Car Hire Options in Spain

snowcat75

srisport wrote: »

Thank you for your response,

looking at our flight time options, looks like we will arrive in Spain late evening anyway (between 8pm-11pm)
Do these shuttle buses run 24hrs a day, but you say that they are rare to come across?

I thought it would be, can you recommend any good websites to check for this excess cover or will a simple google search suffice?

I already plan to take plenty of pictures of the car when we first get handed the keys - hopefully their forecourts are well lit!

Shuttles are unlikely to run 24 seven but neither do the desks, So I would always check before hireing. They will get you there but often the stands can be hard to find if your not used to the airport and are not likely to be as frequent as advertised.

I do the journey through Valencia and Barcelona a fair bit to our villa and I ALWAYS will pick a hire place that's on site because off site can be a real PITA especially at night with two small children.

Car Excess.Com are pretty good Irish based and have always paid fine if iv had a claim.

Id also do drop off fuel full, There charge you OTT on the tank and chances are your be giving them half a tank if you chose to pre pay.

srisport

snowcat75 wrote: »

Shuttles are unlikely to run 24 seven but neither do the desks, So I would always check before hireing. They will get you there but often the stands can be hard to find if your not used to the airport and are not likely to be as frequent as advertised.

I do the journey through Valencia and Barcelona a fair bit to our villa and I ALWAYS will pick a hire place that's on site because off site can be a real PITA especially at night with two small children.

Car Excess.Com are pretty good Irish based and have always paid fine if iv had a claim.

Id also do drop off fuel full, There charge you OTT on the tank and chances are your be giving them half a tank if you chose to pre pay.

After a bit more research, I've read some pretty awful reviews about hire firms such as gold car and firms offsite! they are known for scamming innocent travellers so being rather new to the car rental game myself, i may just take the hit with the common companies which may treat me fairly but of course at a price!

Have you come across "Record Go car rentals"? they seem to be based in airports but I'm yet to come across any reviews about them but their prices seem to be pretty competitive

Regards.

mgdavid

Go with somebody on-airport and reputable. Like another poster I've used Enterprise / Europcar (same outfit - strategic alliance apparently) and found them efficient and fairly priced.
Go full to full on fuel, then you only put back in what you have used, what could be simpler?
If this is a one-off then shell out for the full damage cover, it's not worth the hassle if you end up with a scratch.
If you will be hiring again in future then consider an annual excess cover policy; I use Insurance4carhire, seem OK but haven't had to claim fortunately!

snowcat75

mgdavid wrote: »

Go with somebody on-airport and reputable. Like another poster I've used Enterprise / Europcar (same outfit - strategic alliance apparently) and found them efficient and fairly priced.
Go full to full on fuel, then you only put back in what you have used, what could be simpler?
If this is a one-off then shell out for the full damage cover, it's not worth the hassle if you end up with a scratch.
If you will be hiring again in future then consider an annual excess cover policy; I use Insurance4carhire, seem OK but haven't had to claim fortunately!

I would agree with that, and will also make drop off much quicker.

snowcat75

srisport wrote: »

After a bit more research, I've read some pretty awful reviews about hire firms such as gold car and firms offsite! they are known for scamming innocent travellers so being rather new to the car rental game myself, i may just take the hit with the common companies which may treat me fairly but of course at a price!

Have you come across "Record Go car rentals"? they seem to be based in airports but I'm yet to come across any reviews about them but their prices seem to be pretty competitive

Regards.

No never heard of them they might be fine, however I would tend especially as you don't hire a lot to go with one of the multinationals if there a small Spanish based company and there holding a charge on your credit card it can (not always) be a real pain to sort out once in the UK...

If its your first hire Id be less worried about price and more on service, once your confident and an old hand your know the pitfalls and be much more aware of some of the tricks the budget company's do.

nickcc

srisport wrote: »

how much are they likely to charge me for prepaid? I only ask because i am unsure whether we will actually use a full tank of fuel

If you go full full then you pay nothing, except the price of the fuel, as you're replacing the fuel that you've used.

NiftyDigits

nickcc wrote: »

If you go full full then you pay nothing, except the price of the fuel, as you're replacing the fuel that you've used.

As an example, Goldcar can charge 100€ for a tank of fuel for that car.. I doubt if you could get more than 50€ in to the tank. Then when you try to get a refund on unused fuel, you find out that there is a 35€ admin charge.

Booking direct with Hertz is coming around £140 for an Opel Corsa.
£20 per day is reasonable. If you think that you will get away with paying a tenner, you may come unstuck.
You might find with RecordGo and the like, that they too may require you to buy a tank of petrol.
No such issue if you book direct with Hertz. look for discount codes.

https://www.bettersafe.com/Products/Car-Hire-Excess-Insurance-Protection
£16 or so for the week.

If there will be other car hire, consider an annual policy. Don't neglect Quidco.

srisport

As an example, Goldcar can charge 100€ for a tank of fuel for that car.. I doubt if you could get more than 50€ in to the tank. Then when you try to get a refund on unused fuel, you find out that there is a 35€ admin charge.

Booking direct with Hertz is coming around £140 for an Opel Corsa.
£20 per day is reasonable. If you think that you will get away with paying a tenner, you may come unstuck.
You might find with RecordGo and the like, that they too may require you to buy a tank of petrol.
No such issue if you book direct with Hertz. look for discount codes.

https://www.bettersafe.com/Products/Car-Hire-Excess-Insurance-Protection
£16 or so for the week.

If there will be other car hire, consider an annual policy. Don't neglect Quidco.

You pretty much sum up everything that i have found since starting this thread, thank you for you input - much appreciated

If you go full full then you pay nothing, except the price of the fuel, as you're replacing the fuel that you've used.

Thanks for your help, I've decided that in the long run - going for a full-full will be hassle free

No never heard of them they might be fine, however I would tend especially as you don't hire a lot to go with one of the multinationals if there a small Spanish based company and there holding a charge on your credit card it can (not always) be a real pain to sort out once in the UK...

If its your first hire Id be less worried about price and more on service, once your confident and an old hand your know the pitfalls and be much more aware of some of the tricks the budget company's do.

I think your advise is sensible and on this occasion will follow it until i feel comfortable taking a risk with cheaper options.


Do the likes of Hertz still put a hefty charge for damage excess on my credit card?

Are they as high as these cheaper hire companies? (€950.00 - €1200 euros)

Moto2

Have you looked at (reviews etc.) of Costa Blanca Transfers yet?

or am I merely talking to myself?

NiftyDigits

srisport wrote: »

You pretty much sum up everything that i have found since starting this thread, thank you for you input - much appreciated



Thanks for your help, I've decided that in the long run - going for a full-full will be hassle free



I think your advise is sensible and on this occasion will follow it until i feel comfortable taking a risk with cheaper options.


Do the likes of Hertz still put a hefty charge for damage excess on my credit card?

Are they as high as these cheaper hire companies? (€950.00 - €1200 euros)

Yes. It's normal. But they don't actually take anything other than an authorisation.