Car Hire

[HampshireRich]

Exactly right bruce - talk about "cake and eat it" - the unsociable hours flights are the cheapest - people are willing to travel early hours or very late hours to get the best fares - and that is their right to do so. However, you cannot expect everyone to do these unsociable hours to meet your convenience without extra costs. Simple as that. I doubt whether EMM has seen a business case for a Car Rental company in Portugal - I suspect Steen has!

Now Lazerblaser has looked at this and it appears he is not happy with the costs - so like everyone else, he can look elsewhere and see if he can get better value for money or cheaper and less service, he can speak to Steen and say its getting too dear and there is a danger people will walk away from Algarvedriver - in which case Steen needs to make a decision, or Lazer can just put up with it. There doesn't seem too many people on here who are too concerned - I personally don't care because I always fly at civilised times

[HampshireRich]

Just got the quote from Zitauto and it is better than Algarvedriver by quite a margin and covers Spain as far as Seville.

Does it include unsociable hours pick-up and drop off? - can't see that on the website?

[joeysoap]

Travelrent are the company I use. They have informed me more than once that they don't charge for early/late flights. Only time I was back at airport for late (ish) flight I used Best Deal and they had a post box for late departure on side of their van. I stopped using them when they started giving me crap cars.

[laserblazer]

Just got the quote from Zitauto and it is better than Algarvedriver by quite a margin and covers Spain as far as Seville.

Does it include unsociable hours pick-up and drop off? - can't see that on the website?

I told them what time I arrive and depart, so I assume it's included.

[HampshireRich]

Just got the quote from Zitauto and it is better than Algarvedriver by quite a margin and covers Spain as far as Seville.

Does it include unsociable hours pick-up and drop off? - can't see that on the website?

I told them what time I arrive and depart, so I assume it's included.

If you can remember and you use them, let us know how you got on.

[laserblazer]

It won't be until April. I'm booked with Algarvedriver for the next two trips.

[EMM]

They are NOT Unsociable hours , they are when the airlines schedule their flights.
OK so I could drive 3 hours to gatwick ( eachway ) with the costs of fuel and parking just to suit the working hours of the car hire companies.
They are a service and if they want to thrive they should meet the needs of all of their clients not just the 9-5 arrivals and departures.

[HampshireRich]

They are NOT Unsociable hours , they are when the airlines schedule their flights.
OK so I could drive 3 hours to gatwick ( eachway ) with the costs of fuel and parking just to suit the working hours of the car hire companies.
They are a service and if they want to thrive they should meet the needs of all of their clients not just the 9-5 arrivals and departures.

They are unsociable hours - the cheap airlines get these slots because they are not convenient times and charges are less. Car Hire companies are private businesses - not a free service. You use them like the buses and trains. Do you get trains going at 2:00am? Are the busues running all night on regular stops? No - but if they did, you would pay a premium for that capability.

[Bruce Wallis]

They are NOT Unsociable hours , they are when the airlines schedule their flights.
OK so I could drive 3 hours to gatwick ( eachway ) with the costs of fuel and parking just to suit the working hours of the car hire companies.
They are a service and if they want to thrive they should meet the needs of all of their clients not just the 9-5 arrivals and departures.

Good forbid that I should be seen agreeing with EMM, but this is actually a money making scam.

Until recently, it didn't matter what time you arrived or left, there was always staff available with the car hire companies to serve the customers, and at no extra charge.
It was part and parcel of operating a car rental company at an airport.

The airlines havent suddenly just started the out of hours flights, it's always been the case, although, I do recognise that Ryanair have increased the number of early morning departures.

[HampshireRich]

So why do taxi firms charge extra after midnight if not to compensate for unsociable hours and the fact not many trains and buses run then? Is that a scam or just good business? Why do workers get shift allowance - are you saying that there should be a flat rate no matter what shift you work? The unions would have a field day in the UK

[bruce]

I wouldn't expect a hire company to send someone out late at night/early morning to meet maybe one customer, the flight could arrive later than schedule, somebody has to pay!

[EMM]

Have you ever been at faro when their are no UK flights or charters from Holland and Germany due. it is deader than a dodos doo dah.
There is no need for the hire companies to have paid staff there and most do not.
They need only be there for when there is a need and if that is odd hours then so be it.
Its called flexible working . The number of hours worked equal to the demand for their service.
I doubt that the car hire reps are getting a significant premium for working these early and late hours.