Car hire - London

benjus

I'm not sure if this should be here or in the motoring section...

I want to hire a car for this weekend to get out of London - from Friday evening to Sunday evening. The problem is that most of the central London hire companies seem to be closed on one or both of those times. So I started looking at Heathrow, as I'll be heading to the west and it would be nice to avoid driving through London on a Friday evening.

Bingo - I found 1car1.com who will hire me a small car for the weekend (3 days) for £45. However, on close inspection the T&C state that airport locations are for the use of people flying into that airport only. It also asked me for a flight code (I just found one from the Heathrow schedule at approximately the right time and entered that).

So - if I book this, go to the arrivals area and try to pick up the car, am I likely to run into any problems, such as being asked for a boarding card? Can anyone suggest any alternatives in a similar price range?

Smiley82

Hey,

That's so weird....we always rent from 1car1, and always pickup at their Heathrow branch (which in case you didn't know, isn't actually at Heathrow, it's at Hatton Cross). Maybe it's to do with their Airport Pickup service that they say this? I see that you've already booked it, but for next time, I would just give the branch a call and say that you will pickup from the branch and is that okay?

As for this time, maybe you can do something similar, say you no longer need the pickup service at Heathrow Airport (change of flight maybe?), and will meet them at the Branch direct at Hatton Cross. Saves you time travelling to/from Heathrow, and they'll be happy because they don't need to pick you up.

Have a good weekend away

benjus

Thanks a lot - I haven't actually booked it yet, just saved it as a quote. I'll try calling them.

benjus

Thanks again for the advice - I called the office and they just told me to put in zero for the flight code... everything went very smoothly and the price was much better than anything else I could find. We went directly to the branch - as they're just across the road from Hatton Cross tube station it's very easy from central London. I'd definitely use them again.

Smiley82

Glad it worked out for you

I have always thought they were very good price and location wise as well. A very quick exit from London as well, and no messing about with Central London traffic!

dacouch

Benjus Renault are offering a free test drive of their cars at the moment, its run by avis who drop the car off on a friday and pick it back off you on sunday or monday. This is free so you can't beat that. If you want the link I'll post it up here

benjus

dacouch wrote: »

Benjus Renault are offering a free test drive of their cars at the moment, its run by avis who drop the car off on a friday and pick it back off you on sunday or monday. This is free so you can't beat that. If you want the link I'll post it up here

Sounds like a good option... I'd be interested in that link...

dacouch

Its free...you can't beat that. I don't think Renault mind you doing what you are doing as they hope you will buy a car off them. I found it courtesy of bitterwallet.com & hotukdeals.

Enjoy

http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/349152/free-weekend-car-rental-with-avis-t