[paulmears]

I am going back to UK for Xmas period and will need to hire car from Heathrow for about 10 days.

Does anybody have any experience on cheapest rates eg on-line, via a HK travel agent (who may get better rates ?), or any other way. I do not have access to corporate rate so no discount that way and don't really want to be paying rack.

Also anybody had good/bad experinece at Heathrow with any of the big boys Avis, Hertz , etc with car not being ready, etc. Gettng back to UK on 22nd so do not really fancy having hassle getting car before tacking the M4 London exodus.

thanks

[DaveD]

Hi Paul!

Check out the major player's websites directly, that will save you some pounds.

Europcar (http://www.europca.co.uk)
Avis (http://www.avis.co.uk)
Sixt (http://www.e-sixt.co.uk/)

Hertz is quite expensive, give the a.m. a try.
Both in Germany and England I rented a car from Sixt a few times and was always satisfied.

There are also some websites that compare the prices of all major car rental companies, but experience has shown that the prices are not as good as the direct way.

Originally Posted by paulmears

I am going back to UK for Xmas period and will need to hire car from Heathrow for about 10 days.

Does anybody have any experience on cheapest rates eg on-line, via a HK travel agent (who may get better rates ?), or any other way. I do not have access to corporate rate so no discount that way and don't really want to be paying rack.

Also anybody had good/bad experinece at Heathrow with any of the big boys Avis, Hertz , etc with car not being ready, etc. Gettng back to UK on 22nd so do not really fancy having hassle getting car before tacking the M4 London exodus.

thanks

[PDLM]

I've always ended up going direct and simply compariing the prices online on the majors' websites at the point I needed to make the booking. The most important factor in the price is booking it as early as possible. More often than not I have ended up with Avis in the UK and I have never had a problem with Heathrow pickup or dropoff. (I've also used Budget ex-LHR, Hertz ex-MAN and Avis ex-SYD without any problems.)

One other thing to play with on the websites is to change the "Country of Residence" between any places that you could show a plausible claim to. The prices will often vary, sometimes significantly. For hire in the UK I have found that UK residence almost always gives a lower price than HK residence, but for hire in Australia I have recently found the reverse. Since I hold both UK and HK driving licences I use whichever is cheaper.

[paulmears]

thanks guys, didn't think of changing country of residence, thats a useful tip. Holding UK, HK and Canada licence so should be some scope.

[penguinsix]

I generally prefer Orbitz for car rentals, but I'm not sure if they only do US. It's a nice site as it shows you all the cars and companies side by side.

One thing to note is that is somewhat common to be asked to put a £1000 deposit on your credit card while you have the car. Or £500 or something like that. If your credit cards are HK based, you may want to call the bank and let them know you'll be doing quite a bit of charging in the UK and to allow charges to go through (I had to sort one out on a cell phone in Edinburgh once at 11:00 at night--real pain).

[en_sursis]

hi, returning to the uk yearly and having experience with most major car rental firms, i have found that the cheapest is 'thrifty'. one thing you need to be careful about which i found out early this year is that they now quote you the online price minus the insurance. it is only when you get there that you realise there is another 150 pound premium on top of the online quote. they never used to do this so please be careful. thrifty are quite honest and their quotes include the minimum coverage required by law. please check all the small print to make sure as i don't know of any recent changes. however, you will need to take the hopper bus (3 pounds?) to get there as it is in one of the airport hotels (sheraton heathrow i think).
good luck.