indeed mental prices from the airport for a 7seater) so maybe do that?
There's a train from the airport to the city so you can be here in minutes. The europcar office seems to be round the corner of the station in the city. Even the few pound for a taxi is more than covered by the savings on the rental

Thanks again munchkin_utd, I will look into that over the weekend. I hadn't even considered this alternative.

Quazzie

BlazingSaddler wrote: »

I've missed the boat on the Europcar price due to my pontification!, price increased €100 overnight. Alamo it is I guess!

Just some info regarding Alamo in Nice. Firstly. Wait for the blue bus to transfer you between stations. Even if you think you'll be waiting a half hour - wait. I didn't and the walk in this heat through and around roadworks was cruel

When I got there I was charged €50 for a car booster seat. I also had to leave a deposit of €250 which I was happy enough with as I was expecting €950. When I went down there was a girl and a lad working at the kiosk and neither of them had a clue what they were doing. I had reserved a petrol Kadjar, but they gave me an Insignia. OPC line - fully specced with Nav, AC, leather, cruise control etc etc. And I am 100% convinced that the gave it to me because it was the closest car to the kiosk and they were too lazy to go look for the Kadjar. Then she explained how their excess works. Any dent/scratch over a certain size costs €850. so two dents is €1700. Three is €2550 etc. or I can insurance that will reduce my total excess to €150 for €15/day. I went with that option.

Final tip. Try not to require a toilet break when picking up the car because the public toilets there are vile and might make you vomit.

Hope this helps

BlazingSaddler

Quazzie wrote: »

Just some info regarding Alamo in Nice. Firstly. Wait for the blue bus to transfer you between stations. Even if you think you'll be waiting a half hour - wait. I didn't and the walk in this heat through and around roadworks was cruel

When I got there I was charged €50 for a car booster seat. I also had to leave a deposit of €250 which I was happy enough with as I was expecting €950. When I went down there was a girl and a lad working at the kiosk and neither of them had a clue what they were doing. I had reserved a petrol Kadjar, but they gave me an Insignia. OPC line - fully specced with Nav, AC, leather, cruise control etc etc. And I am 100% convinced that the gave it to me because it was the closest car to the kiosk and they were too lazy to go look for the Kadjar. Then she explained how their excess works. Any dent/scratch over a certain size costs €850. so two dents is €1700. Three is €2550 etc. or I can insurance that will reduce my total excess to €150 for €15/day. I went with that option.

Final tip. Try not to require a toilet break when picking up the car because the public toilets there are vile and might make you vomit.

Hope this helps

Thanks for the info., very good to know. Would it not have been better to get the carhireexcess.ie or similar cover? I've been given quotes of 35 or €40 for 12 days or slightly more for annual cover. Are there any car hire companies in Nice that don't require a transfer to the car who people would recommend please?

Quazzie

BlazingSaddler wrote: »

Thanks for the info., very good to know. Would it not have been better to get the carhireexcess.ie or similar cover? I've been given quotes of 35 or €40 for 12 days or slightly more for annual cover. Are there any car hire companies in Nice that don't require a transfer to the car who people would recommend please?

I got excess cover from AXA for €34, but for the sake of €120 I'd rather not have my credit card maxed our for a few weeks in the event of an accident while it gets sorted. I suppose it's a kind of belts and braces kind of thing.

Unless I'm mistaken all car hire in Nice is in T2 and Ryanair fly into T1. If you're flying with someone else you might be lucky enough to fly into T2.

willowthewisp

Who do people reckon are the best for renting with in Portugal?

bladespin

willowthewisp wrote: »

Who do people reckon are the best for renting with in Portugal?

Zest (Economy), found them very good in the past, have booked again this year.

willowthewisp

bladespin wrote: »

Zest (Economy), found them very good in the past, have booked again this year.

