Car Hire in Spain, What extras are reccommended and what aren`t?

Randy

Hi,

Car Hire in Spain, What extras are reccommended and what aren`t?

I`ve had a quote via Holiday Autos and Atlas choice.. both ask for £30 excess waiver insurance.. Yet it states that excess waiver insurance is included in the price.

Is it advisable or are they trying to fleece extra ££££`s

spacemanc

Its a very common "scam" with car hire brokers in Spain and their agents. What is more common is that their providers surprise you with the extra cost when you arrive for the car - and the cost is often more like 70 euros. Its supposedly optional, but if you don't take it out - you wont get your car, and they know you have no choice. As you say its supposedly already covered - but its all in the detail The standard cover is against accidents, but does not cover you for windscreens, tyres and underside of car. The additional charge is to cover the 400 euro excess for these things.

The other thing to look out for is the Full/Empty fuel policy, which the majority of companies use. This means you are charged for a full tank of over priced full on pick up, and you are expected to return the car empty. You often cant avoid this, but its worth bearing in mind that you will be charged a full tank on pick up.

The only way to avoid such things is use one of the major name companies such as europcar or sixt - but obviously you will pay much more. I'm using this company next month in Spain : https://www.cardiddy.com . After booking with them, I read about the various scams in Spain and contacted them. The owner of the company called me personally and said they only use providers which do not scam with additional charges on pick up meaning they don't use Goldcar or Record etc. Obviously there is the fuel charge though

busiscoming2

We buy an excess insurance annually which costs about £30. When we book a car we decline the excess waiver option. Usually when we collect the car we are asked to buy it, but we just tell them we have our own. We have never had any problems.