Discussion
Watching this one eager to see if anyone finds a reasonable price.
I had an E-class booked in 2021 from Heathrow but my flights were cancelled. I booked new flights and ended up getting a normal car for the same price. At the time, I was disappointed. I just looked and for the same car I down graded to in 2021 it would cost 10 times as much.
I had an E-class booked in 2021 from Heathrow but my flights were cancelled. I booked new flights and ended up getting a normal car for the same price. At the time, I was disappointed. I just looked and for the same car I down graded to in 2021 it would cost 10 times as much.
PomBstard said:
Have just been through this - we land at LHR in a couple of weeks and need a car for 5 of us.
Rentalcars.com seem to have the best deals, unless you can collect/drop off away from LHR
We’ve got an Insignia for 3 weeks and it’s costing around GBP2400…
Rentalcars.com seem to have the best deals, unless you can collect/drop off away from LHR
We’ve got an Insignia for 3 weeks and it’s costing around GBP2400…
Pre-covid, getting a weeks car hire from local places would be £300. £2,400 would be a decent Shed territory,
PomBstard said:
Have just been through this - we land at LHR in a couple of weeks and need a car for 5 of us.
Rentalcars.com seem to have the best deals, unless you can collect/drop off away from LHR
We’ve got an Insignia for 3 weeks and it’s costing around GBP2400…
Jesus wept!Rentalcars.com seem to have the best deals, unless you can collect/drop off away from LHR
We’ve got an Insignia for 3 weeks and it’s costing around GBP2400…
Just had a quick look on the comparison site I use (arguscarhire) and the only way around it I can see is renting from somewhere other than Heathrow. I just used my local cities and found an Insignia for 3 weeks (random dates chosen 4-25th July) for £1000 from Portsmouth. Even if you factored in a very comfortable chauffeur trip to and from portsmouth in a V class you’d still save at least a grand but I acknowledge traipsing around the south of England after a long journey might not be desirable. Probably worth experimenting with any cities you’re planning on visiting though to see if they’re similar.
vikingaero said:
PomBstard said:
Have just been through this - we land at LHR in a couple of weeks and need a car for 5 of us.
Rentalcars.com seem to have the best deals, unless you can collect/drop off away from LHR
We’ve got an Insignia for 3 weeks and it’s costing around GBP2400…
Rentalcars.com seem to have the best deals, unless you can collect/drop off away from LHR
We’ve got an Insignia for 3 weeks and it’s costing around GBP2400…
Pre-covid, getting a weeks car hire from local places would be £300. £2,400 would be a decent Shed territory,
Even over here it cost us AU$2200 (c GBP1400) for 10 days hire back in April in FNQ. That was for a 7-seater. Similar sized car at LHR was going to be about GBP4k for three weeks hire - hence the Insignia…
PomBstard said:
Have just been through this - we land at LHR in a couple of weeks and need a car for 5 of us.
Rentalcars.com seem to have the best deals, unless you can collect/drop off away from LHR
We’ve got an Insignia for 3 weeks and it’s costing around GBP2400…
Yup - auto Focus from Glasgow for 3 weeks over Xmas and NY is £2,500.Rentalcars.com seem to have the best deals, unless you can collect/drop off away from LHR
We’ve got an Insignia for 3 weeks and it’s costing around GBP2400…
Or, if I booked using the Australian site it was $8k!!
Jader1973 said:
Yup - auto Focus from Glasgow for 3 weeks over Xmas and NY is £2,500.
Or, if I booked using the Australian site it was $8k!!
Ouch. Obviously I don’t know your exact dates but I’ve just found the same car with europcar for £1370. A veritable bargain….Or, if I booked using the Australian site it was $8k!!
I have found when renting admittedly in the US and Canada recently that prices can sometimes drop quite precipitously nearer the rental period. It’s almost as if these companies are just trying their luck with outlandish pricing and then when no one bites coming back down to earth.
I'm flying into LHR on Friday morning and car hire prices linked to the airport seemed crazy, due to meeting up with family/friends etc we ideally were looking for a 7 seater and nothing available much under 2.5k for the couple of weeks or so we are in the UK.
Looking a bit wider, I found www.vwfsrentacar.co.uk which is the short term rental part of VW Financial Services. Price for a Skoda Kodiaq from them was 1k for the couple of weeks, so way under half price of the airport players. They have bases in Slough or Brentford and I figured that even with the cost of a taxi there and back from LHR to their base, it was still very much on the winning side.
Obviously I'm saying this a couple of days before picking the car up, so other than the booking process have no direct experience, but can report back afterwards if either a good or bad option.
Looking a bit wider, I found www.vwfsrentacar.co.uk which is the short term rental part of VW Financial Services. Price for a Skoda Kodiaq from them was 1k for the couple of weeks, so way under half price of the airport players. They have bases in Slough or Brentford and I figured that even with the cost of a taxi there and back from LHR to their base, it was still very much on the winning side.
Obviously I'm saying this a couple of days before picking the car up, so other than the booking process have no direct experience, but can report back afterwards if either a good or bad option.
