Car Hire Alicante airport

[wheat32]

DH is flying into Alicante airport later this month and then needs to get to Murcia. Previously he's hired a car but has been completely stung by "damage" once he got home. Any recommendations for a decent hire car company that aren't going to rip you off? He'd also consider a taxi but think that it might work out cheaper with a hire car for a couple of days.

He could take a bus from the airport or use one of the Renfe trains that are in Spain to arrive into Murcia from Alicante (takes about one and a quarter hours). Both would be cheaper than a hire car and he does not have the worry about where to park it or getting stung for damage.

Even if he encourages the hire car staff to inspect the car with him at the time of collecting it as well as taking photos it can still be a hassle to get any damage charges back.

Thanks Atilla , he's going close to Murcia airport rather than Murcia itself (which would have been so much easier!!) Whenever we go it's usually me that's been driving and did the checkover etc -once bitten twice shy!!

I’ve hired a car from Alicante airport 4 times now and each time i get bloody ‘stung’ I now hire online, get the basics from a reputable company and then expect to pay around another £60/£80 when I get there.

To add to that, I get all the insurance so if there is any damage then I don’t get any extra charges, I’d rather pay upfront and know the costs

This lists all the rental companies at Alicante.

He should not use Record or Goldcar, they are companies famous for scams, damage charges and long queues.

We've used Centauro in Mallorca and Avis in Malta with no problems. The others are likely to be fine but probably more expensive.

Whatever he does, he should take out excess insurance in the UK rather than the airport as it's much cheaper but then they will need to reserve a few hundred to 1000 euro on a credit card at the desk, but we've always had that back in full. If not, you claim from the insurance. You might also be able to go through the credit card as an unauthorised transaction as they have not refunded money as per agreement when you return car undamaged/they have charged a ridiculous amount for a tiny scratch that they won't bother fixing anyway.

Full details of all this in the rental car section under travel on Moneysavingexpert. But take photos of the car on pick up and drop off.

We have a house 2hrs south of Alicante and always use centauro.they arent the cheapest but never had any issues with them, and we have handed back cars with dents/ scratches etc too.

Take out separate excess insurance

Take photos when you collect and return the car.

Also always look for full to full.

Excess insurance before you go.

I’ve just got back from Alicante, and used Firefly. They were fine, but I’d echo what others have said about getting your own insurance. The hire companies hate it, and make a big thing about taking money off your credit card though.
Make sure whichever company you use is actually at the airport if you are in any sort of rush. Many of the cheaper ones are offsite and you have to get a shuttle bus which can add an hour to the whole horror.

We've found the off airport ones to be fine and not necessarily any slower than on airport with long queues.

Thank you all so much for replies. He used Lara cars which were great and didn't require your credit card for security!! TripAdvisor also had good reviews of them as well.