Thank You

ifeelstupid

munchkin_utd wrote: »

If you rent from downtown Birmingham with europcar or Avis it's about 400 euros cheaper for the tests dates I tried (and indeed mental prices from the airport for a 7seater) so maybe do that?
There's a train from the airport to the city so you can be here in minutes. The europcar office seems to be round the corner of the station in the city. Even the few pound for a taxi is more than covered by the savings on the rental

Thanks again munchkin_utd for the heads-up on changing location. Have booked 7-seater from enterprise near the train station for less than £200. Happy enough with that. We are packing a lot into the few days so it will be handy to have the car.

bergipau

Can someone explain to me how additional excess cover works.
I have a car booking with sixt in Spain later this year. I only have basic insurance cover at the moment. If I purchase additional cover from another provider how do I link this to the car rental agreement?
Do I just print off the additional insurance and they then accept it and do not need my credit card? Or do I need to send them the details in advance?

Quazzie wrote: »

BlazingSaddler wrote: »

Thanks for the info., very good to know. Would it not have been better to get the carhireexcess.ie or similar cover? I've been given quotes of 35 or €40 for 12 days or slightly more for annual cover. Are there any car hire companies in Nice that don't require a transfer to the car who people would recommend please?

I got excess cover from AXA for €34, but for the sake of €120 I'd rather not have my credit card maxed our for a few weeks in the event of an accident while it gets sorted. I suppose it's a kind of belts and braces kind of thing.

Unless I'm mistaken all car hire in Nice is in T2 and Ryanair fly into T1. If you're flying with someone else you might be lucky enough to fly into T2.

LiamaDelta

bergipau wrote: »

Can someone explain to me how additional excess cover works.
I have a car booking with sixt in Spain later this year. I only have basic insurance cover at the moment. If I purchase additional cover from another provider how do I link this to the car rental agreement?
Do I just print off the additional insurance and they then accept it and do not need my credit card? Or do I need to send them the details in advance?

You can't link your own excess policy to the car rental as it's your own policy and it is up to you to make any claim on it not them. They will treat you as if you're only accepting the basic insurance - so they will require you to provide the excess deposit on your credit card (typically around €1000).

Note Sixt's latest scare tactic is to tell you that some of those excess policies don't cover many things such as keys or unintentional driver damage e.g. damage to the 'electrics' of the car!!

bergipau

Thanks LiamaDelta
I think that explains it. So if I leave back the car and there is damage to it. I would claim back the amount charged to me from the additional insurance I took out.
So as an example, if I returned the car and there was 5k worth of damage. If I was liable for 1k excess am I correct I thinking that I would claim the 1k back from the other policy?
Also, what happens the other 4K?

LiamaDelta wrote: »

bergipau wrote: »

Can someone explain to me how additional excess cover works.
I have a car booking with sixt in Spain later this year. I only have basic insurance cover at the moment. If I purchase additional cover from another provider how do I link this to the car rental agreement?
Do I just print off the additional insurance and they then accept it and do not need my credit card? Or do I need to send them the details in advance?

You can't link your own excess policy to the car rental as it's your own policy and it is up to you to make any claim on it not them. They will treat you as if you're only accepting the basic insurance - so they will require you to provide the excess deposit on your credit card (typically around €1000).

Note Sixt's latest scare tactic is to tell you that some of those excess policies don't cover many things such as keys or unintentional driver damage e.g. damage to the 'electrics' of the car!!

LiamaDelta

bergipau wrote: »

Thanks LiamaDelta
I think that explains it. So if I leave back the car and there is damage to it. I would claim back the amount charged to me from the additional insurance I took out.
So as an example, if I returned the car and there was 5k worth of damage. If I was liable for 1k excess am I correct I thinking that I would claim the 1k back from the other policy?
Also, what happens the other 4K?

Please don't take this as definitive as every company has different rules, insurance etc etc.

The extra insurance they offer you at the desk is to lower the excess to €0. You have insurance as part of the rental just that they're putting more of the risk onto you by making you liable to pay the excess. That is what they are reserving on you credit card.
In your hypothetical case the 5k damage is covered by standard insurance and you're liable for the 1K excess.
Excesses are usually based on the type of car etc...obviously an expensive saloon car will have a higher excess than your small budget car.

