*Updated for 2024*
Nobody likes cancelled or delayed flights. For starters, it gets your holiday off on the wrong foot and puts you in a bad mood when you’re trying to relax. Unfortunately, these can often be completely unavoidable at times. In the event that you’re facing a flight delay or cancellation, we outline the best process for you to follow, and what could happen if you don’t.
Recent flight cancellations 2022
We’re aware of the complications created because of the recent flight cancellations due to aviation industry staff shortages. Over the jubilee weekend, 305 flights departing the UK were cancelled out of a total of 10,662 scheduled flights. We understand this is creating a lot of anxiety for summer holidays. As advised in this blog, please contact us if you have an issue with your flights and we will do our best to make sure your car hire booking goes to plan.
Providing your flight number with your booking
We always ask for a flight number when making a booking from an airport, unless you’ve requested a walk-in collection. Providing this number helps us and the provider track the flight if necessary.
Changes to your flight
As soon as you know that your flight has been cancelled or delayed, or if your flight number changes, contact us immediately. If you’re close to your travel dates, and are due to fly within 24 hours, we strongly advise that you call us. Depending on time zones and office hours, we may not pick up an email immediately. We provide 24/7 emergency telephone support so even if our office is shut, we can work to help accommodate your changes.
If you are no longer able to collect your rental car at the time you originally booked, do not assume that the vehicle will still be available to you when you do arrive – even if you’re only an hour late. With advance notice of a late collection, the majority of providers will aim to keep the booking available for up to 24 hours. Without notice, you may be deemed as a ‘no show’ and your booking cancelled.
Expecting to collect the car later than 24 hours after you originally planned? Unfortunately, we may have to cancel the original booking and make a new one for your new arrival time. It may not be possible to honour the original price you booked the vehicle at as the provider’s rate may have changed. This means that the new price for your booking may be higher or lower.
If we have to cancel your original booking, our cancellation policy will be in place.
Collecting past opening hours
Following your delay, if you are due to collect the vehicle from the provider outside their planned office hours, you will have to pay the “out of hours surcharge”. This charge covers the time required for a representative to stay and complete the vehicle handover. If the provider isn’t aware of your delay, they may not hang around to wait for you. It’s also possible that in quiet periods providers may close earlier if they regard you as a ‘no show’ and have no bookings after yours.
If the car rental company is unable to offer an out of hours service, you will be advised to collect your hire car from them when they are next open, usually the next day. When you contact us to let us know of your delay, we will advise you if this is the case.
“No show”
If we nor the provider are aware of your delay, don’t assume that they will wait for you or hold the vehicle. If you don’t turn up at the planned time, they may regard you as a no-show. This means the vehicle may no longer be available to you and you won’t be given a refund. You will have to make a new booking. Should this be the case, contact us at the time and we can check the rates. Liaising with the provider directly means you will have to pay local walk-in rates and any local extras.
Free Cancellation and Enhanced Protection with Zest
When booking with Zest, you can cancel and claim a full refund up to 48 hours before the rental begins. If your flight is cancelled, you can easily cancel through the My Account page on the website or by giving us a call.
You can also upgrade to the Enhanced Protection that gives you that extra peace of mind! When booking with Enhanced Protection you’ll be able to cancel and receive a full refund within the 48-hour period before the rental begins. This service costs £0.50 per rental day with a minimum charge of £2.50 and a maximum charge of £10.00 per booking. The only exception to Enhanced Protection is in the event of a no-show, where no money will be refunded.
If your flight cancellation or delay will affect your car hire
In the event of a flight delay or cancellation, always make us aware as soon as possible. We will work with the car rental company to work to the best possible outcome for you.
I like the clear and precise instructions surrounding the problems associated with delayed flights. Not used you before but so far our experience has been good and certainly better than Jet2 car hire who gave us incorrect info and even the incorrect car hire company !
I cannot find anything on the website as to the actual cost of top up insurance. I would like to know how much per day/week it costs in Malaga prior to booking a rental as I need to compare costs elsewhere…
Hi Bob,
The price of our Top-Up insurance varies per rental. If you proceed to step 2 of the booking process on a car rental quote, you can see exactly how much your Top-Up insurance will cost you for the duration of your rental.
I hope this helps,
Jake
If I have booked a car and my flight is delayed there should be no reason for the car not being available as I have already paid for the hire , therefore the car should be available for me for the rental period. I can understand that the representative may finish work if the delay is excessive and therefore the car would not be available until the office opens again but the car should still be there as it has been paid for. Also it is beyond the passengers control if the flight is delayed therefore they should not be penalised.
Dear Mr Lings,
Thank you for your comment. The situation you’ve provided as an example would be assessed on a case by case basis and all aspects taken into consideration. You would need to let the car rental provider, or ourselves, know that your flight is running late. If you don’t, there’s the possibility that they would mark you as a no-show as they wouldn’t know if you will collect the vehicle or not.
In some cases, we may be able to obtain a refund for you, but this would depend on the circumstances. We would always recommend you make attempts to make us, or the provider, aware of any delays.
Kind regards,
Zest Car Rental