Cheap car hire article discussion

gpu2

If using this trick you should be aware that you will probably making a contract under the laws of another country.

lizzieliz87

Hi
I am just back from a week in Spain and thought it would be good idea to give some positive feedback on car hire rather than the negatives.
After scrolling through the internet and MSE I opted for 6 day car hire with SIXT. With the package I got a 2nd driver for free, unlimited mileage and on full to full policy. I purchased my own excess insurance. Arrived at Madrid airport and headed to SIXT, I declined their insurance which they only gently tried to sell me. On returning the car, a SIXT employee checked the car and we signed it all off with no problems. It was hassle free and would use SIXT again.

AlexDao

hi everyone
i'm planning to rent a car for just 1 day (24hours) in belfast, picking up at belfast int airport.

i'm under 25 which means that i am required to pay a young drivers surcharge.

Looking around i've found a couple places which have indicated on their websites (Nova car hire and atlas choice car hire) that the young person surcharge is £10 extra per day which is not a problem.

however i believe these companies actually hire out cars from other rental companies (budget, sixt etc) and the one i've looked at on atlas says rented by budget.

Now the issue is, if i rented a car directly from budget the young driver surcharge is actually £39.

any advice on what to do?

thanks

bargain-lil

Has anyone booked a car hire from the link provided on an Easyject flight confirmation email?
I booked some flights for my husband and easyjet sent through a confirmation email.
Upon receipt of this email, I needed to book my husband a hire car, so subsequently clicked on the link you provided within this mail.

It took me to the car hire section of the Easy jet web site. I entered the dates, times and type of car requirements and was offered various vehicles. I chose an Astra, and it gave me a price of $113.45, with the options of car seats, sat nav, insurance for the excess payable etc. I declined these as we either have no requirement or in the case of the excess insurance, we have a separate policy which would cover our requirements. I made the booking and we received a confirmation. My husband arrived at Manchester airport in the early hours of this morning, and after waiting for over 30 minutes for the courtesy bus and then trying to ring the car hire company with no reply, he had no option but to take a taxi to the car hire distribution centre.
The lady in the Europcar office advised him she was unable to allow him to take the car as he had no insurance on his booking, his only option was to take out the extra insurance with Europcar at a cost of £239.65 for the duration of the car hire - one week. He had no option, due to needing a vehicle and it being after 1am in the morning, than to pay the extra insurance and take the car to get to where he was staying. She said she'd had this problem several times with bookings being made via US sites and them not including insurance! plus she'd had parties who'd booked 8 seater cars and none being available in the uk.

This has obviously made this a very very expensive car hire and one which I feel that we have been seriously misled into by EasyJet linking us to this car hire that is USA based and not relevant to the UK market for car hire. If this link isn't removed immediately there are going to be many many annoyed customers with far reaching consequences for all concerned.

I am unable to speak to Europcar as their customer services are only inconveniently open 9-5 Monday to Friday.
However, who is at fault here, and where can I look for the insurance amount to be refunded?

irishhomer

Hi i am UK citizen and looking to book car hire in Italy over summer. If i go book as USA resident on USA main site the price is a lot cheaper, i want to know can i do this and put UK down as billing address when booking. Are all insurances same as booking with UK site they all look the same. Thanks

swallrich

I have just booked 2 hire cars via Drivalia Alicante. The terms quote CDW - with excess. Will i be charged up front for that excess or only if i have a collision? Do i stil need to take out stand alone insurance.
First time for me so a novice.

ruddy1

has any one noticed excess charges have crept up from 500plus euros,
to 1000 euros plus lately ,is this a con to make you pay for their
extra insurance charges while hireing your holiday car rental

Hern

The bandwagon so many car hire companies are on is the same one that unscrupulous electricals retailers jumped on years ago, when the profits to be made out of selling "warranties" were almost as high, if not higher, than the profits to be made out of the goods themselves.

Along with fuel filling policies as near to criminal extortion as the law allows (and is very likely criminal anyway in the case of some overseas rental "companies") money is positively pouring in to car hire firms which will shred you with their clause(s) as soon as look at you.

You're consumers to be consumed. Idiots to be ripped off. People to be targeted with the cheapest bottom-dollar or bottom-Euro prices that then turn out not to be total costs at all but merely the start of a world of financial pain.

Even once-respected majors in the industry appear to be screwing over their customers, if the Telegraph is to be believed:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/money-saving-tips/11512167/Holiday-hire-car-Avis-still-refuses-to-spell-out-extra-insurance-costs-when-customers-book-online.html

The solution? wherever possible, do NOT go online and book with an overseas supplier because you will have no recourse to UK law in the event of abuse. Book, instead, with a UK-based broker:

http://www.which.co.uk/home-and-garden/leisure/reviews-ns/car-hire-comparison/car-hire-broker-comparison/

It will cost the princely sum of £1 to read the review. If anyone on here thinks £1 is too much to stump up, then they're the ideal victim that the car hire rip-off boys are looking out for. As to excess protection, go here:

http://www.direct-carexcess.co.uk/

I have no connection with the Which? Best Broker nor Direct Car Excess Insurance other than being a satisfied customer of both.

FirstTimer4Me

It's all very confusing

Pick up / drop off: Barcelona Airport

Duration: 10 days

Is it possible to pre-book an "all inclusive package" i.e. windscreen damage / tyre damage / no refuel charges, etc., etc., if so, can anyone recommend a company?

Rather not be "pressurised" into taking out additional costs when picking up a car.

Marcathy43

Thanks for the article. Probably the likes of carrentalsmarket should also be in the list of sites to do comparison. Their prices are quite ok