Cheap car hire article discussion

EveryWhere

jago25_98 wrote: »

Related:

Please all be aware the the International Driving License Permit now has to be made in person at a Post Office so you may need to fly back to the UK to renew. It also now only lasts a year and not 2.

This beaurocratic change doesn't hit me too hard personally but it makes me angry as I feel for the people it will impact.

Your post makes no sense at all. IDP has had a 12 month validity for as long as I've be applying for them. That's at least three years.

fifeken

jago25_98 wrote: »

Please all be aware the the International Driving License Permit now has to be made in person at a Post Office so you may need to fly back to the UK to renew. It also now only lasts a year and not 2.

This beaurocratic change doesn't hit me too hard personally but it makes me angry as I feel for the people it will impact.

Been like that since 1st February this year.

If you're abroad that long that returning to the UK is an issue you should probably be getting a local license for wherever you are.

Post Office website still indicates validity can be up to 3 years but is dependant on the type required for your destination. See FAQs here:
https://www.postoffice.co.uk/international-driving-permit

brendanm

Hi there
We will be flying into Munich and touring around for the first week of July and need to hire a car to seat 2 adults, 2 teenagers, and luggage comfortably.
Can someone please recommend a decent, trustworthy car hire firm for pickup and return at Munich Airport.
Cheers

Adelandgemma

I'm flying with my mum from Tenerife to Manchester for a wedding in June but during the week have a lot of visiting to do so a hire car should be easier.

My mum now drives on a Spanish license so isnt comfortable driving on UK roads so wants me to drive but I dont have a credit card. We cant find any companies that will allow me as main driver with the payment in my mums name even though we will be together.

Next problem, they're all wanting about £10 a day for me as an additional driver bumping the price up quite a bit by the end of the week. I have found one company 'Dollar' who offer one free additional driver at the price of £200 for the week with a £750 credit card deposit.

So 2 questions, firstly does anyone have any experience of Dollar in the UK? Reviews seem pretty good but I've never heard of them. Secondly are there any tips for bringing the car hire pricing down at all? Thanks in advance!

edwhow

In December I went on a UK comparison site and got a price for car rental for Cape Town. I would have had to pay up front. The car was from Bidvest, so I went on their ZA site and got a quotation, booking, pay at the end of the hire, half the price. You can even get a big discount if over a certain age. No hassles with pickup or return.

Now I want to know, how on earth do you get £3/day in Europe (Money Tips, 21/05/19), I've never seen anything like that?

timmh

It's been a few years since I hired a car but everywhere I'm looking they all seem to want a €1200 credit card deposit which seems ludicrous to me. The article refers to a deposit if we decide to take a separate "excess" policy but from what I'm looking at it seems they all want one. Even if they don't take it, it seriously challenging my credit limit leaving me little emergency money on the credit card if I need it.

EveryWhere

timmh wrote: »

It's been a few years since I hired a car but everywhere I'm looking they all seem to want a €1200 credit card deposit which seems ludicrous to me. The article refers to a deposit if we decide to take a separate "excess" policy but from what I'm looking at it seems they all want one. Even if they don't take it, it seriously challenging my credit limit leaving me little emergency money on the credit card if I need it.

What is it that you would like to discuss?

timmh

The deposit. I only have £1400 credit on my credit card and they want to charge €1200 which I assume wipes almost all of my credit out. I realise it's refundable but it seems quite excessive. If I look at larger companies ie Hertz they want more money but less deposit.
Am I right in that the deposit wipes out my available credit? Is this usual? The article seems to suggest the high deposit is only if you choose your own insurance.

EveryWhere

timmh wrote: »

The deposit. I only have £1400 credit on my credit card and they want to charge €1200 which I assume wipes almost all of my credit out. I realise it's refundable but it seems quite excessive. If I look at larger companies ie Hertz they want more money but less deposit.
Am I right in that the deposit wipes out my available credit? Is this usual? The article seems to suggest the high deposit is only if you choose your own insurance.

Most don't actually remove the money, they just have an authorisation to take it. Blocking the amount instead of actually taking it. Some hold a lesser amount and some not at all.

If you want a less generic reply, perhaps you should actually reveal the actual locations involved.

pffrizelle

This article is very helpful, however, none of the car hire excess insurance sites seemed to cater to expatriates returning for a visit to the UK.
My family and I live abroad and are therefore not UK-resident, and have just arrived back for a two month visit. I want to hire a car here and still have my valid UK licence, but can't seem to find this kind of insurance to help me.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.