We've taken the plunge and taken advantage of some £0.52 air tickets in February...(yes, silly isn't it? Total cost for each of us with tax & everything is £21 return. It would cost more to take a train to any UK destination...)
But I digress. Has anyone any experience of car hire companies? Which ones do you recommend? What things should I be looking out for - insurance/penalty clauses etc.?
Any help much appreciated. Apologies if I've missed previous threads on this topic.
Splodgeface
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Where are you going? If to the western Riviera (French border to Genoa) don't bother. Apart from the hectic coastal strip, the roads are very tortuous and difficult and there are excellent bus, coach and train services.
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No, its Tuscany, right out in the sticks travelling from Bologna - Forli. Car required!
Splodgeface
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Had an excellent villa in San Donato in Poggio a few years back, between Florence (Firenze) and Siena. Flew to Pisa. Sadly, the hired Fiat Brava lacked the air conditioning as ordered and after a few days was firing on only 1½ cylinders. Not rectified (replacement car) until a couple of days before we left, despite faxes to the tour operator. To their credit they refunded the full car hire cost after our return.
Tips:
Roads were good, not crowded, and traffic unexpectedly disciplined! (On a former visit to Sorrento I had vowed I would only ever drive in Italy when the death wish took hold).
Florence and Siena are complete contrasts. Spend a lot of time in both, also San Gimignano and Volterra.
In Florence, locate the car park which overlooks the city from an elevated position, on the opposite side of the river to the Duomo. Has ample parking space if you arrive early, is free, and only 20 minutes walk to the city (which will be heaving by midday).
Visit the Uffizi gallery, but avoid the need to join the queue by faxing them in advance! Charge for this privilege was minimal.
Hope the latter tips are still valid.
Enjoy!
Oz (as was)
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Try HolidayAutos:
www.holidayautos.co.uk
You can insure against the excess (i.e. take out Super CDW) for the year (any number of hires) for only £49 with:
www.insurance4carhire.com
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Don't HolidayAutos have a 'no excess' deal, where if you have to pay an excess to the local rental company (then subject to some fairly standard terms and conditions) they will refund you back in the UK.
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Wherever in the world you hire it is always worthwhile always trying the major players in the market - Hertz, Avis etc to see if you can get some special deals. You will have much less bother if you do have a problem or with local firms 'finding' scratches etc.
If you do visit the tourist hotspots leave nothing of value in your car. Also in car, or walking, be careful with handbags, cameras etc. Petty theft is still a major industry although it is now blamed on illegal immigrants. Scooters and handbag snatching is still rife.
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That is scooters used by thieves when snatching handbags!!
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>> Don't HolidayAutos have a 'no excess' deal, where if you haveto pay an excess to the local rental company (then subject to some fairly standard terms and conditions) they will refund you back in the UK.
They did last year. I think its gone this year (2004 rentals) unless someone knows better?
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If you drive in Florence, make sure you get a map with the one-way streets marked.
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Just a quick aside - where did you find the cheap air tickets?
Mattster
Boycott shoddy build and reliability.
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Still there, but now called Damage Excess Refund. Quote:
"Damage Excess Refund (DER)
When you arrive to pick up your vehicle, you will be required to leave a deposit to the value of any insurance excess, which may be charged by our car rental partner, if the car is damaged during the rental. If purchased at the time of booking, the holiday autos Damage Excess Refund product will cover you for damage excess that you may be charged. This damage excess can be reclaimed through holiday autos, subject to our terms and conditions, providing you complete an accident report form from our car rental partner and then forward a copy of this to holiday autos.
So, for example: If you have left your vehicle in a car park and someone scratches or bumps into the side, causing damage to the panel work, our local car rental partner will keep some or all of the deposit you left, in order to cover the cost of the damage. By contacting holiday autos upon your return, with proof of the damage, costs etc. we will be able to refund the charges made against you.
It is important to note that:
The Damage Excess Refund product does not apply to prestige cars.
It does not cover damage to wheels, tyres, windows, the roof, the underside, the interior of the car, towing charges or damage caused willfully or recklessly. You may therefore be liable for the cost of this damage.
Insurance cover is not provided for the contents of the car in the event of theft.
In the event that keys are lost or damaged you will be liable for reasonable costs for obtaining a replacement, and further costs if directly related to the theft of the car."
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Thanks PM, I'd missed that (booked a car with them recently and thought it had been deleted for this year).
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Thanks for the replies everyone. Looks like holidayautos is worth a try. Certainly seem to be competitive.
The tickets are from Ryan air - literally 52p per person per flight. (Try their online booking for examples.) All the rest is made up with various taxes. If that's all Ryan air get for the flight, how do they make money!? I gather they charge more the closer to the flight you book. But it is telling that you can fly round Europe cheaper than you can use our rail network...
As you can tell, I'm not a regular air passenger: rather too fond of cars!
Splodgeface
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All the rest is made up with various taxes. If that's all Ryan air get for the flight, how do they make money!?
The charges include some of their overhead costs, but they try and shift the 'blame' on others. On a flight from Stanstead, they show £13.35 as 'Taxes and Fees'. That breaks down to £6.40 Passenger Service Charge, 1.95 Insurance Levy, and £5 Air Passnger Duty. Only the APD is a tax, all the others are just overhead costs to Ryanair.
To bring it back to cars, it would be a bit like a petrol station advertising petrol a 2p a litre, but when you came to pay adding on 50p for Excise Duty, 10p for VAT, 5P for oil drilling charge, 5p for refinery charge.........
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I tend to agree with Cardew on this one. I'd prefer to rent from the likes of Avis/Europcar/Hertz as it's easier to sort out any problems when you get back.
Ryanair has a fly-drive deal with Hertz (there's a link on the
Ryanair website). It's worth checking out the rate.
Yes, Ryanair doesn't make any money on fares like this. It makes money by having a very low cost structure and utilising clever "yield management" where the price charged for some flights subsidises others. Try booking a return flight to Stansted-Forli this coming weekend (out Jan 16 ; back Jan 18) and the Ryanair website quotes a return fare of £181.
Also, Ryanair isn't the only one trying to "shift the blame on others" by adding taxes and fees to the basic seat price.
Practically every other airline in Europe does this as well.
Alex
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