renting a car at Faro airport Portugal, who to use?
Discussion
If you google something like 'cheap car rental', you can find an article on either moneysavingexpert or moneysupermarket (can't remember which). This article has links to some super cheap deals and reading it has dramatically cut the cost of my overseas car hire. I also took out an annual excess insurance policy for about £40, so that I don't get pressured to take out the hire firms own insurance.
This is the link I used to begin with.
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-car-...
Everything I book is done through something on there.
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-car-...
Everything I book is done through something on there.
A lot of the suppliers in Spain and Portugal won't include the tank of fuel in the rate that you see online or through brokers.. then when you arrive you're expected to stump up for a full tank plus some kind of service fee and bring it back empty. Which you can't because you won't use it.
Try and find out the true cost by comparing T&Cs. Usually you'll find the usual big suppliers are full to full with no nonsense. Some brokers let you filter by full to full only.
Try and find out the true cost by comparing T&Cs. Usually you'll find the usual big suppliers are full to full with no nonsense. Some brokers let you filter by full to full only.
Thanks for the feedback, has anyone used
www.economycarhire.com
they were mentioned on tripadvisor and seem to offer a reasonable price?
I appreciate they are a broker so not direct which always gives a slight fear that your car will not be there....
www.economycarhire.com
they were mentioned on tripadvisor and seem to offer a reasonable price?
I appreciate they are a broker so not direct which always gives a slight fear that your car will not be there....
I recently used http://www.algarvedriver.com/ in Faro
Recommended to me by a couple of people that have houses in the local area.
The price was very reasonable, the car was reasonable, the service was completely hassle free and I didn't ever feel like they were going to try and rip me off. I think they're a small/local company with a reputation for being fair.
It's a little off putting when you firs turn up as they operate out of a van. Just some guy chilling out listenign to the radio with all the hire cars parked next to the van. But, I guess europcar etc operate out of a huge posh trailer in the car park so not dissimilar - just different budgets!
The queues for the big players were huge when I got there and I was told that they operate a full tank policy and are also very keen eyed for damage on returns.
Recommended to me by a couple of people that have houses in the local area.
The price was very reasonable, the car was reasonable, the service was completely hassle free and I didn't ever feel like they were going to try and rip me off. I think they're a small/local company with a reputation for being fair.
It's a little off putting when you firs turn up as they operate out of a van. Just some guy chilling out listenign to the radio with all the hire cars parked next to the van. But, I guess europcar etc operate out of a huge posh trailer in the car park so not dissimilar - just different budgets!
The queues for the big players were huge when I got there and I was told that they operate a full tank policy and are also very keen eyed for damage on returns.
www.retalcars.com are very useful for comparing the bigger boys. Obviously they don't show local independent firms, but I've found them useful for work trips abroad.
philcray said:
Hi
This question has probably been asked plenty of times but wondered if anyone had any current recommendations? I have used Discovery a few times and they have been ok but seem a lot dearer this year and the car last time was a bit worse for wear.
Many thanks for feedback
Phil
Hi Phil, I live in Portugal. Where are you going / how far are you going to drive?This question has probably been asked plenty of times but wondered if anyone had any current recommendations? I have used Discovery a few times and they have been ok but seem a lot dearer this year and the car last time was a bit worse for wear.
Many thanks for feedback
Phil
Like said above, some are charging you for a full tank of fuel regardless of whether you use it or not. If you're going to rent a 70mpg car and then drive 20 miles to a resort, potter around town twice in it then go back to the airport you're going to throw away most of a tank so take that into account when you're comparing. If you are going to do day trips to Lisbon and Seville then you'll use the fuel anyway and don't need to bother about that aspect of it.
Luz Car (luzcar.com) are decent and recommended by quite a lot of people who live here. As are Zitauto (zitauto.com). You don't really hear any horror stories about either of those about over charging, problems with phantom damages etc.
We have home on the Algarve and now only use these people, haven't had one cause for concern over quality of cars or scams on insurance/fuel
http://www.drive4fun.info/
http://www.drive4fun.info/
Just check when you hire, particularly in peak periods, that the operator does actually have the cars to hire.
We found one operator (Sorry, can't remember the name - FaroCar??) used cars from other bigger companies. Problem is, when they were fully booked there were no cars to pass to our operator so we were without a car! We ended up getting a taxi and renting nearer the house, but something to think about.
Some American Express cards have the CDW with them as a benefit, we use that.
We found one operator (Sorry, can't remember the name - FaroCar??) used cars from other bigger companies. Problem is, when they were fully booked there were no cars to pass to our operator so we were without a car! We ended up getting a taxi and renting nearer the house, but something to think about.
Some American Express cards have the CDW with them as a benefit, we use that.
Simon Brooks said:
We have home on the Algarve and now only use these people, haven't had one cause for concern over quality of cars or scams on insurance/fuel
http://www.drive4fun.info/
Used drive4fun and travelrent, both booked via economy car hire loads of times. Cheap, full insurance, no Goldcar full fuel tank rip off policy, and usually half decent cars. Had one fault in probably 20 bookings, and that was a faulty keyfob - car replaced same day. http://www.drive4fun.info/
All the cheaper local firms have always operated out of airport car park 4, either from the back of a transit or from a small shed, but I believe there are plans to stop this and either force them to rent a car hire office in the proper airport hire area, or push them off-site altogether meaning courtesy buses etc. A shame.
I don't see any problem with that really, some are crying about it but it appears to be fair. These guys want to operate from a garden shed a kilometre away from the airport and have near zero costs... yet still hang around inside the airport grounds for handovers etc. Its completely unfair as its private property and they're using their cheap setup to undercut companies who're legitimately hiring airport premises.
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