Car hire in Europe

[katiebaz]

Can anyone recommend good booking sites for car hire in Europe? We’ve only hired cars in the US before and gone through Alamo/flydrive or Andy and feel a bit lost when looking in Europe.

Many thanks

[pompeyboy]

I've not hired in Europe for a few years now but make sure you double check the insurance excess, the car will come with CDW as standard but many, if not all, the companies have an excess which can be more than €1,500. Glass and tyres aren't usually covered either unless you buy extra cover.

You can offset this with the car hire companies excess waiver which can add 50% or so to the headline price.

You can also buy excess insurance from here before you leave, it will be cheaper but you have to pay the excess and reclaim it when you get back.

Also check the fuel policy, some are full to full like in the US but some are full to empty where you pay a premium for a tank of fuel and don't get anything back if there is any fuel left at the end.

Maybe someone will have a good recommendation but I used to stick with the "big boys" Avis, Hertz, Europcar etc.

[katiebaz]

Originally Posted by pompeyboy

I've not hired in Europe for a few years now but make sure you double check the insurance excess, the car will come with CDW as standard but many, if not all, the companies have an excess which can be more than €1,500. Glass and tyres aren't usually covered either unless you buy extra cover.

You can offset this with the car hire companies excess waiver which can add 50% or so to the headline price.

You can also buy excess insurance from here before you leave, it will be cheaper but you have to pay the excess and reclaim it when you get back.

Also check the fuel policy, some are full to full like in the US but some are full to empty where you pay a premium for a tank of fuel and don't get anything back if there is any fuel left at the end.

Maybe someone will have a good recommendation but I used to stick with the "big boys" Avis, Hertz, Europcar etc.

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Thank you that is really helpful. Also great user name - play up Pompey!

[Hmr89]

I use Expedia (sign in as a member to access better rates). Via Expedia I've used RecordGo for Spain, Sixt for Croatia & Auto Union for Slovenia: no problems with any of them.

With regard to insurance for excess, I bought a worldwide annual policy via Questor for £40 which worked out cheaper for us as we had a few trips in the same year.