Don't delay on your car hire

BonysLad · #1 20-06-2010, 12:31

Interesting article in today's DB about car hire this year in Mallorca.

Looks like another potential shortage of cars ( like last year ) and pretty substantial price hikes during the peak season.

Wouldn't leave pre booking your cars too long for those of you who haven't done so already

BonysLad

billyboy · #2 21-06-2010, 07:08

Thats interesting why is there a shortage of cars more people?.

roig cat · #3 21-06-2010, 08:33

Less fleet available, same as last year!

slipalong & lola · #4 21-06-2010, 08:52

friends arrrived this week and queued for an hour at on hire company,gave up and went elswhere.

manda · #5 21-06-2010, 12:07

Booked through doyouspain last night for 14 days starting next Sunday and apart from the family sized cars everything else was still available. The price was 12 Euros more than last year for the same category car so quite happy. Maybe it's just a lack of cars throughout the peak time then?

Voucher with Record but had lengthy queues with lots of differant car hire companies over the past couple of years. The only one I didn't have a problem was Avis but late booking and almost double what I would normally pay!!! Got early morning flight and arrive at 10:00 so hopefully it's fairly quite on Sunday morning.

Only 6 more sleeps

rhinocarhire · #6 01-07-2010, 15:03

Fleet numbers are down as a result of the global recession. Car Hire suppliers have held back on replacing fleets etc as they are strapped for cash and in part predicting a slower trade than recent years. Last year was exceptional however in that car hire demand was far stronger than expected, hence the supply issue.

THe price will naturally rise as supply reduces, so the best advice is to book as early as possible to get the best prices and best selection of cars. You can always cancel for usually very little lost if you need nearer the time. Always check your terms and conditions BEFORE booking however.

Belladonna · #7 01-07-2010, 21:34

My son has just got round to booking their car for September.

Booked through Europcar for 10 days from 29th August £320
Includes £115 Maxicover (full com insurance).
Car is Compact 4 door with a/c. Equivalent of Fiesta.

Booked through the Easyjet site as passengers get 10% discount.
From airport, return to airport full tank and returned with full tank or charged 25 euros admin fee plus price of fuel.

ryansclan · #8 01-07-2010, 23:24

Hi Bella,
You say your son booked Europcar and paid £115 Maxicover. Did he realise that he could get annual full excess cover for £39? I know its slightly different and that you do have to fork out any excess in the first instance but when you get home any claim is settled really quickly. He could have saved £75 and this would have covered any other visits.
On these policies they include up to 6 named drivers so you could have had any of your rentals covered as well for a full year. Just a thought.

Gommar Goffer · #9 01-07-2010, 23:39

Yep - I use Economy Hire - around £12 for full comp coner for a week.

Mind you Centauro stitched me up on fuel again - 5 day hire - full/empty policy - 45 euros - couldn't use half of it!

Belladonna · #10 02-07-2010, 09:18

Thanks for the advice ryansclan. I will look into that. I have a feeling that there was some discussion about insurance prices when he booked, something about exhorbitant excess charges, but I can't remember the details. I will check that out with him and see what it was.

Belladonna · #11 02-07-2010, 19:50

Re above; have just shown hubby the reply and his response was "Why haven't I been doing that all these years then?" !! Obviously hasn't been reading the small print then!

Just goes to show, that you can never just take what you have been doing for years for granted, it always pays to keep on checking.

eleanor · #12 02-07-2010, 19:54

Ahh Bella so he admitted it was his fault lol!

It is easy to just do what you have always done. Martin Lewis has something on his website re this moneysavingexpert,com

Makes a big difference to the cost of car hire especially in main months when costs are so high anyway.

Hope you got hubby taped! Bella lol

Belladonna · #13 02-07-2010, 20:51

No, but at least its in print!

pollensa · #14 02-07-2010, 20:58

You can purchase Annual Excess Insurance via our site. As mentioned above you do have to pay initially & then claim back but it's worth it if you travel abroad & hire a car a few times a year.

its cd · #15 03-07-2010, 00:02

Bella

We have use dthe annual insurance policy for a the last few years

Never had cause to claim so dont know how good it actually is but if you are over for more than 1 week it is cheaper