help need to hire a car

[Karen Ann]

You're right it does state number of adults & amount of luggage. It stated 4 adults and 1 large suit case + 1 small suitcase and as I said when we complained, they could'nt upgrade us.

When I booked with Economy Car Rentals it does state quite clearly the number of people and amount of luggage you could get in a small car. I think it says two adults and two cases for the basic car.

When I went over in July, they upgraded me to an estate car from a little car - so more expensive on petrol and a bloody nightmare to fit into the parking spaces at the top of Restaurant Hill! Nice car though ...

[fmm]

We managed to fit 2 adults, one child and 3 full sized hang luggage cases into the boot of a small one, plus a bit of shopping from Intermarche. I wonder whether the smaller cases make it easier to fiddle into the boot rather than one large one.

[heini]

fmm, it must have been quite cosy for all of you inside the boot, who did the driving?

[fmm]

Ooh - that was rather poor English! My mother could never fold herself sufficiently to get into the boot - she finds the front seat difficult enough!

[ceh]

I arrived Faro on Monday unsure whether Avis had a car for me or not. They didn't have a Group A one but could provide a Golf TDI which was more expensive but a nice car - I suspect this is a trend this summer. However a car with only 1900km on the clock is not what I wanted for driving up and down the narrow road to the beach at Albandeira when I had to keep reversing for the fast moving BMWs, Mercs etc using the road from Suites Alba (or whatever the development is called).

Still, it was better than trying to cope with the train and taxis.

[ash123]

We got stung to the tune of 534 euros for a seat ibiza for 8 days - what a rip off - through Avis car rental at Faro airport.
We spent a fortune throughout the holiday due to the exchange rate - never again. We have been visitng the Algarve for many years
and will most definatley be going elsewhere next year.

[EMM]

Its got nothing to do with the Algarve,

The xchange rate is the exchange rate across europe and Portugal is one of the better value euro destinations.

Your price for car hire may be due to your lack of forward planning because we pay that price for 3 weeks , why because we book ahead and never with one of the majors like Avis.

[MaisieK]

I agree EMM we were warned at the beginning of the year that hire cars would be in short supply, mainly
because the car hire companies expected a downturn in the number of visitors and I also believe that the
banks are not very willing to give loans for companies to replenish stock. We always book early and never
with a big national company.

Maisie

[colin gregg]

Hi,I was the original poster of this subject have just got back yes i did get a car 640 euros for 13 days it had 151000 km on the clock and was in pretty poor condition am i complaining no i was grateful just to get a car.

[ceh]

I felt the same when I had to pay 251 euros for 3 days. I'd only decided to go the day before (so difficult to book early) and was pleased to have a car as taxis and the local bus plus the rusty bicycles were the alternative.

[Laneside]

I've read the forum over the many years that we have visited Carvoeiro but not taken an active part before. I've read the numerous items about car hire and as I was coming out at relatively short notice I began to panic about the price and availability. I emailed my regular supplier ten days ago and had no problem in booking a car at reasonable rates. Autoseason are providing a 5 door Corsa or similar with aircon for 10 days for 271 euros from 13 August to 23 August. They meet you in the airport and the car is collected and returned at the airport car park, much better than off site companies with mini bus shuttles. There nos are 00351 969523636 or 00351 969523638 and are available at info@autoseason.com.
I first used them 8 years ago and have never had a problem and always had good cars supplied, hope this might be of use.

[fmm]

I am feeling very smug as I booked my car early and got a little one at 280 euros for 17 days from Economy Car Rental. Tall people will not be that comfortable, but hey, its a holiday and I'm only 5'6!!!

[laserblazer]

There was a bit on the news about hire car availability (or the lack of it), so I booked up for our trips in December and February. The Easyjet, Europcar deal has been very good over the last year and I have had to get a special price from YOR. This December however, Europcar are much more expensive. Could this be down to shortages? Anyway, my advice is book your car well ahead.

[DaveB]

I have been coming out to the Algarve for 14 years and have never had a problem, the last 7 years I have always used Hertz, nice new cars and reasonable rates, I am getting nervous that when I get there in 10 days there wont be a car for me even though I booked it at the end of June!!