Car hire from palma airport

[Pixie18]

Has anyone ever hired a car from Palma airport for the duration of their holiday ? I am looking at prices but they seem insanely cheap ( around £80 for a very decent car for 8 days! ) and nervous it’s a scam … TIA

We hired one from Palma and it was around that price for a week. They gave us a Ford Eco boost. Took photos and pointed out any dings to the person handing the car to us. I think the company was Zest (?) was very easy to drive around Mallorca and we used the car every day and used up only €30 of fuel.

We did it twice but years ago. Used an off-airport rental and while we were fine apart from the hassle to get there from the airport with a small child, there were families who didn't get the confirmed car seat or the wrong car type.

Can't remember the company name though.

We now use only the big companies, Europcar, Avis, Sixt etc.

Do not use Goldcar under any circumstances

@MostlyGhostly oh gosh that was one I was looking at . Will avoid . Thank you !

That is very cheap for Mallorca.

I'd double check what the T&C's are.

Personally I always pay extra for no deposit, no excess. Wiber rental is good

@LadyGaGasPokerFace @reluctantbrit thank you! What great prices - transfers and taxis were extortionate!

Also with Wiber you can fill all the information in from home and just collect a key from an Amazon style locker

it’s almost impossible not to get pressured into the highest rate of insurance.

and some companies have funny rules about fuel.

I have used
record go and gold car
And the cars have been good- we love Peugeot partner teepees when we are in Mallorca- big boot. Very spacious back seats. Sliding doors good for small parking spaces.

Do not use Goldcar! One year after standing in line for over two hours I almost threw punches along with a few expletives at the woman at the counter. She was hostile, rude and insinuated that my husband would likely die if he didn't take their car insurance. I called for the manager and they didn't even remove her or make her apologize. We were hostages to the situation.

@Whataretalkingabout thank you , will deffo rule that one out !

We regularly hire cars in Majorca and have successfully used Goldcar many times without issue.

We've used Centauro and Hiper from there without issue.

Get your excess insurance in the UK, refuse all extra insurance they try and sell you and take a credit card for the deposit.

Read up on how not to get ripped off while hiring a car on Moneysavingexpert.com before you book.

Whenever you hire a car, remember that "full insurance" still has an excess. Cheap deals will not cover this, so you either need to buy the company's excess cover at the desk (€20 per day is not an uncommon price), or leave a big deposit on a credit card. You can buy separate cover for the excess, but the car hire company generally won't care about that, and they won't waive the excess on the basis that you hold the insurance.

The staff at the desk when you pick up the car are on commission to upsell you extras, whether that's excess insurance, breakdown cover, or whatever. Then when you bring the car back, at some less scrupulous companies, the person checking you in is incentivised to find tiny scratches that weren't mentioned on the checklist when you picked up the car and which they can bill you for "repairing". A well-hidden scratch, for example on the underside of the bumper, is like gold dust because they can bill multiple customers for it. They know that you are in a hurry to get your flight and aren't going to argue too much.

If you do feel like you are being ripped off, ask for the official consumer complaints book, which in Spanish is called "hoja de reclamaciones". This is a form that lets you fill out a complaint that will be looked at by the local consumer protection office. This is taken very seriously in Spain and dealing with the inquiry into your conplaint is a pain for the business. In fact, merely asking for the hoja de reclamaciones, and thus letting them know that you are aware of your rights, is often enough to make many issues disappear. It works in restaurants too.

Another near-scam to watch for is fuel policy. The cheapest deals sell you a taxi of fuel and you can bring the car back empty. But even if you do use a full tank in a week (not guaranteed in Majorca), you don't know the gauge, so you will probably bring it back with ¼ of a tank, which is profit for them. Look for full/full or same/same fuel deals, where you bring it back the way you took it out.

All that said... good companies at Palma airport that will treat you like an adult include Wiber, Hiper, Centauro, and Vanrell. But they will not do you a car with zero-excess insurance for €10 per day.

Yes, the £80 pw car from Goldcar will come with insurance that does not cover the wheels, tyres, glass or underside of the car or possibly other parts of it, and will have an excess of over 1000 euros which you will need to deposit with them to take the car.

You will be able to buy extra insurance for eg 20 euro per day which will more than double the cost of the car.

Another layer of protection is paying by credit card (if you're one of those people who 'doesn't need a credit card' this is why you do). It's a lot more palatable to let them reserve 1000 euros of your credit card limit than the same of actual money in your bank account and a lot easier to dispute if they decide not to give it back to you.

But to repeat, find the Moneysavingexpert guide to hiring cars abroad and follow it to the letter. But life will be so much easier if you pretend Goldcar and Record don't exist.

And don't be put off by the desk being off airport. We've always found the pick-ups quick enough and not necessarily take any longer than queuing at the airport behind a load of people trying to refuse all the extras and relearning 'if it sounds too good to be true it usually is' before giving in to the con just to get the car and get on with their holiday.

I hired a car from palma airport for 5 days, it was cheap

@Pixie18 yes, the transfers were more than hiring a car. I had to chuckle when we got to the hotel (without getting lost), unpacked, dressed and ready at the bar with wine in hand and people who were on our flight only arrived by the time I finished my wine 😂

Do you work for them? They are notoriously dodgy af

https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/car-hire/article/car-hire-company-reviews/goldcar-aLIoJ9U38WEs

https://amp.theguardian.com/money/2019/may/05/goldcar-holiday-car-hire-cheap-deal-cancel-change-booking

@MostlyGhostly no I don't work for Goldcar but we've used them in Majorca and Gran Canaria.

We used the service where the keys are dispensed from a vending type machine, perhaps that's better than having to queue up for the office.

In all honesty the service was absolutely fine and we weren't hit with any additional fees or charges. In fact when we collected one car we were offered a free upgrade and it was a brand new model with just delivery miles on the clock.

I don't leave reviews for things like hire cars whereas those with bad service always do, so I do take reviews with a pinch of salt. Or perhaps I'm just easy to please.

Are Cicar an option? We've used them every time we have visited the Canary Islands (i think they cover other areas too), well priced, great service, no deposit.

Brilliant ! 😂

Cicar doesn't operate in Majorca, unfortunately. Another great Canary company is Cabrera Medina.

We've used ROIG in Mallorca who were excellent

Ah that's a shame @samarrange was hoping to use them next time we go to the Balearic's