To not know what to do re. hiring a car in Amsterdam?

[WhitePhantom]

Hi, I'm going to Amsterdam shortly and am looking at hiring a car. I've never hired a car before and am reading all sorts of mixed reviews about the various car hire companies / brokers and don't know what to do / what to believe - they're all starting to sound awful!!

Can anyone who is familiar with hiring a car (in Amsterdam or elsewhere) give me some tips as to who's good to go with, what to watch out for, etc? I've no idea where to even start!

Thanks!

Do you really need a car? Amsterdam’s train/tram system is fab. You can hire bikes. It’s really easy. Driving in A’dam is not bad, but you’re better off on a bike, it’s not that massive.

The cheapest aren’t usually the cheapest beachside once you get to the desk they haven’t included damage insurance which is usually 3x the cost of the hire. If you don’t take it however and say the car gets scratched they will charge you 300€ +

And yes. Avoid if possible

Thanks - sorry, should have said Netherlands, not Amsterdam. Amsterdam is just where we're arriving into, but travelling all over.

Are you staying in Amsterdam itself because if so I wouldn't bother. Cyclists are king, the parking is crap and it will be seriously stressful. Take the train from the airport and walk ofbike if you're able.

If you have to rent the main thing to think sbout is getting the full insurance up front from a standalone company and not the rental company. You can get for afew quid what you'll pay ££ for otherwise. Have a look at Money Saving Expert for info. And make sure you have a credit card in the driver's name for any deposit.

If you do take out annual excess cover with insurance 4 hire or similar
It will cost about the same for 1 year as most hire companies charge you for 1 trip

I wouldn't hire a car for visiting Amsterdam.

I do hire cars quite a lot (5+ times a year) for work, here and abroad so my general tips:

Use a dedicated credit card. You'll have someone fighting your corner if needed, you'll notice erroneous charges, you can cancel it / reduce the limit afterwards and when they block the deposit you won't be short on cash.

Get third party insurance for the excess. Insurance will come with the vehicle but with a massive excess. I pay about 50GBP a year for insuring the excess down to a nominal amount.

Rent with a large company. I've only had bad experiences with smaller companies. The big multinationals tend to be better.

Be aware of extra costs like dropping off at unusual hours or collecting and delivering to different places.

Video the car including the person giving it to you. Close up of all damage inside and out. Include mileage and tread wear and under the vehicle.

Amsterdam is probably the one place you don't need a car! Check on 9292.nl for where you want to go by public transport. Uber also works. Don't try to drive downtown. There are too many tourists and driving in NL is really difficult with all the bikes if you're not used to it, plus they massively discourage driving by all the one-way streets and no parking. Trains are reasonably wheelchair friendly but you need to ask for staff assistance at the station due to a high step. Absolutely everyone speaks perfect English.

If you're not doing the tourist thing or really have to have a car, the easiest way is to get a car at the airport. Most airlines will give you a discount. They normally have a tiny mileage allowance and charge you a fortune if you drive too far, make sure you buy extra insurance and you need a couple of hundred free on your credit card for a deposit. All the big companies are much of a muchness.

But really, unless there's something else behind it, just don't! It'll be massively more expensive than taking the train and a complete pain in the arse.

Do you definitely need a car? The Netherlands public transport is great.

I have rented a car in other countries, Luzcar in Portugal is the best rental company I have ever used.

You will need your license with you and some companies freeze €1000 on your bank card for the week (which can be a bit of a shock if you didn’t know this) so check around to make sure you know exactly what they are charging. Car seats cost extra per day and you may have to pay for fuel or else return the car full of fuel. They are all different.

I really think a car in the Netherlands is not necessary though, we used a company called ‘sun transfers’ to bring us to our destination and rented bikes for the week then.

Having seen your answer, there's nowhere in the country that's much more than 2 hours from Amsterdam by train, and even tiny villages have buses. The traffic is awful on the highways and petrol is expensive. If you get an OV-chipcard when you first arrive, all of transport is joined up on one giant oyster-card-like network across the whole country.

We live there, go camping by train and bike and only hire cars if we're moving house or driving to Germany or Belgium.

