How to avoid rental car pitfalls

‘The vehicle hire business has been distorted by the internet’: Simon Calder lifts the lid on how to get the best deal

Drive me crazy: don't get caught out when hiring a car (Simon Calder)

Car rental is a ferociously competitive industry. I have just Googled “cheap car rental Palma airport” and have been offered a vehicle for just 27p per day through Do You Spain. Not bad for unlimited use of an asset that is worth £10,000 to explore the beautiful island of Mallorca.

This deal is not quite as good as it seems. When I made a test booking for 1 August 2020, the price for 24 hours went up to £13. I must, though, pay €90 (£81) for a full tank of petrol, and even if the rental car staff are scrupulous about applying the right refund, it will be subject to a “Fuel Service Charge” of between €25 and €31 (£22-£28). So the cost has already roughly trebled. Oh, and there is an “excess” for any damage of up to €1,050 (£942) – while the car has insurance, I have to meet a huge potential bill.

Even if I am prepared to take this risk, I am warned: “You may need to purchase the supplier’s insurance on collection,” which will cost me €42 (£38). So the potential cost before I have driven an inch could be about six times the originally quoted sum, and around 300 times that fabled 27p.

Like many dimensions of the travel industry, the car hire business has become distorted and opaque because of the internet.

Ideally I will take a personal recommendation – for example a friend commended Cicar in Tenerife, and that worked very well.

Otherwise, I start by looking at rentalcars.com or a price-comparison website such as Skyscanner to get an idea of the price levels. Then I do the old-fashioned thing of picking up the phone and talking to two or three of the big multinational car-rental firms: Avis, Enterprise and Hertz, all of whom I have had good experiences with. (Not Europcar, from whom I am still waiting to hear back after a complaint six years ago.)

After four decades of renting cars abroad, and several incidents of being clobbered for unexpected extras, I have concluded that I would rather pay a few pounds extra and have the chance for a proper conversation with someone and establish:

• What’s the price for a deal where I accept an “excess” of, say, £500?
• If I choose to take out separate insurance for that excess, will you accept the policy?
• Can I add a second driver for free? This is often the case if you are a member of the loyalty club. I am a not-very-loyal member of the Hertz No 1 Club, and it saves me a small fortune.
• What’s the fuel policy? The traditional plan is out full/back full. Many internet deals, though, insist on out full/back empty. You pay an inflated amount for the tank of fuel, and are cheerfully told to bring it back empty – which, of course, is an impossibility. Every drop of fuel that you leave represents profit for the provider. If it’s not an “out full/back full” policy, I will politely decline. 

Having phoned around, I take the best deal – and am then very careful when I pick the car up that nothing extra is added.

In the US, I have been one of the many unwitting fools who don’t spot that the rental clerk has surreptitiously sold an upgrade. Now, I discreetly record the car rental pick-up on my phone, using the voice notes function, and clearly say: “So, to confirm, I do not wish to take any extras whatsoever.”

Easier still: book a flight and car together through a travel agent such as Trailfinders. That firm, and other reputable companies, make it clear that comprehensive insurance is already included and no other charges should be added. I have no idea what has been said behind the scenes, but in these circumstances the “How about this or that additional insurance?” conversation has never begun.