** Vehicle Hire queries **

CantGetNoSleep

Does anyone use a multi-trip car hire insurance? I rent a car about six times per year in different countries (mainly EU), usually get the excess insurance with the platform I book with (e.g. Rentalcars / Ryanair Car Hire)

pajor

I'll be flying back to Ireland at the end of May with in-laws. There will be at least 6 of us (max. 8). I was looking at hiring a 9-seater but saw today that all the companies have an age requirement of 29 or 30.. I'm 27 and have my licence for 9 years.

Any ideas?

If it's 6 of us traveling, then I'll go for something like a Ford Galaxy.

Savage_Henry

With enterprise i dont think you need to be over 30.

"Ireland
All drivers must have been eligible to hold a license in the country of rental for eight years for A-F class vehicles, 11 years for MPVs and Vans and 13 years for Small Premiums. For Small Premiums, renters must also provide their own comprehensive insurance

If you have any additional questions, please contact the location directly."

Plus i dont think they enforce it too much. Sixt have minimum 2 years for all cars, and ive rented with less than a year old license from them. Probably best to call.

Ford galaxy - 6 ppl including driver should be ok. Its a 7 seater, but ive rented same class - seat alhambra and 3 adults in any of the rear rows would be a torture for a longer drive.

You renting automatic? When i rented 7 seater from enterprise - all their ford galaxies didnt have cruise control - only the single seat alhambra had it.

pajor

I just searched on Enterprise there, a Premium People Carrier - Opel Vivaro Combi or similar is unavailable. Looks like they don't do them from the airport.

According to the Ryanair car hire search; Flizzr, Sixt, Budget and Payless have them. I can't even find a phone nr for Flizzr, so might give that a miss. Another search showed Avis having them. I think I will give a couple of them a call tomorrow.

I was thinking too of a manual either way.

Savage_Henry

Try enterprise swords or enterprise russel street

coylemj

CantGetNoSleep wrote: »

Does anyone use a multi-trip car hire insurance? I rent a car about six times per year in different countries (mainly EU), usually get the excess insurance with the platform I book with (e.g. Rentalcars / Ryanair Car Hire)

You will save a heap of money buying your own excess policy. Ballpark annual premium is €50 for rental in Europe and the policy you buy yourself usually covers tyres and glass, the policy they sell you at the rental desk often does not.

mirrorwall14

Looking to hire a people carrier in Germany. Any recommendations? Is it normal to have a huge hold put on your credit card? One of the companies we got off google there wanted a hold of £1150?

pajor

Savage_Henry wrote: »

Try enterprise swords or enterprise russel street

Swords don’t have them either. Russel St is closed on Sundays. An office outside the airport wouldn’t be practical at all though for our group.

killbillvol2

mirrorwall14 wrote: »

Looking to hire a people carrier in Germany. Any recommendations? Is it normal to have a huge hold put on your credit card? One of the companies we got off google there wanted a hold of £1150?

That's not huge. That's about normal for a mid range vehicle. There was a hold of €2400 on my card last week, although it was for a brand new BMW 7 series.

mirrorwall14

killbillvol2 wrote: »

That's not huge. That's about normal for a mid range vehicle. There was a hold of €2400 on my card last week, although it was for a brand new BMW 7 series.

Christ. My limit isn’t anywhere near 2.4k!

mirrorwall14

Ok further research done and we’ll finally have to up my credit card limit from the 600e set when I was a student (over ten years ago now lol). It won’t be a problem. They’ve offered a fair few times

Next question, what’s the difference between a deposit and excess? Many of the terms and conditions seem to imply that the hold on the card includes both? (See attached). I thought an excess would be what you would owe if you had an accident (like normal insurance policies)?

coylemj

mirrorwall14 wrote: »

Next question, what’s the difference between a deposit and excess? Many of the terms and conditions seem to imply that the hold on the card includes both? (See attached). I thought an excess would be what you would owe if you had an accident (like normal insurance policies)?

The deposit is to cover the excess, I can't see what they're about. You are correct in that the excess is the amount you are liable for if there's damage to the car which can't be claimed from a third party.

I rented a small car from Europcar in the Canaries in Feb, the excess was €870 but they only held €300 on my CC.

