Car Hire Pick Up P4

[Geoff]

"off airport"

Which car companies are they? Most of the P4 ones are such, I thought, but just brought their cars to P4 for pick up?...or do you mean the ones that ferry you to their base, like Eurocar and National?...in which case, they are a lot pricier.

[TomUK]

Yes - I've always understood 'off airport' to mean getting on a shuttle bus to be taken to a rental company nearby - many of which are along the dual carriageway on the approach to the airport.
You're right about most of these being the major national companies. They may have the newest vehicles, but charge higher rates than the smaller local outfits. The extra may amount to the cost of more than one meal!

[lincdoc]

Thanks Geoff & Tom UK
Will advise daughter to check rates. Can't believe the weather here. Think we might retire early and stay!

[martin.cork]

I normally hire a car complete with All Inclusive Insurance (average additional insurance charge of €6 per day), The small print states that this does not cover
tyre damage/Key lock damage. The car rental company takes a signed copy of credit card . I assume this is to cover any
charges from tolls, etc. This is the usual practice with car rental.
I had a situation with a different rental company years ago where a truck reversed into our car , the rental company deducted the €700 charge for the excess and we were left chasing them to recover this, The end result Zero… this i why i take the all inclusive, I also understand that I can take out an annual policy to cover this but I really do not want the hassle of making claims….
On a recent hire I discovered that since operating from the building in car park 4 the car rental company reserve/hold the sum of €300
from my credit card account and release this on return of the car.
I have no problem signing the credit card slip as the rental company need assurance that they will be paid but what is the point in taking out
all inclusive…. Has anyone else noticed this ?????…. Can the rental company reserve this amount without asking me ????

[TomUK]

The point is 'All Inclusive' is not really what it infers. You forgot to add that it also doesn't include damage to windscreen and side windows.
I used to opt to pay the 6 or 7 euros a day which on a normal 14 day holiday amounts to around €98.
Then I researched the companies which provide hire car excess insurance. I read on this site that folks had found the claim process trouble free. You have to pay the hire company in the first instance, then send the invoice and details to the excess insurance provider. They settle your claim on average a couple of weeks later.
I have used the Questor company for my last four or five hires. One year's worldwide cover this year cost me £49.99, which is cheaper than paying the rental company's daily rate for just one holiday. Considering we have two Algarve holidays each year, and visit friends in the USA each November, this is great value.
If you only want European cover it is even cheaper. Also the Questor cover includes tyres, locks, glass, under body damage, etc.
Fortunately I have never needed to claim, but reports suggest that Questor and Insurance4carhire are both reliable companies.
You will find other providers on the internet.

[Geoff]

Certainly endorse TomUK's comments...we have used Insurance4carhire for a number of years, £40 pa for Eurooean Cover. Had 2 claims, neither our fault, all cleared quickly.

[martin.cork]

Thanks for the comments on the Insurance Tom & Geoff, I must look into this again…

Windscreen damage should be covered under the basics of all policies.

Any comment to the holding of funds on your credit card ?? Have you experienced this ?

I would assume this value would increase (if you did not have the all-in cover) to the excess value which can be anything from 700 to 1500

[Geoff]

If you don't take out the car companies' Excess Insurance , as I don't, they pre-authorise the credit card with the max excess of 750€ or whatever...or sometimes do a paper credit card slip for this amount... when you bring the car back, assuming all Ok, you get the credit card slip back ( to tear up) &/or they then cancel the pre-authorisation.
Never had a problem with this aspect....use TravelRent mainly, but also a number of the others.

[TomUK]

I use Algarve Driver as advertised at the top of this page. They are agents for YOR Car Hire. No problems with this company, and I would recommend them. Steen Jacobson, who is an administrator of this website, is manager of Algarve Driver and a very helpful guy. Spot another company offering a lower price for the same class of car, and he will honour his company's pledge to match the lower price.
They do warn you that the excess cover charge is a maximum of €950. However, provided there are no claims, they cancel the authorisation slip at the end of the hire.
There is one charge they will make against your credit card after your holiday. I volunteer to pay the toll fee of €20 which is €5 for the use of the transponder and €15 to use on the A22 motorway. If you exceed the €15 allowance, they will take the excess from your credit card around a week after you return the car. They take it in increments of €5, so if, for example, you exceed your allowance of €15 by €3.50, they will charge €5 to your card. In May I ran up a fees of €24.50 so they charged €10 to my card the week after.
They are not equipped to take the extra toll fee in cash when you return the car, because they need to check the transponder details on their computers, which is not possible at the airport.

[martin.cork]

I agree that YOR provide a good service
I hear changes are on the way from the EU to regulate
Car hire charges throughout Europe
It should be one all in charge for hire including
Fully comprehensive insurance
Similar to the airlines, no hidden charges.
All is fine until you scratch the car and get hit
For €900, try and query this later is nearly
Impossible.we will wait and see....

[Sheila]

I use Algarve Driver as advertised at the top of this page. They are agents for YOR Car Hire. No problems with this company, and I would recommend them. Steen Jacobson, who is an administrator of this website, is manager of Algarve Driver and a very helpful guy. Spot another company offering a lower price for the same class of car, and he will honour his company's pledge to match the lower price.
They do warn you that the excess cover charge is a maximum of €950. However, provided there are no claims, they cancel the authorisation slip at the end of the hire.
There is one charge they will make against your credit card after your holiday. I volunteer to pay the toll fee of €20 which is €5 for the use of the transponder and €15 to use on the A22 motorway. If you exceed the €15 allowance, they will take the excess from your credit card around a week after you return the car. They take it in increments of €5, so if, for example, you exceed your allowance of €15 by €3.50, they will charge €5 to your card. In May I ran up a fees of €24.50 so they charged €10 to my card the week after.
They are not equipped to take the extra toll fee in cash when you return the car, because they need to check the transponder details on their computers, which is not possible at the airport.

We also use YOR. When we went over the 15 euros the lady just looked at the transponder and charged us 10 euros cash there and then. Not sure how she did this. Perhaps she checked up in advance as we warned her we may go over.