Markytop said:
I'm flying into LHR on Friday morning and car hire prices linked to the airport seemed crazy, due to meeting up with family/friends etc we ideally were looking for a 7 seater and nothing available much under 2.5k for the couple of weeks or so we are in the UK.
Looking a bit wider, I found www.vwfsrentacar.co.uk which is the short term rental part of VW Financial Services. Price for a Skoda Kodiaq from them was 1k for the couple of weeks, so way under half price of the airport players. They have bases in Slough or Brentford and I figured that even with the cost of a taxi there and back from LHR to their base, it was still very much on the winning side.
Obviously I'm saying this a couple of days before picking the car up, so other than the booking process have no direct experience, but can report back afterwards if either a good or bad option.
How long is the drive there?Looking a bit wider, I found www.vwfsrentacar.co.uk which is the short term rental part of VW Financial Services. Price for a Skoda Kodiaq from them was 1k for the couple of weeks, so way under half price of the airport players. They have bases in Slough or Brentford and I figured that even with the cost of a taxi there and back from LHR to their base, it was still very much on the winning side.
Obviously I'm saying this a couple of days before picking the car up, so other than the booking process have no direct experience, but can report back afterwards if either a good or bad option.
Markytop said:
I'm flying into LHR on Friday morning and car hire prices linked to the airport seemed crazy, due to meeting up with family/friends etc we ideally were looking for a 7 seater and nothing available much under 2.5k for the couple of weeks or so we are in the UK.
Looking a bit wider, I found www.vwfsrentacar.co.uk which is the short term rental part of VW Financial Services. Price for a Skoda Kodiaq from them was 1k for the couple of weeks, so way under half price of the airport players. They have bases in Slough or Brentford and I figured that even with the cost of a taxi there and back from LHR to their base, it was still very much on the winning side.
Obviously I'm saying this a couple of days before picking the car up, so other than the booking process have no direct experience, but can report back afterwards if either a good or bad option.
Quick update on this now I am actually in the UK and have the car!Looking a bit wider, I found www.vwfsrentacar.co.uk which is the short term rental part of VW Financial Services. Price for a Skoda Kodiaq from them was 1k for the couple of weeks, so way under half price of the airport players. They have bases in Slough or Brentford and I figured that even with the cost of a taxi there and back from LHR to their base, it was still very much on the winning side.
Obviously I'm saying this a couple of days before picking the car up, so other than the booking process have no direct experience, but can report back afterwards if either a good or bad option.
Pickup all worked really well - black cab from LHR T4 to Slough is a fixed fee of 40 quid and took about 15 min. Paperwork was all easy and ready and waiting, so took about 10 min to do handover etc. Car is 21 plate with 19k on clock, so not brand new, but near enough, but in good condition and actually impressed me how it rides and goes for a 1.5TSI in a big Kodiak.
Downside is they couldnt provide child seats, but there is a Halfords across the road where I picked a couple up for £50 each, which seems to be cheaper than the rates many other car hire places charge to rent a seat (have seen £10 per day, which for a 16 day hire, is about 3 times the cost of buying one and then donating/selling/giving to family it at the end of the rental).
I’ve just booked an internal flight with BA for a few days for next week, flight cost was £250, added a car with Avis for the entirety of the trip (just the base economy category - Fiat 500) and it dropped the combined price to £240
Might be worth a consideration of booking a flight you don’t need and won’t use mot get the car hire heavily discounted.
Might be worth a consideration of booking a flight you don’t need and won’t use mot get the car hire heavily discounted.
Word of caution if using Avis/Budget at LHR
cars are now returned to the Holiday Inn, NOT to the signposted "Avis car returns" place
nearly missed my damn flight trying to find the bloody Holiday Inn (had collected car from another airport)
at least the (free) shuttle bus back to T5 was quick n easy
cars are now returned to the Holiday Inn, NOT to the signposted "Avis car returns" place
nearly missed my damn flight trying to find the bloody Holiday Inn (had collected car from another airport)
at least the (free) shuttle bus back to T5 was quick n easy
JerseyS2000 said:
Word of caution if using Avis/Budget at LHR
cars are now returned to the Holiday Inn, NOT to the signposted "Avis car returns" place
nearly missed my damn flight trying to find the bloody Holiday Inn (had collected car from another airport)
at least the (free) shuttle bus back to T5 was quick n easy
That's a good point as its much less convenient than the old attached T5 short stay collection/drop office.cars are now returned to the Holiday Inn, NOT to the signposted "Avis car returns" place
nearly missed my damn flight trying to find the bloody Holiday Inn (had collected car from another airport)
at least the (free) shuttle bus back to T5 was quick n easy
Booked an 8 day long rental from Avis in November this morning. List price was $1600 for an Octavia estate but after work discount I got it for $350+ tax so came out at $440.
This is the first time a corporate discount code has got a penny off rental cars. I always try and it literally saves nothing.
This is the first time a corporate discount code has got a penny off rental cars. I always try and it literally saves nothing.
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