The amount they hold on your credit card is a transparant and painless transaction, you won't see it on your bill. All you have to do is make sure that you have that amount of headroom i.e. unused credit. The same thing happens when you check in to a hotel - they put a hold on your account in case you do a runner or go mad in the local bars and shops and your CC limit is blown when you go to check out.

jma

pajor wrote: »

I'll be flying back to Ireland at the end of May with in-laws. There will be at least 6 of us (max. 8). I was looking at hiring a 9-seater but saw today that all the companies have an age requirement of 29 or 30.. I'm 27 and have my licence for 9 years.

Any ideas?

If it's 6 of us traveling, then I'll go for something like a Ford Galaxy.

Are you sure about the age requirement? Most rental companies, as far as I know, have an age restriction of 21 - 65. Most do charge a young driver fee, but I'm sure with RentalCars.com, for example, it is 21 - 25. Europcar in UK is 24–26. Sixt in UK is 21–24. Most others are 21-24, except Goldcar, which is 19-25.

pajor

jma wrote: »

Are you sure about the age requirement? Most rental companies, as far as I know, have an age restriction of 21 - 65. Most do charge a young driver fee, but I'm sure with RentalCars.com, for example, it is 21 - 25. Europcar in UK is 24–26. Sixt in UK is 21–24. Most others are 21-24, except Goldcar, which is 19-25.

For a 9-seater I am positive about the age requirement. In most T&Cs it’s written that ‘driver must have been eligible to hold a driving licence for 12 years, having had the licence for 2 years’. In Ireland that is actually 29 then of course, but I’m 27.

Our group will be 6 though, so we’ll manage with a 7-seater.

Sully

25 for cars and 28 plus for Van's, MPVs and 9 Seatera due to their size usually

uck51js9zml2yt

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/which-car-hire-survey-scli-intl/index.html

New Which? survey. The usual ones to avoid are still to be avoided.

oldfella

hi..im flying into stanstead and need to hire a car ..what company would anyone recommend
thanks

Ponster

It's the same companies that you find anywhere really, all pretty much as good or as bad as each other. The only thing that will change is the quote that you receive and what is included in each one (tank of petrol,full insurance, etc...). EasyRentCars and Argus are often the cheapest but I usually just use something like www.travelsupermarket.com and pick one.

Scruff

mother of god 7 seater car hire in italy gone through the roof!!
I dont need a full size 7 seater, I found a Ford Grand C-Max (or similar) for half the price. Thats a 7 seater (2 seats in the back are suitable for kids only) but its listed as a 5 seater....worth the risk for half the price..?

Savage_Henry

"or similar". Does Renault Scenic or Citroen C4 Picasso have 3rd row?
Did you check agent site or directly?

Munsterbhoy

Hi, I'm looking to hire in Bordeaux Airport nx month. I always try to book full insurance with the hire company purely to avoid hassle with deposits and any inspection when returning & incase we get delayed. I can get goldcar with full insurance and just go to kiost and away we go and its over €150 cheaper than the big company's. I've head some horror stories regarding goldcar but if I have their full insurance package than shouldn't I be OK? BTW I always get an auto. Cheers

k123456

There is a reason GC are way cheaper.

However if you have their full insurance package than you should be OK
Problems arise with GC, when using a third policy insurance excess policy

davidm25

We're heading to Portugal for the family holiday this summer and will be hiring a car at Lisbon airport. I've never rented a car in Lisbon before so looking for some advice for what rental company to go with (or not) for this. Any experience or recommendations you could share would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Dave

k123456

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057768065&page=70

The primary companies to avoid : Goldcar/Rhodium and Firefly

Lex Luthor

heading to Portugal next week
Booked with Drive4fun
Process so far been good, hopefully the rest will follow

Flew into Lisbon a few years ago and booked through National

mloc123

Avoid Centauro at all costs..

EverythingGood

mloc123 wrote: »

Avoid Centauro at all costs..

Have used Centauro twice in Lisbon, never had an issue. Carhire is such a hit and miss thing....

Seámus-Púbach

I wouldn't bother. The public transport is cheap as chips and very efficient

davidm25

Thanks everyone - for those who booked with a company and had a good experience (Centauro and National have been mentioned), did you take the 'full' car insurance package or stick with an excess one?

Tnx
D

Dinarius

Can I hire a car in Dublin and hand it back in London?

It would be for one day.

If yes, any recommendations?

Thanks.

D.