Recommendations for car hire in Faro airport

abbas5001

Hi all,

I am looking to book care hire in September abroad for the first time collecting at Faro airport.

I have been a bit overwhelmed trying to do this as using comparison sites such as Kayak, Travel supermarket etc which then take you to an intermediary site, i presume the broker, but your booking is then with a different actual rental company.  Most of these intermediary sites have been giving companies such as OK rent a car and Masterkings good customer service ratings but when you check their google ratings and reviews people leave on tripadvisor they are usually really poor.  

Just wondering if someone can recommend a company at Faro airport with reasonable prices, good customer service and pick up at the actual airport rather than having to take a shuttle bus somewhere to collect as we will have our 1 year old with us and i don't think this would be suitable
Thanks

ratechaser

abbas5001 said:

Hi all,

I am looking to book care hire in September abroad for the first time collecting at Faro airport.

I have been a bit overwhelmed trying to do this as using comparison sites such as Kayak, Travel supermarket etc which then take you to an intermediary site, i presume the broker, but your booking is then with a different actual rental company.  Most of these intermediary sites have been giving companies such as OK rent a car and Masterkings good customer service ratings but when you check their google ratings and reviews people leave on tripadvisor they are usually really poor.  

Just wondering if someone can recommend a company at Faro airport with reasonable prices, good customer service and pick up at the actual airport rather than having to take a shuttle bus somewhere to collect as we will have our 1 year old with us and i don't think this would be suitable
Thanks

All the comparison sites I use (try holidayautos and Auto Europe as a starting point) will let you filter on the companies that are in the terminal itself. Must admit that a shuttle bus was not that big a deal for us back when we had toddlers, and it's generally cheaper, but I do tend to go for 'in terminal' convenience these days. 

I don't have a specific company recommendation for Faro, but my view after many many years of renting, generally at the cheap end, is that you can get good and bad experiences with any company - some have better reputations than others but as long as you are firm on not being sold extras, recognise that your credit card will be blocked for €1000+ as a retainer, have good excess cover booked beforehand, and take loads of pictures of the car before and after, it should all go ok. Don't get caught out with prepay on fuel either - full to full, or empty to empty is best (quarter to quarter crops up a bit as well now, good way of the company squeezing a few more euros of fuel from you!)

We've had some pretty old/high mileage/battered cars in the past through the budget hire companies, but no breakdowns to date!

daveyjp

Always had good service with zestcarrental.com.  Uk based broker.

The car I hired was hit whilst parked, but the no excess insurance meant no charges for me.

531063

Do not use Goldcar/Interrent bunch of robbing bar stewards, most of the hire companies are in the P4 car park at Faro about a 5 min walk from terminal. take many pics of fuel gauge & car before you leave & fuel gauge when you return it, They stung me for £50 saying I hadn't filled it stupid me did not have a pic of fuel gauge.

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/interrent.com

ratechaser

531063 said:

Do not use Goldcar/Interrent hbunch of robbing bar stewards, most of the hire companies are in the P4 car park at Faro about a 5 min walk from terminal. take many pics of fuel gauge & car before you leave & fuel gauge when you return it, They stung me for £50 saying I hadn't filled it stupid me did not have a pic of fuel gauge.

Yes, Goldcar tend to get poor reviews, although I've used them 3-4 times in different places without issues. As I said, lots of photos - honestly, you see these issues come up even with the 'big' name renters so my overall level of trust in this industry is very low!

43722

OK.
1) I have just looked on the aeroporto faro site, and there is a suggestion that some car hire stations are running at limited capacity/hours at the moment.
2) I have used Guerin (via Holiday Autos) more than once, and have had no problems. 
3) I have also used Zitauto (a local company), and again I have encountered no problems, and as far as i remember you can pay when you get there.

abbas5001

Thanks guys - really useful advice. I will make sure to book a stand-alone insurance/cover policy and take photos noting any damage.  

Lastly, what do you do for GPS? Pay for theirs, use your phone as a sat nav or hope the car has it built in?

43722

It's not really a big issue for me. I know the Algarve well, and i don't really use this feature. Can't really help you there, but have a good time.

ratechaser

abbas5001 said:

Thanks guys - really useful advice. I will make sure to book a stand-alone insurance/cover policy and take photos noting any damage.  

Lastly, what do you do for GPS? Pay for theirs, use your phone as a sat nav or hope the car has it built in?

Never bothered with satnav with rentals as it's an unnecessary expense and I have a navigator sat beside me (plus as a man, I'd clearly never ever get lost  ). Once it ended up being in the car anyway but normally you only get what you pay for.

But worth getting the auto toll monitor included - may be standard now but it was a few euros extra when I went - will make paying the tolls a lot easier if you are driving along the A22.

DavidRist

Be very weary of MasterKings. Video the car thoroughly before taking it. They might use distraction tactics such as leaving a childseat in the back that you haven't ordered and have to return, or call you back to give a forgotten signature. I fell for it and forgot to tape. There was a scuff when I returned. Definitely not caused by me. Max £50 to polish out but you lose your £300 deposit no discussion. My own fault for getting distracted. Be very very careful. I will now not think twice about Paying more for a reputable care hire.