Car Hire

[purpleboots]

I have been trying to book a car for two weeks in June but all i get with every firm is sold out or unavailable, does anyone know what's going on please

[Sun Properties]

Total shortage of cars (throughout Europe in my experience) due to hire firms not renewing their fleets. Keep trying all the firms and book as soon as you see a reasonable offer as prices will rise closer to your pick up date.

[Rangers1]

Purpleboots

Try Amigo autos.com they are are broker

[pollensa]

Have you tried ALL the companies on Discount Car Hire - Mallorca - Majorca - Palma Airport ? Am afraid there is a BIG shortage this year due to the reasons quoted above.

So if anyone else hasn't yet booked for the summer, do book as soon as you can!

[Disorderly]

So does that mean smaller queues at the car hire desks in Palma Airport?

YEEHA to that!

[PeRu]

Hi Purpleboots,
I have sent you a PM.

PeRu

[redleather]

Back in December 2008 all the major car hire players i.e. Record, Alamo, GoldCar, Hispacar et al evaluated the prevailing credit crunch shock waves looming and cut their fleets in half some by even more.

Their fear was then further compounded by the swine flu outbreak and they decided to cut them even more.

Be very careful when you try to book through intermediaries like auto-europe etc. because you book then three to four days later on confirmation you get a refusal notice on the grounds of unavailability and they try to sell you a smaller car for around 400 euros more.

This is a known problem and will only get worse the closer to the high season we approach.

I am in the same boat as you purpleboots.

Best of luck!!

Regards
Redleather

[QBee]

We booked a car with this company on the 7th April for our holiday on the 24th May - this was confirmed etc. When we arrived to collect our car there was no car for us, only an extremely rude man who treated us very badly considering he was the one at fault and obviously had no customer service experience at all, he informed us that they had emailed us the day before we arrived which of course we had never received. Anyway suffice to say we had to walk onto the street and start from scratch not the most pleasant way to start your holiday.

[redleather]

Just a quick update for everyone.
As stipulated I was in the same boat as PurpleBoots.
Have just found Autos Espaa - Goldcar Rental Car Hire in Spain who are really competitive and have booked through them and had it confirmed in seconds.
They only deal with GoldCar and undercut their list prices by some margin.

Hope this helps.

Best Regards
Redleather

[susiejb]

We have just booked with Record Rent A Car - we have used them a number of times and they are excellent, with competitive prices. There is definetely a shortage of cars this year so everyone is advised to book early.

[Rangers1]

I thoughti was mad booking in January but now with a price of 304 euros for a focus estate im glad i did and in future will book in january each year.

[Cerveza por favor]

I've booked for the last week in June with Car Jet, who act as an agency. They've given the job to a company called Solmar, who I hevan't heard of. The collection instructions say the agent will be waiting by the meeting point near exit 4 in arrival's hall, which sounds a bit strange.
Has anybody used them?

Thanks

[sws97sdg]

We haven't used them, but we pick up our car from the villa car rental company in the same way by one of the exits. They are usually in uniforms waiting for you with the keys, so no long queues at a desk, great name by the way

[purpleboots]

At last we have now booked a car with Argus Gold Star. Thanks everybody for being so helpful

[Gommar Goffer]

Picking up your keys from the Meeting Point is very common. Autos Roig use this method (no expensive desks to rent i guess) although I have not used them for a while as they are a bit on the expensive side now - very good service and cars though and all inclusive prices with return full policy I believe. It is usually quick and efficient only downside is that you probably need to pay to get out of the car park

GG