Recommend a decent Car Hire company at Alicante airport.

alex.mc

I've just about had it with Car Hire companies, they all seem to be crooks one way or another.
We are travelling to Alicante early next year and I'd like to know if anyone has some recommendations of honest car hire companies.

We only want to hire a small hatchback, we don't care what the colour is etc... or even if it has a scratch or dent or two.
Having last week been gouged yet again by a care hire company at the airport, I'd like to stand a chance of an honest exchange next time.

We want to hire a car with one driver, full insurance waiver or cover, get it with a full tank and return it that way, and pay upfront by debit card.
When the hire period is over we want to just hand the fully fuelled car and keys back to them, and walk away!

Last weeks hire was all set for this status, but on arrival demands for credit cards and deposits were made, despite my protestations of full cover. those word were used in the booking confrimation by the way. Also I was charged a small local tax, despite the confirmation email clearly stating they were included in the price. Faced with me saying I paid for everything upfront, the car company still wouldn't cover without a CC, and I had to pay another 50% on the initial price, to ensure it, and then got hit with the local tax.

It's all a lot of stress when you just want to get on your holiday and relax.

So..... any recommendations?

richardw

Avis, Budget, Hertz or Sixt.

Do a comparison at https://www.carrentals.co.uk read all the small print about excesses etc.

AlexMac

Don't know Alicante, as we always fly LCY to Malaga, where we use AVIS when we can get a cheap BA-inclusive price, or their sister company "Budget" (same desk/same cars/much cheaper). Never been ripped off in many years renting. There is an excellent post with general advice about car hire in Spain, by a regular Tripadvisor contributor called Ceejayblue; #1 at

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g187435-i317-k10395502-Tips_for_Car_Hire-Costa_del_Sol_Province_of_Malaga_Andalucia.html#83951907

But whoever you choose as a local operator, search online for reviews first; the worst fraudster Company gets many hundreds of thousands of complaints.

And if booking via an intermediary broker or travel company, ensure you know the local provider's name so you can check them out for reviews; and hopefully avoid the common problems; long queues at pick-up, intimidation to buy add-on insurance, fake damage later billed to your credit card, unexpected fuel charges, or full-empty fuel policy so you pay for unused juice.

But even with those caveats, you might struggle to find one who rents without a CC. Although the T&C's revealed by a thororugh research (as above) should reveal whether they actually take the deposit from your CC (so you may have to pay the CCbill before they refund it) or merely block it out

gardner1

You'll be hard pushed without a credit card

bobothebear

We got back from Alicante recently and I can recommend Goldcar who we used and I booked through Auto Europe for about £50 for a Ford Fiesta with returning a Full Tank.

At the airport you get a ticket like at a Deli counter and wait for your number to be called.
I got separate Car Excess Insurance for about £15. This meant the guy put a hold on my credit card for about £1000 and I think essentially there is no way to avoid this. I can confirm 100% nothing ever showed up on my Credit Card.

So then it came to the car. You get a warning to check against their damage report and my god you would be hard pushed to find a more beat up car. The plan just had crosses all over it and I really could not tell what was what according to the diagram so just took tons of photos and gave up checking or trying to report anything back to them.
On our return we just parked up the car and gave the keys to the desk in the car park. There was no checking by them and I guess the guy checking would have given up as well because the bodywork was so bad.

richardw

bobothebear wrote: »

....I can recommend Goldcar who we used.....

At the airport you get a ticket like at a Deli counter and wait for your number to be called....

you would be hard pushed to find a more beat up car.......

On our return we just parked up the car and gave the keys to the desk in the car park. There was no checking by them.....

Thanks for the reminder about Goldcar.

AlexMac

bobothebear wrote: »

We got back from Alicante recently and I can recommend Goldcar .....

WOW. The exception which proves the rule? Guess who the "the worst fraudster Company (which) gets many hundreds of thousands of complaints" (on Google), referred to in post#3, is! .

mobileron

i always use Easy options at alicante,car delivered with half a tank of gas return as same no charge.There are no hidden extras from what there website price is.

Gonzoid

the only place we have never needed a credit card is on a greek island, thats no use to you i know, but i think you will hard pushed to get a car without one anywhere else. If you can get a credit card, i recommend Green Motion, just hired with them in Croatia and they where excellent, and cheap, very cheap.

petemackie

Gonzoid wrote: »

the only place we have never needed a credit card is on a greek island, thats no use to you i know, but i think you will hard pushed to get a car without one anywhere else. If you can get a credit card, i recommend Green Motion, just hired with them in Croatia and they where excellent, and cheap, very cheap.

Err noooo! Don't use Green Motion - they are only super cheap because they generate their profit by finding 'new damage' on the return. Then they hyperinflate the repair cost and try to get you to settle up front for a lower cost. You'll likely find any insurance you have won't cover their costs because they are so hyper inflated.