For reasons I can't quite understand the friends who have booked our joint holiday villa in France have booked us to fly into Barcelona so we'll have a Spanish hire car for the 2 weeks in France.
Anyone know for sure if there's any problems with that? If so, what are the solutions?
As always thanks for advice
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Haven't had any experience of hiring in Spain but have hired cars in Belgium and Holland and driven them in Germany, Italy, Austria and France with no problems. However, check car before accepting to ensure that it has ALL the necessary bits and pieces, i.e. first aid kit, spare bulbs, warning triangle, high visibility jacket, fire extinguisher etc. if required in France. Had problem with these on several hires, as hire companies regard these as items likely to go missing and won't supply them, although required by law, unless you dig your heels in. Penalties for not having these bits can be very steep. Note - requirements vary from country to country.
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From memory you should be ok if the car is hired in Spain, as they have all the requirements for France (does not work the other way round tho!)
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I think you should check with the hire company. For example if you hire an "Easy Car" in France you cannot take it into Italy without paying extra, I don't know if this is specific to Easy Car.
JaB
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Easy car is possibly the most expensive way of hiring a car in the world.
Check out
www.theaa.com/allaboutcars/overseas/compulsory_equ...l
for compulsory items, though iirc in spain you also need a hi-vis vest in the back. (I love note 9 - although you don't need a second triangle in Spain, you may still be fined if you don't have one...)
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Easy car is possibly the most expensive way of hiring a car in the world.
;) which is why I always take my own car or use public transport.
however they do not allow cars hired in one country to be used in another.
JaB
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>however they do not allow cars hired in one country to be used in another.
I've not driven one between France and Spain but I have done between Germany/Austria, US/Mexico and Spain/Portugal in cars rented in one but used in the other.
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>however they do not allow cars hired in one country to be used in another. I've not driven one between France and Spain but I have done between Germany/Austria, US/Mexico and Spain/Portugal in cars rented in one but used in the other.
Looking at their website, it would appear they don't operate in Italy so maybe thats why the restriction was in place.
JaB
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ooh, sorry, I misunderstood your note. I thought you were talking of rental companies generally; I've only just realised that you were talking specifically of Easycar.
I'll get my coat.
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Thanks for replies. I've used Novarentacar the last couple of hols, but the last time more in haste than having carefully shopped around. Any thoughts on who is best value from Barcelona Airport?. Not after anything special, just not a Kangoo. Please God, not a Kangoo....
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Last couple of times I hired on the Continent I used uk-carhire-company.co.uk. Very competitive rates and no hidden extras. They use Alamo at Barcelona Airport and have no probs. with cross border travel.Their website is easy to use and you can compare car sizes and prices easily.
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>>not a Kangoo
Maybe a Fiat Marea Weekend (I bet the French have to call it something different, and it's always put in my mind the barber's question 'something for... sir?')
What about a Megane
Or what's that Fiat that looks like a Kangoo, but uglier?
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>>looks like a Kangoo, but uglier<<
Surely no so such vehicle exists - except perhaps in Chris Bangle's wilder day-dreams.
Best price so far £288 for 2 weeks with a Megane size car.
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Bit bigger than a Megane, sit-up-and-beg style; with funny headlights just under the wing mirrors.
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Bit bigger than a Megane, sit-up-and-beg style; with funny headlights just under the wing mirrors.
ah, the gorgeous multipla, now sabotaged by the lets-all-get-boring brigade of bean counters :(
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I thought the whole point of the Multipla was its 3x3 seating layout, people who could see beyond the at best "unique styling" tended to be very pleased with the car.
However, if Fiat retain the practicality of the car and make it more attractive to the general public, that just appears to be common sense.
No point in the car being 'gorgeous' if it doesn't sell well (which was the whole reason for the re-style).
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"Easy car is possibly the most expensive way of hiring a car in the world."
Could you qualify that statement Cartographer?
I've had serious problems with another well known hire company,
scam is to wait until someone hires a car on company insurance then offer a free upgrade.
Of course, you accept and find out it's covered in dents and scratches - if you don't report them, they then claim off your insurance.
They tried this on 3 separate occasions, we now use National who I can recommend.
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Yup. A few years ago now, when I was no-wheeled, hired one of their tiny boxes to go to a wedding in darkest Norfolk.
Seduced by the siren call of £9 per day for a Mercedes I booked up for 2 days at something like £lots per day.
The excess mileage nearly gave me a heart attack! I'd have been better off hiring it for the adjacent 5 days at £9 per day and getting the per-day rate than paying the whatever it was per mile.
And then that cursed A-class car which drove like a shoebox with a pram wheel at each corner.
By the time I'd finished, iirc they'd had about £100 out of me for the weekend. Could have had a Vectra for that sort of rate!
When it comes to checking for scratches on hire cars, I'm fairly paranoid - and rather good, too!
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To be fair, if you want a car for doing 5 miles around London one afternoon at £9 per day, then they're a bargain.
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If you want to do 5 miles around London in an afternoon, walk (or use public transport).
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Your Spain/France trip should be fine, but you should always check the small print of the rental company. Hiring in France and driving in Spain is OK (family have done so many times).
I've hired cars from Nice Airport several times (not far from Italian border). Once when we had an upgrade to a 'premium' car we were told we couldn't take it to Italy. The standard cars can go, but I think the insurance coverage/excesses are different.
I have found Europcar booked direct online to be the most competitive (cheaper than Holiday Autos).
Another few tips:
Send the drivers straight to the rental desk when you land, and leave the non-drivers to wait for the bags. At peak times the car rental queues can be horrendous.
The credit card that paid for the booking must be presented when you pick up the car, and in many cases the card holder must be the main driver.
UK credit cards seem to work fine in the French toll booths (no pin needed) and the queues are much shorter in the credit-card-only lanes than the cash ones.
Watch out for the scam where another motorist seems to point out there's something wrong with your car. If you get out of the car, take the keys and any handbags with you. There is often an accomplice waiting...(lots of tales like this on Telegraph travel section)
Have a good holiday!
Rebecca
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