Car Hire from Gerona Airport

Steve&Julie · Post by **Steve&Julie** » Sat 05 Jan 2008 19:17

Hi all,

I am yet again hiring a car to drive up to Coustouges soon. It seems that all my usual previous operators are now charging extra for driving in France although that wasn't always the case. Does anyone know of an operator that does not levy the 7 euro charge per day?

Thanks!

Kathy · Post by **Kathy** » Sat 05 Jan 2008 19:31

Hertz doesn't charge to take a car into France from Spain.

Nigel and Karen · Post by **Nigel and Karen** » Sat 05 Jan 2008 21:20

Hertz, or some of the bigger cars from Holidayautos.

Helen · Post by **Helen** » Sun 06 Jan 2008 00:13

Avis doesn't charge for taking into France either.

Just completed a week's hire through them which matched Ryanair's Hertz 'discount'

Ian · Post by **Ian** » Sun 06 Jan 2008 00:46

We use Hertz and have never had problems with extra charges. If you a regular user, sign up for for their gold card - hire a small car and you usually come away with an upgrade, (from Gerona), if you want it.
Also recommend you take out a policy from insurance4carhire.com. Very cheap annual cover covers you for excess and lots of extras.

john · Post by **john** » Sun 06 Jan 2008 12:31

I'd agree with this.Whilst I've not hired one recently,when I did,the bigger operators ex GRO do not have any problem with taking the cars to France.Also if you shop around on their sites you can usually get a good deal.

Steve · Post by **Steve** » Sun 06 Jan 2008 21:44

I have just returned home after 10 days & was not charged anything extra for hiring a car with Avis @ Barcelona airport & driving into France.

I dont know if they still do it but when we bought our house in 2001 somebody told me that if you bought shares in Avis you would get a discount on each occasion you hire a vehicle. I purchased £400.00 of shares & get a 50% discount on any vehicle we hire.

Mind you it still hurts when they charge you £40.00 a day for a Renault Espace even after the discount

Steve

sue and paul · Post by **sue and paul** » Sun 06 Jan 2008 21:47

john wrote:I'd agree with this.Whilst I've not hired one recently,when I did,the bigger operators ex GRO do not have any problem with taking the cars to France.Also if you shop around on their sites you can usually get a good deal.

Hello, John. Not heard a peep for ages. We were beginning to wonder if you'd emigrated

john · Post by **john** » Mon 07 Jan 2008 10:19

No,you're lumbered with me again Sue.

We've just got back from a wonderful 2 mth trip to New Zealand...something we've dreamt of for ages,but little matters like work got in the way!

If anyone has ever been (Jonathan?) they'll know what I mean.If not,and you EVER get the chance I'd urge you to go.It's an amazing place.

sue and paul · Post by **sue and paul** » Mon 07 Jan 2008 10:43

My father and 2 (then)-teenage 'baby' bros emigrated to NZ in 1974.

My elder bro and I stayed behind in the UK, as we had 'strings', having just married, got jobs, houses, in-laws, out-laws, etc.

I have visited 'God's Own Country' 3 times in all, and really done the bizz, having family dedicated to showing us the off-the-beaten-track bits, as well as the tourist trail

The last time we were there was in December/Jan 2005/6, for a massive extended-family Christmas - my 2 'baby' bros, their wives, children & grandchildren (sadly dad passed away there in 2002), also my elder UK bro and wife and one of their sons, and even our youngest son Chris, who included the reunion as part of his 'gap'-year...going on 2 gap-years really. I think my favourite areas are Marlborough Sound and Golden Bay/Abel Tasman. We love Nelson and Christchurch, which we have got to know pretty well.

We just had a weekend in the Lot, at my elder bro's place. He is there at the moment with one of our NZ nephews.

John, how COULD you get me started on the wonders of NZ !!

Pyrenees Orientales comes close!!!!

john · Post by **john** » Mon 07 Jan 2008 13:42

Funnily enough Nelson was one of the few places we didn't get to. Didn't like Christchurch as much as Dunedin,but our personal faves were Bay of Islands and Kapiti on the N Island;Fjordland and Mt Cook-Aoraki on the S Is.

Roger O · Post by **Roger O** » Mon 07 Jan 2008 19:24

Hello John, from the "Aude-acious Capital City"!

Bet you didn't meet the oldest ever NZ resident, did you??
http://www.ryanphotographic.com/images/ ... 20shot.jpg
Interesting character!!
http://www.kcc.org.nz/animals/tuatara.asp

sue and paul · Post by **sue and paul** » Mon 07 Jan 2008 23:20

He looks like the guy at customs who took my bag apart

john · Post by **john** » Tue 08 Jan 2008 17:52

We did see some of these creatures,though admittedly not in the wild. The best we saw in the wild were Southern Right whales and the very rare yellow eyed penguin.

I know what Sue means about the overzealous customs.I had the book thrown at me(threats of Heavy fines etc) at Auckland Airport before I'd even entered the country as I had an apple in my luggage!

outie · Post by **outie** » Tue 08 Jan 2008 18:52

Hey I had half a mutton(front end) in my hand luggage,one shoulder when through and the other was stopped...........................

Steve&Julie · Post by **Steve&Julie** » Tue 08 Jan 2008 20:49

Thanks everyone,

I would prefer to use Hertz but they charge £80 per 5 day hire for a basic economy car whereas Sol-Mar only charge £44 - even with the 7euros per day its still cheaper at the moment!

Owens88 · Post by **Owens88** » Wed 09 Jan 2008 01:36

The Avis shareholder discount sounds interesting, does anybody know if it still applies ?

Thanks for the heads-up about the insurance. I normally book through my discount car-hire link in http://tinyurl.com/bl77g but the Auto-Europe fine print now includes the insurance surcharge.
I'll ask Auto-Europe about matching/beating the Ryanair/Hertz terms and report back if anything comes of it.

John

CarinaD · Post by **CarinaD** » Thu 10 Jan 2008 10:31

We tend to use carjet.com, they give you the lowest price from all the agents, of which all have charged 7 euros per day for travelling into France. The latest carjet hire is from AurigaCrown Car Hire, you pick up a mini-bus from outside Girona arrivals and it's a 2 minute ride to the office, We're being charged 51 euros for 2 days hire.
Does anyone know if there's a long term car parking facility at Girona so we could buy a car and leave it there when we're in England?
Thanks

Kathy · Post by **Kathy** » Thu 10 Jan 2008 11:55

Here is the link
http://www.puntcentral.com/idiomes/eng.php

CarinaD · Post by **CarinaD** » Thu 10 Jan 2008 13:40

Thanks Kathy
I'll have to do some maths and see if it's more economic to keep a car there
I would probably have spent ages trying to find that site, another gold star for Anglophone-direct

FORUM