bobd22

Lost me there a bit? Where ever you hire you pay for the fuel yes it may be 30% over but what option does one have re that? As my stays are at least a month I will always use that tank of fuel. I never return with so little fuel that I would worry about getting there, however I am quite happy if the petrol light comes on as I get near the airport. I was mainly saying that I have never had any problem using annual excess insurance or in getting back the deposit. Don,t is do not.

agoreira

Or don't is!

bobd22

Yes it was an error with the tablet sorry

MikeJ

If you have a pick up full and return full ( or any amount and return the same) then you are only paying pump prices. In effect you get the first tank f.o.c as long as you replenish it - and you pay pump price only for the refill. For a full/empty rental you have to pay for the full tank (and anything left as you will not get a refund for unused) Rentcos charge at least 30% premium for the fuel supplied and often much more.

As for the Don T I was having a gentle dig at your typo, sorry if it offends.

bobd22

No offence taken. Yes I agree the full empty is a rip off a couple of rentals I have managed to get full/full or whatever it is on collection return with same. Seems harder and harder to find them I believe Malaga car still do half tank to empty? It is also made worse if it is a short stay but over 3 days as often people are unable to even use the tank full of expensive petrol they have paid for.

Scribble

just buy excess insurance and then refuse to pay insurance to the car company.
so they block off money on your card, so what?

MikeJ

Well, if you have a big credit limit then no problem, but if you are thinking of using your card for holiday spending and your credit limit is effectively reduced by up to 1500€ then you might be a bit stretched. Also the rentcos sometimes actually take the money from your card, and they certainly do if it's a debit card, then you will get hit with currency exchange charges and foreign transaction charges on many cards both when they debit the card and also when they do the refund - a double whammy. .

bobd22

The only time they actually took the deposit then paid it back in for me it worked in my favour due to exchange rate

johnnyone

I have booked a 4 day hire in May full to full with Firefly from Valencia airport. It cost 34 euros. Hardly a rip off although I do agree they are hard to find.
My last trip was 4 days full to empty, but I don't think you can complain at a cost of 18 euros plus of course the fuel.

bobd22

you have taken my comment totally out of context. i agreed with a poster that the use of full empty fuel policy is a rip off which it is for anyone not able to use tankful.i too have have had some great deals last one a month for 97 euro, tank off fuel was 80 euro
which was expensive but taken in with rental rate and fact i could use full tank i was very happy. i initially posted on this thread in hope of helping op out re annual insurance not to get into a contest or argument with anyone about their best value of hire. i am more than happy with what i get and pay generally speaking.

EMR

The practice of blocking off credit om customers cards does cause problems when friends of ours had 2500 euros taken from their account last Christmas.
Apologies all round off course but it still took almost a week before half was refunded with the balance a few days after they returned their car.
The excuse the companies use is that " if " you do not take their insurance they need to ensure themselves that you have sufficient credit to pay their excess.!!!

johnnyone

I think we are singing from the same hymn sheet. If it was always full to full the day rate would increase. From my experience uk car hire is much more expensive.

MikeJ

Johnny, I think you are missing the point - the headline day rate may be lower and many people are taken in by that and think thay have a good deal. If you add the compulsory extras eg a full tank of fuel and insurances etc etc then the cheap deals are very often not as cheap at all. If you can get any deal which the total costs (including all the hidden extras) is good for you knowing all the scams then good for you. Let us all know where and who and we'll all use them It's certainly not Goldcar!

This thread has tried to offer some helpful advice to those who may not be old hands at the rental tricks and are open to the ripoff and scam merchants.

Not too sure how UK car hire rates help in Spain, by the time you add the ferry and all the petrol to get to Spain it's really a non-starter

amideislas

One of my favourite lines:

Cheap (or "free")? that sounds expensive!

johnnyone

I have lost count of the times I have hired cars in Spain (or the UK) and in Spain I have never felt as though I have been ripped off.
I have never had any trouble with the car Co's when returning cars that have suffered damage whilst I have been renting them.
As I said in an earlier post I never bother checking the bodywork as it is covered on the basic insurance, it's only wheels,tyres and such like that need the additional insurance. Yes they may block of some money from your card if you do not take out their additional insurance but that has never appeared on my credit card. It's the same with some hotels you stay in.
Uk car hire was raised by somebody else, I was just pointing out that UK hire rates are more and the basic cover you receive is less which is why you need to go over the car to note any damage. So if anything is a rip off it's Uk car hire.