Car rental companies are based on a structure of independent operators, franchisors/ees, agencies, brokers and consolidators that is so interwoven and spaghetti-like, it is almost impossible for the consumer to understand who they are renting from and whether they are actually the operator of the car being hired! Or put another way, here are some of the key brands for British travellers. It is likely any one particular car could be rented through any number of them.
(That said, where possible you should try to rent cars for overseas use from companies based in the UK. In the event of dispute this will make it a little easier to get your money back. To avoid un-expected post-rental charges being made to your credit card for alleged damage for which you were not responsible, always try to return your rental car during office hours and get it 'signed off'. If you have to make a 'key-drop return' out-of-hours, take detailed photos of the car.
In general you should resist the car rental companies' emphasis on convenient fast-track collections and returns. It can be risky. Try to consider time spent checking a car out and in, as a security investment, making sure you and the company agree on the condition of the car when you accept it, and when you return it.)
See also Classic/Vintage Car Rental |
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| 3to6 Autos |
08727 321 326 |
Specialist long-term (3 - 6 months) UK car rental. Sister brand to National & Alamo in the UK. |
| Alamo |
0870 400 4562 |
One of the global leaders with 150,000 cars available from over 1,000 locations throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. Began life in Florida in 1974 with four locations and 1,000 cars, so ("do the math!") for the last thirty years they've been expanding on average by 5,000 cars and 33 locations per annum! Must be getting something right! |
| Apex Easy Fleet |
0800 652 6688 |
Specialist long-term (1 - 12 months) UK car rental. |
| Auto Europe |
0800 169 6414 |
Part of the MyTravel group, offering not just car rental, but also motorhomes, sports cars, jeeps, luxury vehicles, and chauffeur-driven limos. |
| Autorent Europe |
0870 8443263 |
European network of local car agencies. |
| Avis
|
0870 60 60 100 |
One of those brand names (like Hilton) with a less-than-simple corporate structure behind it. There are two completely separate Avis car rental companies presenting one face through mutual marketing agreements. Avis Rent A Car System, Inc. has 1,700 locations in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the Latin American/Caribbean region. Avis Europe Plc is a UK-based company with 3,050 Avis locations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. It makes little difference to us though. You can still get cars at good rates all over the world. But it does explain why Avis in the UK was recently making such a fuss about 'new' state-of-the-art kerbside check-ins when they've been doing it at Avis locations in the U.S. for almost a decade!. |
| Blue Wheels |
0800 052 6120 |
Low-cost agency offering discounted rates on cars through major car rental companies such as Alamo, Enterprise and National. |
| British Car Rental |
0113 237 6879 |
Mostly UK hire but as a subsidiary of Europcar they have access to over 120 car rental stations in the UK, covering over 22 UK airports, and throughout the world. Also prestige car hire. |
| Budget Rent-a-Car |
08701 56 56 56 |
Budget is one of the world's biggest rental companies with has more than 3,000 locations, including over 800 airports, in over 120 countries and territories. The chain has around 1,000 corporate-owned and franchised locations throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa, with 80 locations in the UK. Their new (March 04) UK website, www.budget.co.uk, has just won an award for ease of use & design. |
| CarDelMar |
0905 848 0102 |
Online holiday car rental broker launched in 2005. Now (May 08) offering rentals in almost 50 countries. |
| Car Hire Centre |
0870 727 1727 |
Car hire broker offering online quotes for worldwide car hire. |
| Carhire.co.uk |
0870 420 4175 |
Online car hire agency booking from rental companies operating in Spain, France, Italy and the USA. |
| Car Hire Direct |
08700 55 00 44 |
Brand name for Autobookers, a worldwide car hire broker. |
| CarRentals |
0845 225 0845 |
Online car rental agency offering major rental brands such as Alamo, Hertz, Budget, Europcar at 4,000 locations worldwide, but focused on Europe. |
| Dollar Rent-a-Car |
0800 085 4578 |
Major U.S. car rental company with more then 260 suburban and on-airport rental car locations at all major airports throughout the United States. Dollar also has international car rental locations mostly in Canada, the Caribbean & Latin America. Formerly part of the DaimlerChrysler group, the Dollar fleet comprises Chrysler, Dodge & Jeep vehicles and is a sister brand to Thrifty. We are going to see more of Dollar in the UK. The UK company that has the rights to the Thrifty brand has now been licenced to use the Dollar name. They've recently (03/04) opened locations at Birmingham, Edinburgh, Gatwick, Glasgow and Heathrow airports. |
| EasyCar |
0906 33 33 33 3 |
Launched as easyRentaCar.com by easyJet's founder Stelios Hajiiannou in 2000 to offer simple car hire (one car type only) in the UK. Now, as easyCar it uses locally based car hire companies to provide a range of vehicles at around 300 locations in France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece, and Cyprus. They still have some unique practices in the UK such as advertising on their cars, and no one-way rentals or delivery/collection services. |
