Jet2 Carhire

Wrath_of_Kain

I just booked flights and at the end noticed a special offer from Jet2 for some really cheap carhire. Think it was £40 for the week.


Obviously I thought this a bit cheap lol ... so thought best to check for reviews only to find a few saying:


1 - You will be forced to pay for inflated fuel up front i.e. 100 Euro for a full tank on pickup


2 - You will be heavily sold additional insurance where they paint a bleak picture if you do not take the additional cover. I think they reckon another 100 Euro


So it seems the original £40 quickly turns into c. £200 ..... is this common practise and avoidable ?


I want and started a quote on the AVIS site and got to £134 but has the "option" to use additional cover ..... so do they do the same?

Moto2

Where are you going?

There's usually a good local option

Wrath_of_Kain

Malaga Airport to Marbella

Wrath_of_Kain

Sent them this:


I have taken a car rental with your company subsequent to also purchasing flights from your sister company.
I have stumbled on some reviews of your car hire and the dodgy practises experienced on collection of the vehicle.
They cite:
On arrival you need to pay for fuel in advance which is over inflated.
You are pushed to take additional insurance and offset by a very high excess
Can you please advise if this is accurate.
Also please advise of the expected costing for the above so I can decide if this is an appropriate hire.

Wrath_of_Kain

They Responded:


Thank you for your email.

Please note that we cannot advise you the price for the fuel as the supplier will caluculate at the location.

Approximate price: the price of fuel is calculated depending on the model and price of fuel in the market on the day of pick up (taking as reference the price at the gas station closer to the airport). Taxes and service charges included in the price. In case of upgrade the fuel price will be the one of the model provided.


If you do not wish to purchase extra insurance, you can decline locally as it is optional. If you are unsure about the insurance location, you can contact us to our free phone number.

bagand96

Weigh up the pros and cons.

1 - This fuel method is usual for cheap car Hire in Spain. You pay for a full tank when you collect the car. You return it empty. Any unused fuel you lose. Obviously the hire car companies rate will be inflated, but not extortionate. This is how they make extra revenue when offering car hire for £40 a week. If you end up using a tank then it's not so bad, yes you've paid a slightly inflated rate, but you have used the fuel. If you only use a quarter of the tank then you're just subsidising the hire company.

2 - The included insurance will be basic and as you say have a large excess. However you can buy a decent Car Hire Excess insurance cheap in the UK before you travel. Then you've just got to be firm when they give you the hard sell. "No thanks I'm fully covered."

When you search on the Jet2 site it tells you who the hire is with. They sell both locally based companies such as Goldcar, Firefly etc who usually operate as above, as well as the international chains who often have a better fuel policy (full to full). Shop around, see if any of the big names have any offers and come near on the price.

Moto2

Malaga Car Hire

http://www.malagacarhire.com/

Good to deal with full/full fuel policy

Wrath_of_Kain

bagand96 wrote: »

Weigh up the pros and cons.

1 - This fuel method is usual for cheap car Hire in Spain. You pay for a full tank when you collect the car. You return it empty. Any unused fuel you lose. Obviously the hire car companies rate will be inflated, but not extortionate. This is how they make extra revenue when offering car hire for £40 a week. If you end up using a tank then it's not so bad, yes you've paid a slightly inflated rate, but you have used the fuel. If you only use a quarter of the tank then you're just subsidising the hire company.

2 - The included insurance will be basic and as you say have a large excess. However you can buy a decent Car Hire Excess insurance cheap in the UK before you travel. Then you've just got to be firm when they give you the hard sell. "No thanks I'm fully covered."

When you search on the Jet2 site it tells you who the hire is with. They sell both locally based companies such as Goldcar, Firefly etc who usually operate as above, as well as the international chains who often have a better fuel policy (full to full). Shop around, see if any of the big names have any offers and come near on the price.

Can you point me to the companies that offer this ? .... I think they will still force you to provide the excess up front on your credit card as security.


It all just seems to me a horribly false ploy by the likes J2 where they purport to offer cheap car hire on the front of it but by the end of it with loaded fuel and insurance you actually end up with the same price as a major dealer.

Wrath_of_Kain

Moto2 wrote: »

Malaga Car Hire

http://www.malagacarhire.com/

Good to deal with full/full fuel policy

isn't this the same scenario as the others regards the insurance ?

zagfles

Wrath_of_Kain wrote: »

Can you point me to the companies that offer this ?

I use insurance4carhire. Never had to claim but they seem to have a good reputation (when I last checked anyway).

.... I think they will still force you to provide the excess up front on your credit card as security.

Yes, they usually reserve the excess so make sure you have a much bigger credit limit than you'll use. Occasionally they'll charge and refund but this is rare.

It all just seems to me a horribly false ploy by the likes J2 where they purport to offer cheap car hire on the front of it but by the end of it with loaded fuel and insurance you actually end up with the same price as a major dealer.

Pretty common in everything these days. Cheap headline price for the main thing then make loads on the extras. Like restaurants offering cheap main courses but expensive desserts and drinks, or cheap printers where the cost of replacement ink cartridges is almost as much as the printer!

bagand96

Wrath_of_Kain wrote: »

Can you point me to the companies that offer this ? .... I think they will still force you to provide the excess up front on your credit card as security.


It all just seems to me a horribly false ploy by the likes J2 where they purport to offer cheap car hire on the front of it but by the end of it with loaded fuel and insurance you actually end up with the same price as a major dealer.

Auto Europe and rentalcars.com allow you to filter search results by Fuel Policy. I'm sure others do.

All car hire companies will want to reserve/preauthorise an amount on a credit card before letting you drive off. As zagfles says they very rarely actually charge it, just reserve it.