Car hire

Coming over for the Christmas break flying into Alicante.

Anyone recommend a car hire company that's given good service I worry about the very cheap ones.

Thanks

Several of our clients have used El Andalus Car hire and rate them highly.
They are actually based out of Almeria but offer a delivery service at both Alicante and Murcia.

They meet you personally at the airport and you don't have to wait in queues at a desk.
They are competitive with the rest and offer a same/same deal on fuel rather than the rip-off full/empty.

Also have a look at CarJet - they offer full/full deals on some rentals and are reasonably fair.

I am not associated with either of these companies - just rent my apartment out at Roda and try to get clients a good deal. If you want their website of email details then PM me, as I think it is frowned on to advertise on here.

 

This message was last edited by pommers on 15/10/2013.

We use arguscarhire dot ie ( just to avoid the issues with advertising but you will know how to put this into your browser) which was recommended to us by a renter in our old apartment and have been using them for four years now with no issues and they get you the best deal from all of the companies on the web. You pay only a deposit online and pay the remainder on pick up. Great rates and beat all of the others every time. Never had a problem with them and you might end up with a Hertz car, Budget or any other company on the market but at better rates and you can register with them for a loyalty bonus which brings the rates down even further.

Mandy

I have always used dickmans through carjet but worried as hearing so many bad reports on them. Also this 300 euro charge if you dont take out there insurance is a bit much. Any other companies that people can suggest as coming out soon

I have use www.doyouspain.com a number of times and have taken a car from Goldcar, no issues at all very good. I have always taken out the 'extra insurance' for about 30-40 Euros as you can bring the car back with any damage at all, no questions asked and you don't need to leave a deposit on the credit card. The last time I was over I was told that although there is a charge for a full tank they would reimburse any fuel left when returned. Didn't test this as it was near enough empty on return but worth checking out.

Whatman

Thanks whatman

Will perhaps try them although I note they also use dickmans. Do you or anyone else know of any companies that do half full or empty to empty

when booking through DoYouSpain, you can search for companies that do full/full, they're more expensive, but when you don't drive a lot, it's cheaper in the end

 

If you are ging through a booking agent web site make sure that it tells you who you are booking with, what the fuel policy is and what the hidden extras are - the extra 'fully comp' insurance. CarJet is pretty clear.

We now use Centuaro who are on Airport. They have a 'Gold Club' membership which give a priority queue, a Full/Full policy and don't take a deposit if you refuse their additional insurance.

They also give loyalty points and our recent short trip meant no car hire costs, only the fuel that we used.

I have a year long worldwide insurance for the 'extras' from icarhireinsurance. Centuaro are happy with this and the cost is just a few days excess from one of the rental companies. My nephew lives in Valencis and was in Miami when they had a problem with their hire car, they claimed though his global policy with no problems. The additional insurance for his stay in America was about 5x the cost of his policy, which is also valid in the UK.  

Recently got car from Goldcar at Allicantie airport given all the spiel about additional insurance. Refused when we got to the car it was a mess lots of damage to the body work. We took pictures of the damage before we drove out of the car park. Would advise others to do the same. Car has 65.000 on the clock never had this before usually low mileage, not sure the year of the car. We have a car of our own in Murcia. The car is insured not the driver as in the UK. Also no sticker on the windscreen showing it has current iTV, maybe car not old enough but was told if stopped by police it's drivers responsibility if it should have mot ie ITV.

When we hired a car last year in November through Eye on Spain we were re- directed to Do you Spain and ended up with a car from "Fire Fly" based in the multi story car park at Alicante airport . The walk to the hire desk and office is all under cover just cross the concorse on the high level walkway. ( as if you are going to the public car park )

When you arrive you take a ticket from the machine and get allocated a place in the queue but service is quite quick and all the cars are in the same area . We were taked into extra all inclusive damage waiver and as car was so cheap I decided to take it . Very lucky because some other T..T had damaged the car when we parked in Bolnuevo and drove off. I guess a few hundred euros of damage , when I brought car back Fire Fly didnt even want to see it just handed keys and explained its been hit and that was it .. Worth considering Extra Cover for the sake of 40 euros. Would use them again and also used Dickmanns who pick you up from the arrival area and take you by mini bus to the depot ( 5 mins )

Hi Aliton,

On the dickmans collection from Alicante and bringing you to the depot - do they collect a load of people in one go, so if my flight arrived half an hour before another arrival I'd have to wait until all the people on the list are there? Or do they bring you straight away? Also as I'll have my kids with me, do they bring the whole family to the depot or just me, who then drives back to the arrivals to pick up the rest?

Finally, on return, do you drop the car at the depot or the terminal? If at the depot, will they bring the whole family back to the departures gate right away?

They seem considerably cheaper for some dates so if the collection/drop off service is adequate I'd certainly use them. I have used them before in San Javier and they were fine, so I don't have a concern about the quality, but in San Javier they are based in the car park so there is no collection arrangement needed. My concern is simply the fact I'd have young kids with me and I wouldn't like them hanging around the airport for an uncertain amount of time, but if they collect us all together straight away and drop us back on return then I'd give them a go.

Thanks,

Frank