| Economy Car Hire |
0845 450 0877 |
Car hire broker specialising in Mediterranean holiday car rental quotes |
| Enterprise Rent-a-Car |
0870 350 3000 |
Claims to be the largest car rental firm in North America, with a UK division. |
| Europcar |
0870 607 5000 |
One of the biggies. Europcar is the largest European car rental company, with a fleet of over 200,000 vehicles at 2,650 locations in 118 different countries covering Europe, The Middle East, Africa, Indian Ocean, Central America, Mexico, Caribbean and Asia -Pacific. In 1999 Europcar became a fully owned subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group so the fleet has been made up of Volkswagen, Audi, Seat and Skoda, Mercedes, Rover, Renault and Fiat. They say their vehicles are never more than 6 months old or have more than 14,000 miles on the clock. In June 2006 VW sold Europcar to French investment group, Eurazeo. |
| EveryCarHire.com |
n/a |
Discounted car rental from over 4000 locations worldwide with a wide range of rental companies including Hertz, Alamo, Budget and Europcar. |
| Exclusive Car Hire |
01992 444009 |
UK luxury car hire company offering a large selection of Porsche, Ferrari, BMW, Mercedes, Jaguar, Audi, Toyota and other luxury & performance cars. |
| FloridaCarHire.com |
0870 990 9312 |
Bet you didn't know there was such a niche company! Well there is. They are UK based, they've been around since May 2000, and they just do hire cars in Florida. They claim to offer the most competitive and flexible car hire services in Florida. You can book online. |
| Fourmotion |
01342 304899 |
UK car rental from cities & airports. Simple online booking. |
| Guy Salmon |
0870 600 7006 |
GS have always operated at the luxury end of the market with a saloon & sports utility fleet of Mercedes, BMW, Land Rover & Jaguar, and a performance/soft-top fleet of Mercedes, Porsche, Audi & Saab. They also offer chauffeur services. A brand of National car rental (see below). |
| Hertz |
08708 484848 |
One of the world's best-known global brands. It started in Chicago in 1918 with six Ford model-Ts and now has around 7,000 locations in over 150 countries worldwide. |
| Holiday Autos |
n/a |
Started out as a cheap (and always colourful!) holiday car rental specialist covering the main Mediterranean holiday destinations. Now it is a part of Lastminute.com and has expanded to offer low rate online rentals from local car companies at 4,000 locations worldwide. |
| Leisure Cars |
0870 707 1001 |
Discounted all-inclusive car hire rates worldwide with car rental companies such as Alamo and Europcar and local national partners including Auto Europa in Italy and Europa Rent A Car in Spain. |
| Link Car Rental |
0870 7058423 |
Leisure rental car agency focusing on Greece, Spain, Portugal & Ireland. |
| Moores |
01932 859943 |
Car rental broker specialising in UK airport locations. |
| National |
0870 600 6666 |
National is one of the largest car rental companies in the UK with a fleet of around 45,000 vehicles at over 170 branches. Overseas, their network covers 3,200 rental locations in over 83 countries with a fleet of 350,000+ vehicles. Guy Salmon (See above)is a National brand. |
| No.1 Renta Car |
0870 600 90 90 |
Wirral-based broker for car rental in the UK & abroad, with all the major brands. |
| Pelican Car Hire |
01625 58 6666 |
British car rental company with a network of locations in Spain, Portugal, France, Switzerland, Italy, Cyprus, the Canary Islands, Florida and other destinations worldwide. |
| Premier Car Hire |
08700 55 66 33 |
Online booking for rental cars worldwide using local companies and multi-nationals. |
| Practical Car & Van Hire |
0121 772 8599 |
Claim to be the fourth largest car & van rental company in the UK. They have 160 locations in the UK & Ireland. |
| Skycars |
0870 789 7 789 |
Online booking for worldwide (mainly Europe) car rental from airport locations run by the likes of Budget, Europcar, National, Maggiore, Citer, Alamo, Sixt, Europa, Crown, Auriga and Sol Mar. |
| Sixt |
0845 600 6660 |
Stylish European car rental company launched in Germany in 1912 by Martin Sixt with seven cars. Recently (Sept 03) formed a partnership with Payless Car Rental giving Sixt customers access to Payless rental locations in North America (USA and Canada), Central America and South America, and vica versa. The Sixt group in the UK now includes the Kennings Car Hire company. |
| Specific Car Hire |
01243 862303 |
Small agency specialising in holiday car hire in Spain and Portugal |
| Suncars |
0870 500 5566 |
Leisure car rental specialist, part of the First Choice group. Trading also as First4Extras.com, they offer supplementary travel services to First Choice customers, IE. Airport car parking, airport hotels, airport lounges, and holiday car rental. |
| SunWheels |
08707 577 555 |
Online brokerage offering holiday car rentals in Europe, South Africa, the USA, Australia and New Zealand. |
| Thrifty |
01494 751600 |
Major worldwide car rental company with over 1,100 locations in 64 countries. Thrifty is sister company to Dollar Rent-a-car. |
| US RentaCar.co.uk |
0845 226 8523 |
Specialist US car rental company with several brands: Florida Rent A Car.co.uk, California Rent A Car.co.uk and U.S. Rent A Car Online.com. |
| Simply Wheelz |
n/a |
No-frills car rental brand launched in Feb 08 by Hertz, aimed at UK travellers flying to Alicante and Malaga. |
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