** Vehicle Hire queries **

AndyBoBandy

BlazingSaddler wrote: »

Hi all. I need to hire a car from Nice Airport in July for 12 days, this will be the first time I've hired. It will be for 5 people (2 adults, 3 kids (11,8 & 2)). The best price for a 'compact' size I have come up with is with Auto Europe using inter rent. They are located in the terminal which is quite important to me and their child seats are capped at €35 max. I have added the max possible cover so all in it will cost us 277.50 + 64.20 for refundable excess with super cover and 35 for the child seat. Total €376.7 Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated, I seem to have read horror stories about nearly all at this stage!, I'm certainly avoiding Gold Car but should I be paying more and going with Enterpise or Europcar which could work out €300 more expensive? I have attached the breakdown. (hopefully!)

Would you fit an 11 & 8 year old in the back of a compact that's already got a child seat in it?

Child seats for 2 year olds tend to take up a whole side of the rear seat, and would impinge onto the canteen seat/seat belt.

Just something to consider

elperello

BlazingSaddler wrote: »

Hi all. I need to hire a car from Nice Airport in July for 12 days, this will be the first time I've hired. It will be for 5 people (2 adults, 3 kids (11,8 & 2)). The best price for a 'compact' size I have come up with is with Auto Europe using inter rent. They are located in the terminal which is quite important to me and their child seats are capped at €35 max. I have added the max possible cover so all in it will cost us 277.50 + 64.20 for refundable excess with super cover and 35 for the child seat. Total €376.7 Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated, I seem to have read horror stories about nearly all at this stage!, I'm certainly avoiding Gold Car but should I be paying more and going with Enterpise or Europcar which could work out €300 more expensive? I have attached the breakdown. (hopefully!)

Just a thought but have you considered using public transport. The Cote D'Azur is blessed with an excellent train service and a good network of bus routes. Depending on where you are going and what you plan to do it may be an option.

uck51js9zml2yt

Used Avis/Budget in Tenerife recently.
They have a bus from the airport to the office and for early departures you just leave the car outside the gate and call the number on the taxi voucher they give you.

Couldn't fault the service.

BlazingSaddler

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

Would you fit an 11 & 8 year old in the back of a compact that's already got a child seat in it?

Child seats for 2 year olds tend to take up a whole side of the rear seat, and would impinge onto the canteen seat/seat belt.

Just something to consider

We have a Ford Focus which is in the compact range apparently so I'd hope they'd fit with the same arrangement unless the child seat we hire for the 2 year old is way bigger than the one we have at home.

bennyc

I got a great deal last year from Alicante for three weeks, fiesta for 218 for 21 days, I am going same dates this year and the same deal is currently 320 euro from Doyouspain , think I wil hold off a while yet before booking.

AndyBoBandy

I guess with a lot of the smaller rental companies, you have to be aware of their fuel policy. I've heard of it catching a few people out before!

A lot of them do a full/empty deal whereby you pay for a full tank of fuel at the beginning of the rental (on top of the price/quote you got online, but they give you a good price for the fuel), and it's up to you to bring the car back empty, and if you don't, too bad as you won't get a refund for any unused fuel! Fine if your planning on driving 600 km+, but not if your dawdling around a small island/town.

I much prefer the full/full policy where you take it out full, and return it full.

I had a Renault Clio in Majorca a few years ago, drove it about 130 km's and the fuel gauge didn't even move (previous renter must have brimmed it at the airport), so I didn't have to fill it up!
The following year in Gran Canaria, we only put about €13 into a Fiat after 10 days.

bennyc

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

I guess with a lot of the smaller rental companies, you have to be aware of their fuel policy. I've heard of it catching a few people out before!

A lot of them do a full/empty deal whereby you pay for a full tank of fuel at the beginning of the rental (on top of the price/quote you got online, but they give you a good price for the fuel), and it's up to you to bring the car back empty, and if you don't, too bad as you won't get a refund for any unused fuel! Fine if your planning on driving 600 km+, but not if your dawdling around a small island/town.

I much prefer the full/full policy where you take it out full, and return it full.

I had a Renault Clio in Majorca a few years ago, drove it about 130 km's and the fuel gauge didn't even move (previous renter must have brimmed it at the airport), so I didn't have to fill it up!
The following year in Gran Canaria, we only put about €13 into a Fiat after 10 days.

