We’ve had some great weather over the past week and I am (perhaps naively) hopeful we are approaching a fine summer. Summer is our busiest period with many customers renting for the first time in the year as they look for more freedom in their holiday. And if this blog has proven anything, it is just how many different kinds of questions people can have about car hire, particularly if they do not hire on a regular basis. I’ve learned that renting a car is not always as simple and straightforward as you might think!
We’ve written quite a few blog posts now with various tips and bits of information so, as we head into the holiday season, I thought it might be worthwhile re-listing those which you might find particularly helpful when booking and renting your holiday car hire:
- Tips for booking you car hire
- Tips for getting the best price
- Tips for renting a car on holiday – Part 1
- Tips for renting a car on holiday – Part 2
- Information on accepted credit cards
- What we ‘hold’ against your credit card
- Our damage policy
(2 votes, average: 4 out of 5)
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I would love to rent a car from Avis this summer, only the website seems to be down for maintenance these days more often then it’s actually up and running…
Yes, sorry about this Robert. We have been experiencing problems but this should now be resolved. There is, however, some maintenance work scheduled where the website will be unavailable but the impact should be minimal. I posted an update on this today: http://wetryharder.co.uk/?p=406
Your website wouldn’t accept a valid BA flight number (BA2596)and also defaulted to 9am for both collect and return times despite putting in the actual times. So now you don’t know the correct times or my flight number. Secondly, I selected an “available to book now” vehicle as opposed to an “available subject to confirmation” vehicle and the confirmation response was that is was subject to confirmation within 72 hours. What’s the difference then?
Hi Peter, I’ve reported the issue regarding the flight number to our IT Service Desk to investigate.
The message you received regarding your booking being subject to confirmation should only apply to those car categories with the “available subject to confirmation” message next to them. So it is baffling that you received this message after selecting an “available to book now” car category as this should have confirmed the booking straight away.
Would you be able to email your reservation number to comments@avis.co.uk so I can investigate further? I’ll also check the pick-up and return times and see if we can manually enter the reservation number.
Rob
Hi,
I’m coming to the UK in August and will need an automatic MPV. Is it possible to get a better idea of what types Avis uses ? Last year I had a diesel Kia from a competitor and it was awful !
Hi Paul, when you say you need an auto MPV, are you looking for the large 7 seater one? If so, you will get either the Renault Espace, Volkswagen Sharan or the Peugeot 807.
Let me know if you need anything else.
Rob
I would like to warn any potential customers of Avis about what happened to us on a recent trip to Kefalonia. We hired and returned an Avis car in the same order as it was hired to us. It was inspected by an Avis employee upon return and passed as such. When we returned home we found Avis had taken £116.83 from our bank account. Upon enquiring about this we were told it was the excess for the dent in the passenger’s door. THERE WAS NO DENT WHEN WE RETURNED THE CAR. We now have no way of proving this fact and have not managed to get our money returned. I advise anyone who is considering renting a car to think twice before using Avis.
Hi Jill,
I’m sorry to hear of your experience. If you agreed that the car had been returned undamaged with our representative, you should not have been charged any extra.
Can you send me the details of your rental agreement and I will investigate this matter for you.
Regards,
Stephen
We are hiring a car from Avis when we go to Italy in June.We have been advised that to reduce the enormous excess in case of theft or accident we will have to pay 23 euros a day.This is optional but really there is no choice .Why is the amount so high ,this will put an additional 184 euros on to our holiday.The car rental is only £112,
Hi Marian,
Firstly, just to clarify, when you book a car with Avis, your booking should include everything you need to get in the car and go with no additional costs required. The main thing to look out for is to make sure your quote includes Vehicle Damage Cover and Vehicle Theft Cover. If you think of this in terms of private car insurance, this would be the equivalent of “Fully Comprehensive” but with an excess.
I appreciate that you feel that the excess might seem large in this instance. Unfortunately, the cost of repairing damaged vehicles is expensive and, for Avis, it is one of our biggest costs. If we did not have this excess, we simply would not have a business! This level of excess and the price of optional cover is pretty much standard in the car rental industry.
The price we charge reflects the size of the vehicle hired and covers all our costs associated with providing legal and insurance cover on the rental.
However, as you stated, it is an optional charge and down to the customer whether they wish to take it or accept the excess.
Stephen
Why is the excess so high for car rental? I really don’t understand. No claims discount doesn’t seem to have any effects?
Never hire a car with avis in Corfu.
Here is why:
Cost quoted £159.47.
Actual cost after taking out extra cover and local taxes pushed the price up to £341.2.
My advice hire local.
Hi Paul,
I am sorry to hear about your frustrations, as in Corfu the local taxes should have been included in the initial cost of the booking. If you email the details of your rental (including the rental agreement number) to comments@avis.co.uk I will get our customer service team to look into this and we will get back to you.
If you have any other questions please let me know.
Vicki
Hi gices, the level of excess reflects the risk to the business of the cost of damage. That’s why the excess levels can differ in different countries – because the “risk” of damage is higher.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to account for no claims discounts because it would not be feasible to run these checks on every customer. In an ideal world I do agree, it would be great if we could!
Rob
Having read previous blogs on the subject and the comments from the marketing staff as to the cost of Vehicle Damage Cover and Vehicle Theft Cover. That you only pay the first 6 days and the rest is free and on collecting the car from Venice Marco Polo airport to be told that the excess was 1000 euro’s for damage and 2000 euro’s for theft and that the excess would be reduced down to zero if we took the Vehicle Damage Cover and Vehicle Theft Cover. fearful as we were travelling some 1500km in 9 days, we took the cover out. He told me it was 20 euros a day, what he didn’t tell me was that he had charged me for the whole 9 days. So 180 euros instead of the 120 euros I was expecting.
Could you explain the discrepancy
Hi Philip,
Thanks for posting your comment.
If you email me at comments@avis.co.uk with you rental details including your rental agreement number I will look into this for you and get back to you as soon as possible.
If you have any other questions please let me know.
Vicki