Also worth noting that even iF you only do a small amount of damage to the car they often slap you with the full excess or inflate the claim.

You need to be sure that the excess cover you have covers all possibilities and also look at the limitations.

Quazzie

bergipau wrote: »

Thanks LiamaDelta
I think that explains it. So if I leave back the car and there is damage to it. I would claim back the amount charged to me from the additional insurance I took out.
So as an example, if I returned the car and there was 5k worth of damage. If I was liable for 1k excess am I correct I thinking that I would claim the 1k back from the other policy?
Also, what happens the other 4K?

When you collect the car there is €1000 held against your card. When you drop it back there is €5000 worth of damage so the €1000 that was held is then taken from you, and that's it. Then you go to AXA (or whoever you purchased the excess cover from) and tell AXA you made a claim. You need to provide all relevant documentation, like original contract with the rental company, card statements to show the excess been taken, police reports, etc etc, and then after a non determined timeframe AXA refund you the €1000.

Every rental company is slightly different but that's the basis of it

ThisRegard

Anyone hire out of Verona, or via AerLingusCars?

AreLingusCars seem to go through most hire companies and seem to be pretty competitive with the rates. They also offer Damage Refund Insurance (underwritten by AXA) directly on their booking page to reduce liability to €0 for €66 for 2 weeks.

I guess this is the same as getting an excess policy either from AXA or other underwriters directly?

So with Damage Refund Insurance, CDW, 3rd party liability and theft protection you're pretty much fully covered for everything? It's been a while since I had to cough up for this type of thing, used to be covered by my company's world wide policy before they done away with it.

Booster/child car seat is an eye watering €108 per rental though. As I'm flying with Aer Lingus I'll be bringing our own.

What do Aer Lingus class a child seat for check in? Ours are these, we should be ok?

k123456

ThisRegard wrote: »

Anyone hire out of Verona, or via AerLingusCars?

AreLingusCars seem to go through most hire companies and seem to be pretty competitive with the rates. They also offer Damage Refund Insurance (underwritten by AXA) directly on their booking page to reduce liability to €0 for €66 for 2 weeks.

I guess this is the same as getting an excess policy either from AXA or other underwriters directly?

So with Damage Refund Insurance, CDW, 3rd party liability and theft protection you're pretty much fully covered for everything? It's been a while since I had to cough up for this type of thing, used to be covered by my company's world wide policy before they done away with it.

Booster/child car seat is an eye watering €108 per rental though. As I'm flying with Aer Lingus I'll be bringing our own.

What do Aer Lingus class a child seat for check in? Ours are these, we should be ok?

With child seats, most people cover these in a large plastic bag to prevent damage etc
at the airport , the check in will attach a destination tag to to the seat, and instruct you to the large luggage hatch, where someone will take it and get it to the plane

They are not generally weighed measured etc, so I dont think there is any restrictions on size etc

fdevine

Ryanair will also take infant/child seats free of charge. We have taken one similar to the photo above and IIRC it went off on the baggage belt.

ThisRegard

Cool, looks like the seats will be coming so. A few years ago on mainland Spain we picked up a seat over there with the rental. After looking through a filthy storage unit in a multistory carpark the agent eventually handed us a ****ty booster, inappropriate for the size of our kid at the time, so won't be doing that again.

from_atozinc

In regard to being high back boosters or even just basic boosters on a plane, do you have to pay extra to bring these?

bergipau

We have used trunki seats when traveling and we found them great. They are not high backed. But a very useful booster.

http://www.halfords.ie/kids-zone/car-seats/child-car-seats/trunki-boostapak-booster-seat

from_atozinc

bergipau wrote: »

We have used trunki seats when traveling and we found them great. They are not high backed. But a very useful booster.

http://www.halfords.ie/kids-zone/car-seats/child-car-seats/trunki-boostapak-booster-seat

Oh ok. So just give it to the child as a back pack and then no extra fees - handy.

Anybody know if you have to pay extra for bringing booster seats?