I had to put a fiver in my car last year on the way to the airport, I got a 8e refund on the fuel, its a hard one to call, best price is usually full to empty I suppose if you are short term you kinda have to go full to full, also worth noting that I was charged about 75euro for a full tank on a fiesta.

Happy_Harry

BlazingSaddler wrote: »

The best price for a 'compact' size I have come up with is with Auto Europe using inter rent. They are located in the terminal which is quite important to me and their child seats are capped at €35 max. I have added the max possible cover so all in it will cost us 277.50 + 64.20 for refundable excess with super cover and 35 for the child seat.

I would start with taking out excess insurance (Axa or AIG, or any other that operate here). A full year cover costs only €50, so I am sure if you only need it for one trip they can cover you for much less than the 64.20. It is exactly the same product.
Be aware the actual rental company will still take an authorisation on your credit card, so make sure you have enough balance when you go.

Secondly I would take my own car seat. It is free.. (and free to transport on a plane). Yes, €35 capped is a great price, but it is still more than €0 and , if you bring your own, you know it is safe and clean ( or at least it is not some other child's "dirt" on it)

Lastly make sure that their version of compact is the same as you believe it to be if the size does matter....Different companies use different classifications. In Ireland compact with Budget is a Clio for example, whereas a focus would be called an intermediate (same with Thrifty), whereas Hertz (Thrifty's mother/sister company) calls a Focus compact..
Best to call the actual rental company and ask them.

AndyBoBandy

Happy_Harry wrote: »

Secondly I would take my own car seat. It is free.. (and free to transport on a plane). Yes, €35 capped is a great price, but it is still more than €0 and , if you bring your own, you know it is safe and clean ( or at least it is not some other child's "dirt" on it)

This.

Plus the fact you'll have a fair idea how it's correctly installed as well, I've had a few nightmares trying to get a car seat in correctly, and you'd be still worrying if it's done right, at least with your own, you're used to it.

irbx

I used to rent most weekends off enterprise their "weekend special" around €35 for 2 days as I had use of a work car the weekdays.

I found them to brilliant at customer service as american company. The guys on the counter don get any commission so not pushing services you dont need. But do get awards if your rental is selected for 3 question survey a couple days after the rental.

Alamo rent a car is enterprise cheaper brand. In Euro it still managed by the enterprise staff. so same service for cheaper cost. In US it is different branches and never rented a car their.

To get the best rates I always compare the alamo.com (and change to Irish resident not US as US does not include CDW) and enterprise.ie site. Alamo is cheaper normally and included the basic CDW in the quotes. Their website seam to quote hight months before you go. So I book with out paying option. Around 6 weeks to 2 weeks before rental date they mostly slash the price down. I presume it better to have car out getting something then parked in their lot. I make a fresh booking and once I secure the cheaper rate cancel down the older higher cost booking.

I have found at any of their airport locations their Desk is not busy compared to all the company. So paper done and gone in less then 5 mins. In hundred of rentals only had one bad experience abroad. The person might be having a bad day and said the rates I got on the website were wrong/ Vat was also not included etc... and needed to charge me more. Under pressure with kids I paid the extra around €180. Could only find a premium number for customer service in that country so had to go on Facebook to contact their Head office. who raise a case to area manager of the problem branch with in 24 hours I gotten 2 calls and 3 emails updating on issue and the reslove that the person was wrong. I was refunded back €180 and then extra as goodwill. ( they must have me flagged on their system as any time I go to the branch since they upgrade me for free and I get a call the next day to check in is everything okay.

Re carseats
Because I fly to France quite a bit with ryanair to beauvais paris airport. They dont have Luggage Trolleys. With to very active young kids under 3 not practical to bring car seats with us as not enough hands with baggage. Alamo in France charge €15 per seat for the whole rental which takes the press off as well.

I cover my excess for the car rental is use a company called Questor insurance . I bought my policy trough http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/ as their an extra discount €44 for the year. Proof in the pudding 2 years ago had to make a claim for €800 excess.This was reduced by enterprise when my insurance and enterprise loss assessor started to talk to €150. Somebody hit what looked like a shopping trolley (square scratches in paintwork) into the back of brand new car. Took 6 weeks to pay out (4 weeks of that was delay by my credit card company in getting a statement)

They claims process is all done online and make sure you read the policy to see what your covered for. Below is whats covered in my policy. they sell other bolt on's and can name more drivers for extra costs of course.

