Upgrading "free" car hire - do it in advance or locally?

Kess

We've booked a holiday package in Turkey (with Thomson) that includes "free" car hire from Europcar. We're thinking of upgrading as there are 4 of us.

Is it generally cheapest to pay the package holiday company in advance to upgrade the car or wait and do it locally on arrival?

cubegame

A small gratuity to the desk operative is usually quite effective. ;-)

benjus

I usually end up getting upgraded anyway, as they tend to run out of small cars. Although I suppose there's some risk that they may not have the size of car you want if you don't do it in advance.

steveo3002

is the free car really free?

ive heard of many all inc deals to florida etc with free car you just pay the insurance which ends up being ££££ so its not free at all

have a look on carhire3000 etc how much it is to rent what you want , some companys allow you to reserve the car and pay upon collection so if the freebie turns out ugly you nip off and get the other reserved one

Kess

Well the cost of the "free" car is obviously included in the package price. The car hire can be cancelled - but you don't get any money back.

steveo3002

you sure theres no insurance to pay upon arrival?

Kess

I believe it does include third-party insurance and CDW, but apparently you can take out optional extra insurance (cost unknown) on arrival to waive the CDW excess.