Cheap car hire article discussion

claire.cmd

Beware Atlas choice/erentals car hire!
Well I would say you get what you pay for!
I had one car hire with enterprise car hire via Atlas choice which was fine then 3 weeks later after my vacation I had another with Alamo via atlas but when i tuned up at the airport i apparently failed an address check even though I have no adverse credit ad have owned my home for 6 years, I offered to have my bank fax a statement but they would not accept it and just told me to call atlas.

I called atlas choice and the Customer service advisor displayed a very rude unhelpful and uncompassionate attitude, no manager or supervisor there for me to speak to nor did the advisor take my details and offer the manager call me when he becomes available, they could not transfer the booking to enterprise (as they would hire me a car) nor would they cancel my car hire with Alamo, so there I was with a 1year old, 9 year old 3 cases and a car seat stranded at the airport!

Thus my car hire for 11 days has in total cost me...
£163.55 Paid to eRentals/atlas for original hire
£92.56 Paid to Enterprise to get myself and daughters home
£180.52 Paid to Enterprise for the remainder of the hire period
A total of £463.63 compared to the original quote of £163.55!!

I am still battling for a refund of the original payment but after almost a month and a few nice and not so nice emails it doesn't look very good!
So no I would NEVER use Alamo car hire which is also erentals car hire again!

dhbedson

ChrisWork wrote: »

Try www.bigcarhire.co.uk - just ran a search a quick search for Cyprus (Larnaca Airport) for a week in October and it came out as £69 for the cheapest option which is a full/full fuel policy.

Let me know how you get on as I had a good experience with them for UK hire and would be interested to know how things work with car hire in Europe as I'm looking at a holiday to Spain in November.

I am looking for Car Hire in November, 2nd to 9th from Larnaca Aiport in Cyrpus for a decent price. I am 24, never claimed (although that appears irrelevant)

Looked at bigcarhire but none of the T&Cs are 'working', so I can't view the 'airport fee' (which isn't included in the price) but more importantly can't see if there is a young driver fee!... which there most probably is.

Can't wait until I'm 25 and are not classed as 'young' :-/ I drive about 800 miles a week!

chrisstiles

A few tips from my recent experiences of having to hire a car in the UK:

- If you use quidco also check the price if you go directly via the car rental places own website. It appears that sometimes there are discounts that are available via national/eurocar etc that aren't actually reflected in the quidco price. So even with the cash back you spend more than had you not gone through quidco.

- If you go via a broker, check carefully to see how they define the various classes (for instance 'compact' sometimes means 5 doors and at other times 3).

- Prices vary both up and down - so it doesn't always pay to book well in advance, check the same period you want to book a few weeks out and see if you actually get a discount. Similarly sometimes prices go down just before the day (especially if you are booking during a weekday).

jata1963

can you hire a car without a credit card ??

Mxty

jata1963 wrote: »

can you hire a car without a credit card ??

Yeah, Indigo Car Hire do that, depends on the location though I think

HHenry34

Lux_money_saving_fan wrote: »

Hi all,
I just recently rented a car from sixt through the car rental comparison website. I collected the car from Dublin airport and was travelling to N. Ireland. Because I was going to the North I was charged an additional €34.05 "due to recovery charges in the event of a breakdown" This charge is not "visible" on the Sixt website and was added when I went to collect the car. No other rental company that I have used previously have this charge.

This looks like a cross border fee. Unfortunately it is standard practice in car rentals when you move from one country to another. Is it mentioned in the terms & conditions of rental?

goshalob

Very useful information is contained in this article. I will save it and keep close while preparing for my trips.

Bengt

Point 11, car classes...

Prestige: A sportier car (though don't expect a Lamborghini) with a big engine and everything a full size has. BMW Series 5 Gran Tourismo, Peugeot 206 Cabriolet

A Peugeot 206 Cabriolet a Prestige car in the same class as a BMW 5 GT?
I would complain a lot if I got the Peugeot...

Parisien

Mxty wrote: »

I just always use http://indigocarhire.co.uk/ there the cheapest and I trust them to get me the best price possible as well as being worldwide

Fraid not.....25% dearer than other sites!!!!

robertandrews1980

Hi

Anyone used Hire Cars in Spain.com need to hire a car in Malaga and do not have a credit card they say I can and their fuel policy is half full to empty which is far better than having to pay out loads of money on a full tank! It's through Malagacar and they are cheaper than them direct and say they will beat any price Malagacar come up with. Just never used them before so bit hesitant. Any views would be greatly appreciated