Example of the price drop is this April going to south of France on Easter Sunday. ( Peak holidays in France for the south) 2 weeks including the 2 car seats for Compact car was €690 in Dec. Checked again Friday last week and same car and seats was now €320 which I re-booked ( i know firefly/sixt is Cheaper slightly. But anytime I see their counters their up the walls normally plus I believe the staff are on commission/ Targets for extras

Sorry for the Very long Post but hope it helps someone based on my experiences.

What's Covered in my excess policy.

Description Cover Excess
Excess Reimbursement, Loss Damage Waiver and Towing Up to £6,000 £0
Personal Accident £10,000 £0
Personal Effects Cover Up to £300 £50
Key Cover Up to £500 £0
Curtailment Up to £300 £0
Drop Off Charges Up to £300 £0
Locked Out Cover Up to £100 £0
Miss-Fuelling Up to £500 £0
Road Rage Cover £1,000 £0
Car Jacking £1,000 £0
Important Information

Thank you for purchasing your Car Hire Insurance Car Hire - Annual from Questor Insurance Services Limited. With our Partners we are committed to ensuring that you have great experience and we are here to help you.

Please read the following: -

Please check that all the details on this certificate are correct if there are any errors email us and we will correct and reissue the certificate
Check that the Policy Limits are adequate and cover your liability to the car hire company.
Only vehicle rentals starting and finishing during the period of insurance are covered - all other rentals are excluded.
You should not need to purchase any other excess insurance from the car hire company once you have purchased this policy.
If this policy does not meet your needs you have the right to cancel this policy and receive a full refund up to 27/07/2016 subject to this policy having not commenced.
Kindly note, we are unable to provide insurance if you are renting from Green Motion Leicester, Green Motion Luton or Noleggiare.

munchkin_utd

I agree that the prices for hire can sometimes drop dramatically, but sometimes it doesnt.

I was looking at just short of €1000 for the fortnight there last christmas for a usable family car, so focus, golf etc, and it stayed at that price right up to the end.

The previous christmas there was similar stupid prices, and I ended up taking the car on the ferry (which works out at about a grand return including fuel and a night in a cheap hotel) , but at the last minute the prices did moderate somewhat.

Good tip there on the cheap seats with Alamo.
Some rental agencies charge a fortune for child seats, which really makes no sense as then you either book with someone else and pay an affordable amount for seats, or bring seats with you for free and use them.

redcup342

pprendeville wrote: »

Flying with Ryanair so its unlikely unless I look for inflatable ones. I wonder are they valid.

Ryanair let you bring a buggy and a childseat free:

https://www.ryanair.com/gb/en/useful-info/help-centre/faq-overview/Travelling-with-children/Im-travelling-with-an-infant-is-there-anything-i-should-know

You can carry 2 items of baby equipment free of charge per child - 1 pushchair plus one of the following items: car seat or booster seat or travelcot.

Robbie1985

Going to iceland end of march,being looking around but the usual bigger companies seem very expensive..any other good options??

Greg81

www.geysir.is

Used them once. Very good service.

Top Tip: If you are planning travel around Iceland invest in fuel can. They have them at the car rental (3€ extra)

pprendeville

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

I only ever returned a car to Avis in Stansted, but like all reviews on the internet, you have to take them with a pinch of salt.

if 1000 people rent off them in 1 month, and 10 people had a bad experience, chances are they'll all write a negative review. if 990 people had a normal experience, chances are they won't go online to write a good review! so the stats can be heavily skewed!

That's true but you'd usually get one review that's half decent.

Prim05

Hi me and my wife and 2 kids 7/9 are going to Barcelona on April 17 we are staying in camp salou which is over 100k away which is costing about €150 return for a private bus transfer . Where we are staying is a bit away from activity I would like to hire a car I've no fear of driving over there I've seen prices for a polo for €54 plus about €60 for highest insurance in not too good on small print but I think I would have excess covered in on a tight enough budget and don't have a credit card(do I need one to rent it ) i think for anything in region of €200 for week would be good but don't want to be stung if God forbid anything happens to car any advice would be a great help

dennyk

Rentals in Spain should include collision and theft insurance, but there will be an excess and it's usually quite high (often €1000+). You can usually purchase "Super CDW" or "Super Cover" from the car hire agency to reduce or eliminate the excess, but this can often be quite expensive, sometimes more than the actual rental cost.

