We all have our preferences. I know for a fact that some of you would never entertain picking up a car off site. However, through my own personal experiences I have to tell you that sometimes it can be quicker! You can get on the road without a hitch. It’s also less stressful than going to a desk in the airport.
Photo by: sasimoto/Fotolia
So here are a few pros and cons of collecting your hire car on site and off site. Maybe next time you’ll consider an “off site” experience for a change.
Collecting your car on site
- Expect long queues at peak times. With popular car rental providers in particular, the queue can be round the block and back.
- Dark car parks. Airport car parks are always dark. It can be difficult to check the vehicle properly for any unrecorded damage, let alone actually finding your car in the first place.
- Driving straight into busy airport traffic. This to me is the worst! Having to drive straight into very busy airport traffic and then get on to the road to your destination. It can be scary, especially with the taxi drivers everywhere. They know where they’re going and you don’t!
Photo by: gui yong nian/Fotolia
Collecting off site
Easy to get to, but a long wait? All off site suppliers have a regular shuttle service. If you’re unlucky enough to miss the pick-up, you’ll generally have to wait another 15 minutes. The depots are normally only a 10 minute journey away.
- Less queuing time. Because it’s the suppliers own premises, there is more room. This means more reps to do the paperwork.
- Vehicles are mostly in the open. You can easily inspect your hire car upon collection. To top it off, there isn’t a long walk back to the office if anything is amiss.
- Familiarise yourself with the car. Because depots are usually located a short distance from the busy airport, you can take the car for a quick spin to get used to the vehicle. Once you’re ready, hop straight onto the main road and avoid negotiating the busy airport link roads.
- Hassle-free return. This is the best bit! When dropping the car back to the depot, the shuttle bus takes you straight to the departures. This really does save a lot of time.
Photo by: zimmytws/Fotolia
My own experience …
On two recent trips to Malaga I tried both on and off airport, timing both scenarios.
- Desk in airport – it took one hour to be on the motorway.
- Offsite shuttle bus service – we were speeding to our destination in 30 minutes.
There’s no contest, for me it’s off site every time! What do you think? We would love to hear your experiences.
Economy Car Hire offer car hire both on and off site options at most locations. Our prices always include built-in excess insurance and no amendment fees. We also include a free additional driver where possible. Get a quote now with the Which? top rated car hire broker for 4 years in a row.
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Written by Pam Sexton.
when driving on my own, I have avoided off site car hire, because I would like to have a map or directions on how to reachthe motorway and on my return to reach the car park.
I’ve had mixed experiences. Indeed yes a very long wait in the queue at the airport which was frustrating. On the other hand the main downside for me is that it is another transfer, finding your collection point, luggage etc. After a flight even a short one I prefer not to have to deal with another transfer. It would be great to set up a quick collection of the keys at the airport desk. Simply more staff or some form of pre registration prior to your arrival.
Totally agree with your comments. I consider picking up from the airport much easier and anything that can be done to speed things up there would be appreciated by many. With airlines you have to supply passport information before hand so why not with car hire? Surely that would speed things up somewhat?
Good morning,
In some cases it can be possible for the supplier to have certain details pre-filled, but it does depend on various factors. It can be worth speaking to our Reservations Team who can advise on whether forms can be pre-filled as it will be judged on a case-by-case basis. A “speedy check-in service” is something we hope to develop in the future.
Kind regards,
Jessica
Zest Car Rental
The article is completely at variance with my experience of hiring a car at Faro Airport, on many occasions. The airport car park there is in the open air and you can easily see the vehicle, the approach roads to the airport are wide and traffic is not too bad. On one occasion a few months back we made the mistake of using an offsite supplier: never again! They sent an eight-seater minibus as the shuttle but there were about twenty people waiting for it and we had to wait in the open for its third return before we got picked up. There was an hour’s wait at the office when we finally got there, and they went over the car with a fine toothcomb. The car itself was great and the return was no problem, but from landing at the airport to driving off took three hours! Never again!
Some years ago we did an offsite in Mallorca never again, one minibus to shuttle legions, get to the site queuing in the hot sun with children nightmare and it all took ages. Lesson learned we pay the extra and get it from the airport
Just picked up offsite.what a pain. 15mins for transfer vehicle to turn up and 30 minutes to actually getting seen to. Much prefer picking up in airport. All offsite wanted was for us to buy their insurance and even gave a printed list of costs for and damage done. Will not be booking with them again. Onsite much quicker. Even if slightly more expensive. I buy my insurance with ECH. 7 days not more than £25, yet the offsite car hire wanted 117€. No contest. Well done ECH. Will not be booking with sol Mar again. Not very professional.
Hi. The issue is you don’t say that someone will meet and greet you at Malaga airport. We had to get a cab to Cargest at a cost of €20 for a 2 minute drive because we went to the waiting area outside and no one turned up. They then told me they were holding a card up but it doesn’t say that on your site
Dear Pete,
I am sorry to hear about the issues you experienced upon collection with CarGest. We would always recommend contacting ourselves in situations such as this so that we can help to locate the local representative for you. I hope that despite this initial issue, that everything else went smoothly with your rental.
Kind regards
Gemma
Economy Car Hire
I have rented cars off your company many times. Unfortunately the arrival time of my flight is 11.45pm and if I had to collect car then, it 8s too dark to inspect car properly and also I would be charged a ridiculous after hours fee of 25 euros. The company doesn’t,’the deliver to the place we stay at which is only 15 mins away from airport which means I have to organise lift the next day to collect the car. There shouldn’the be such a hefty after hours fee and that would avoid a lot of hassle. Hope you take this on board as I am a very customer of yours!
Dear Mrs Ethell,
Thank for your your feedback and for choosing to book with us once again. I apologise for your disappointment with the out of hours fees levied by the car rental suppliers that we work with in Malta. Unfortunately, many of them operate with limited opening hours. I will pass your comments onto our Supplier Team so they can look into this further.
With regard to the option for local deliveries, I would advise that next time you are looking to make a booking that you contact us via email or phone (if you have not tried this before) to see if we can arrange a delivery for you. It depends on the supplier, location and situation but we will certainly try and help where we can.
I hope that all is going well with your rental. If we can assist you any further, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Kind regards
Gemma
Economy Car Hire
Hi,
Have only ever used one on site car hire desk – was not that fast and it was over 10 years ago.
Usually always use the cheapest and it’s always off site and as you found out on your way in no more than 30 minutes from leaving the arrivals door!
Fastest was Malaga on a 21:30 arrival from Manchester one December – everyone was waiting for us to go home.
Keep up your good work nearly time to book again.
Regards
The Duncan Family