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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think we are being ripped off....

28 replies

busyboysmum · 13/01/2017 23:13

Just booked car hire for Portugal for the Easter holidays.

My mum is flying out 2 days before the kids break up on the Thursday and for 15 days car hire she has paid £113.

We are flying out with the kids on the Saturday as don't want them to miss any school but flying back the same day as my mum. For 13 days car hire with the same company, same car we are paying £256.

This has really annoyed me. I can understand that we have paid a lot more for our flights out on the Saturday as it is within the holiday period but this just seems so blatant.

I even asked if we could start our hire period on the Thursday but not pick the car up until the Saturday to get the cheaper price but no.

AIBU to think this is out of order?

OP posts:
BackforGood · 13/01/2017 23:31

Prob too late if youve now booked, but couldnt your mum have just hired a bigger car?

CatsRidingRollercoasters · 13/01/2017 23:33

Have you booked it as an add on to your flights? In my experience when I've shopped around that is a very costly way of doing it.

I would cancel it and book it separately. For the last few years we have always booked through carhire3000.com and compared all the rates.

m0therofdragons · 13/01/2017 23:33

Er supply and demand? It sucks but not new.

Original poster
busyboysmum · 13/01/2017 23:39

We booked through Holiday Autos who do compare all the prices.

I understand about supply and demand. It just seems annoying we are hiring for the exact same period except ours is 2 days less and costs double.

We'd need a minibus to fit us all in one vehicle with our luggage and don't think mum would feel happy driving one.

OP posts:
EggnogChai · 13/01/2017 23:41

But you said in your op it was the same car?

bumsexatthebingo · 13/01/2017 23:44

There will be more people wanting cars in the holidays though so they can charge more. If you don't hire it there will be others that will. Is it just your mum flying out early or does she have a partner who could hire a car for you?

Tartyflette · 13/01/2017 23:45

Have you booked an additional driver? You have to pay more for that.

Original poster
busyboysmum · 13/01/2017 23:48

No additional driver.

Same type of car.

Thanks for the top about carhire 3000. They seem cheaper so I have cancelled both bookings through Holiday Autos. Really glad I posted on here.

Thanks for the tip Smile

OP posts:
GlitteryFluff · 13/01/2017 23:49

I'm assuming she means two normal sized cars is enough for everyone. One her mum has hired and she is hiring the second. If her mum hired one for everyone it would need to be a mini bus..

Trills · 13/01/2017 23:51

Upping prices in a time of high demand is not ripping off.

The company are being silly not to raise prices for people whose rental periods start before the rush but extend into the rush.

GettingScaredNow · 13/01/2017 23:53

Having worked in the industry for 8 years.
Yes you are being ripped off.
By holiday autos. Never use a third party agent. Go direct with the car hire firm.

HA will have an account with the hire firm and will have set rates. These rates can change at peak times but still way lower then your paying HA. (Fair enough it's business)

Then there's the insurance extras, deposits, add on drivers. These usually cost more through HA, and cover less.

Nothing you can do now, but learn for the future. I worked at standard airport car rental for 4 years and the clients who had used holiday autos and other third parties always got the most ripped off and had the worst experiences.

Tartyflette · 13/01/2017 23:56

Are you going to Faro? Rentalcars.com is a comparison website, thry have prices from around £180, small car, for 13 days over the easter period. (10-23 April)

Ginkypig · 14/01/2017 00:05

I'd call the company and say your mother has hired the same car for the same holiday for 2 days more and she's been charged this, they might match it.

Iv never hired a car though so my advice is general company money saving tricks rather than specific.

Original poster
busyboysmum · 14/01/2017 00:09

I did try it....... computer says no 😆

OP posts:
Original poster
busyboysmum · 14/01/2017 00:11

Unfortunately direct with the car hire firm doesn't seem to work out any cheaper.

However I have saved my mum another £30 by going with a different agent. Our car however is still disproportionately expensive.

OP posts:
melj1213 · 14/01/2017 02:34

Would it not have been possible to have booked 2 cars for when your mum flys in and have had her pick up both?

IDk if you were staying close enough to the airport/another pickup point to make that feasable for her to pick up one car then go back and get the other and then keep it till you arrive.

Trainspotting1984 · 14/01/2017 02:37

Be careful it's not gold car. Con artists

lokisglowstickofdestiny1 · 14/01/2017 02:47

Melj no because OP would then be an additional driver on one of the cars and would cost extra. I think the additional driver charge would be applied for the whole hire period.

Original poster
busyboysmum · 14/01/2017 08:36

I will never use Gold Car again. Been stung by them once. Dreadful firm.

We're about an hour's drive from the airport and my mum's in her 70s so don't want her to have to mess around for us.

We're just going to have to pay. Now found her a car for £77 for the 15 days which makes the £245 for our 13 days look even more annoying 😠

OP posts:
OohNoDooEy · 14/01/2017 08:40

You can try the firms own Portuguese website. We booked through thrifty us site last year as cheaper than the uk/Spanish site

Lifecanonlygetbetter · 14/01/2017 09:21

One way the price is bumped up is by the amount you pay for excess cover. On one holiday it looked to add 40% to the rental cost, however we always but it as we got hit in a car park in Italy and the other driver left, so we had a bill for over £300. However you can get this much cheaper from independent companies. We once paid £18 rather than £70+.

thecolonelbumminganugget · 14/01/2017 09:29

A group of us once hired a car a in Spain to be picked up at 9am, we had a lazy morning instead and went around 1 to pick it up and they had given the car away despite the fact that we'd pre booked and paid for it. It was in the terms and conditions that we had to pick the car up within a certain time frame. Annoying for us but we were only doing a bit of sightseeing, it wasn't the end of the world.

Anyway, my point is, if you do book the car earlier to save the money then plan on picking it up 2 days later, be sure to check the terms and conditions!

BBCK · 14/01/2017 09:54

Try Zit autos at Faro airport. Despite the dreadful name they were way cheaper than everyone else last time we went there. Don't be put off by their lack of physical office either. We had to meet them by the coffee
machine in the airport but they were a genuine company who have plenty of cars based at the airport. I got their name from personal recommendations so not sure if they will show up on comparison website.

needmymouthsewnup · 14/01/2017 13:52

We recently hired a car for just over 2 weeks with National I think. The cost of the car itself wasn't too bad but the additional driver was an additional 8 pounds per day, some of the other companies were charging 10 pounds per day. Over 2.5 weeks, this really increased the cost. We didn't really have a choice but to have 2 drivers, but could you consider only having one driver if you're not going to be doing too much driving around? This might reduce the cost?

needmymouthsewnup · 14/01/2017 13:53

Oh sorry, ignore me, I just saw you don't have an additional driver anyway... Blush