Another option is to buy third party "Excess Insurance" from an insurance company; it will cover the CDW and theft excess on a car hire and is almost always cheaper than the coverage from the car hire agency. I paid about €60 for a one-year multi-rental policy from Axa, for example; I believe the quote for a single week's rental was about €25 (compared to over €200 for the "Super CDW" from Hertz).

Note that this may not be a viable option if you do not have a credit card, though; the hire car company may place a hold on the card you use for the rental in the amount of your excess, and they will definitely charge your card straight away if there is any damage or loss. If you've given them a debit card, that means they'll be taking that money right out of your bank account, and even the hold might interfere with your ability to pay your bills or even cause your account to be overdrawn if you don't have a large enough buffer. I would definitely recommend getting a credit card if you're going to do a car rental; even if you do buy the "Super CDW" coverage from the hire agency, there are many tales of shady hire car companies charging people for various things, and while you might eventually get your money back in those cases, it may leave your bank account drained in the meantime.

That does bring up one other thing; make sure to research your car hire company and don't just go for the cheapest rate, as there are a lot of slimy car hire places out there that will straight up rob people. It's better to pay a little more to hire a car from a reputable company than to go with the cheapest option and get hammered with unexpected fees or charges for nonexistent damages or something. (Make sure the company you are considering is reputable in Spain, as well; some well-known brands are actually licensed or resold by shady companies in some countries, so just because the brand has a good reputation in Ireland doesn't mean it's good in any country.)

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

JCX BXC

Fred Swanson wrote: »

The Brits are normally quite quick once all the paperwork is in order. You should have it in 2 to 3 weeks.

That's good, I've not had much experience of the British system, and my travelling companion has had none of the British system while in Ireland.

Main reason for the worry is that my Irish passport was 18 days late this year.

Dr. Nick

Has anyone used this company? They keep coming up as a good bit cheaper in searches than the others for Italian rentals.

Never heard of them and their rating isn't the best.....

abarkie

They might be cheaper until you get to the desk

Then they will inform you that you must take their insurance

They will charge you for a full tank

Wouldn't ever use them again

ollaetta

In a word, AVOID! Rip off merchants.

wonski

Rating and reviews are there for a reason.

No experience with them, but look for a more reputable company if not sure.

ted1

Avoid, cheaper place she tend to hit you with loads of hidden charges and high excess so that they force you to take over priced insurance

Lia_lia

Can anyone recommend a good company to rent a car from Pisa Airport? Enterprise seem to be fairly cheap...but I do worry that they are cheap!

Lima Golf

I used firefly in Glasgow airport recently. I found them far cheaper compared to other companies there. They do have a 200km per day limited mileage policy but wasn't a problem for me as we were staying fairly local. They upgraded me to a much nicer car than I I originally booked. I rent a lot at that airport and will certainly be using firefly in future. Very quick pick up and drop off and no hard sell on the extras.

from_atozinc

Hi

Heading to Portugal in June. Flying in to Faro Airport and staying a 30 minute drive from airport.

It will be me, the wife and kids - both under 4.

Looking for a small estate type car with 2 car seats for the children.

Can anyone recommend a company for this purpose which don't cost me a fortune ?

shrek008

from_atozinc wrote: »

Hi

Heading to Portugal in June. Flying in to Faro Airport and staying a 30 minute drive from airport.

It will be me, the wife and kids - both under 4.

Looking for a small estate type car with 2 car seats for the children.

Can anyone recommend a company for this purpose which don't cost me a fortune ?

Give Ann Hamill in Mullingar a call, i find them very good. Hamill's car hire.

jaymzc30

Hi does anyone know if it is possible to hire a car here and travel to uk on holiday. Or is it cheaper to fly and hire car in uk..

Quazzie

jaymzc30 wrote: »

Hi does anyone know if it is possible to hire a car here and travel to uk on holiday. Or is it cheaper to fly and hire car in uk..

Taking into account the cost of the ferry, it might work out better to do the latter, but this is dependent on when you're travelling, time of year, etc