France Car Rental Help

[Paul_Dids]

Afternoon all,

I'm after a bit of advice with hiring a car in France. The scenario is that there are four adults and an 18 month old flying to Carcassonne in September for a 10 day break at a friends villa. We need to hire a motor so I'm looking at the usual rental firms, Hertz, car hire 3000, Eurpcar etc, and it's a lot more expensive than I thought it was going to be.

For example a zafira sized car for the 10 days is the best part of £400 all in - a mondeo is about £340 and I think we'd struggle to fit in it with 3 suitcases and baby bits

So I just wanted to check if anyone had any recommendations/advice? Or is that what it costs and should I stop being a scrooge and just get it booked

Cheers
Paul

[siren69]

Have done this a couple of times at Carcassone, seems to be about the going rate.

Easy just to walk out of the airport, 50yds to collect the car.

[mogv8]

You can often hire two small cars for about the same cost as one larger car. The airline deals are sometimes worth checking (Ryanair / Hertz for example) but that depends on who you fly with.

Final option is to try via a specialist agent, I use 'holiday autos' sometimes, (part of lastminute who are themselves owned by Travelocity so part of a large group).

PS Hertz 20 or 25% booking discount for 30/60 days advanced booking seems to be a genuine discount, but make sure you click the link under special offers.... they dont give it automatically you have to go find it throught the special offers section.

Edited by mogv8 on Monday 19th July 20:21

[daveenty]

In Carcassonne every few weeks and, as has been said, it's about the going rate nowadays.

They seem to have shot up in price in the last 12 months or so unfortunately.

Even worse in Spain

I'm assuming that you're going in with Ryanair? If so, as mogv8 says, worth a check on their website as they partner Hertz. Sometimes cheaper than the usual broker sites.

Don't know where you're flying from (or where the villa is) but you can get to Perpignan or Toulouse direct from Manchester and you may get a better hire deal there?

In fact, just checked on Carhire3000 website and you can have a Scenic for £290 for 10 days in Perpignan.

Sorry if this is totally irrelevant, just that I'm naturally tight...

[Paul_Dids]

Thanks for the replies guys - all appreciated.

@Daveenty - Unfortunately the car hire is the last thing to book as we've got the villa and booked the flights to Carcassonne with RyanAir as we're close to Stansted. Thanks for looking at the other airports though, much appreciated.

I guess I'll just have to bite the bullet and get it booked. I did look on Avis and they are the best one so far as they do a free driver and a kids car seat for a reasonable price. It just seems that France is one of the most expensive places to hire a car at about £30 a day, compared to others which are nearer £20

I can have a Renault Scenic / Citroen C5 with Avis for about £320 for 10 days but just wondering if we'll all fit in lol