Are you sure you want to drive in the Netherlands?! In my experience, the Dutch are the most delightful people on the planet until they get behind the wheel of a car! You will have to try and join motorways from short slip roads where absolutely nobody in the solid line of speeding traffic in the inside lane will give way to let you on. You will have massive intercontinental lorries tailgating you. The motorways can merge up to twelve lanes with v little time to get in the correct one before you end up in Belgium by mistake! My late DH’s family are Dutch, and we always found it a nightmare to drive over there.
The whole country has excellent public transport, however. And some of the quieter country roads are ok. Best of luck, OP! Oh, and photograph the whole of the hire car’s bodywork on your phone before you set off, and get the hire company to agree that any pre existing scratches and dents are NOT your liability.

As pp said you sometimes need £1000 plus available on a credit card. I got stuck in Portugal as I was happy for them to take card details but hadn’t realised they actually take a holding payment.
We lost out £60 deposit and had to fork out on taxis for 2 weeks

Don’t ! You don’t need one and parking is horrible in Amsterdam and you really have to watch out for the cyclists who have priority . We visit friends in The Netherlands quite frequently- by car ( our own) if we are going as a family and then within the country to their holiday house as well, but I also go on my own and fly into Amsterdam and then on by train to their house in another city or to The Hague or similar. Very good, reasonably priced public transport and I have never yet met a ticket office assstant without fluent English.

If you need a car for going elsewhere , rent it at the airport.

Thanks everyone! I'm looking up the OV card. There will be 6 of us, including one person in their 70's, and we have the use of a 5-seater car, so we're just looking at how we'll get around when we're going outside of Amsterdam (def not using a car in Amsterdam itself!).

The plan is to rent an additional small car, but maybe that's not the best option. Maybe I should travel by train each time and meet the rest of them at our destination... such peace and quiet for me!

There is a really good car rental company at Schiphol called BB&L - if you google them they get great reviews (I found them through the Trip Advisor forums). We have used them twice before and we are using them next month too. They’re definitely one of the better companies operating out of Schiphol as they meet you at arrivals with your car. Otherwise you can use the usual reputable well known ones like Sixt and Europcar etc but I think that involves faffing about with off-Airport transfers

Definitely take out excess insurance- i actually bumped a hire car in a car park and had to pay out £1000 to Europacar The excess insurance cost me £15 and paid out with minimal fuss within a few weeks. Had to fill in a bit of paperwork but never have i ever been so glad i had insurance! I think the same cover with Europacar would have cost at least £15 per day, although i wouldn't have had to pay out that initial 1k.

@Babdoc you didn't mention that indicator use seems to be viewed as swearing

My husband has started referring to cylopaths who always have right of way, but also don't believe in indicating, stopping for traffic lights or even looking up from their phones!

Once we leave Amsterdam, five travelling by car and one travelling by public transport seems to be a lot of hassle, so we're def. going to be hiring a car.

Thanks for the tips re. BB&L, and also the car hire excess insurance!

Just a couple of tips when driving in the Netherlands, remember cyclists rule there. If you are involved in an accident with a cyclist you are normally considered at fault (even if they cycled straight into you while looking at their phone).

The other thing is when opening your car door from the inside you are meant to open it with the hand not nearest the door (apparantly its the law), to ensure that you do not strike any cyclists going pass. Opening this way causes your body to turn making it more likely you will see cyclists.

Thanks Purple, I didn't know that about cyclists rule!

I remember hearing the thing about opening the car door like that, now that you mention it - it's actually a really good idea.

A word of warning, they have a really strange way of driving. Say you’re on the inside lane. The car behind we’ll come right up to you, we’ll go on the outside lane for a bit then pull in right in front of you again, without warning/signalling. You look at it on the motorway and it looks like they’re all agresive, weaving in and out and covering the same distance twice with all the pulling out and then right back in again once they see a car in front of them. Everybody does it. Not sure why, but just be warned, it can be a bit unsettling.

*will not we’ll, sorry

Yikes, thanks for the heads up on that 8!

Yes cyclists always have right if way over any other rules. Let them do their thing before you do yours!

Just returned from Amsterdam you don't need a car ! Look at I am Amsterdam website you can buy a card that gives free bus and trams and free boat ride. The ferries behind central train station are also free. Train to and from airport to Amsterdam is about £5 each way. Or you can buy one day bus or tram ticket. You can also buy the Hop On Hop off red sightseeing bus ticket. Food is expensive