Top Tips for Spanish Car Hire
Book Early - particularly if you want a seven-seater!
Shop around for the best prices
If you have any endorsements on your licence (eg speeding) check with the hire company
Make sure you are clear on what is included and excluded in your hire agreement
Spain Car Hire
Millions of people hire cars in Spain every year, and problems are few and far between. However, it's as well to be well prepared for any problems! It's always best to book your car in advance. Although this does not guarantee you will have no hassle, at least it minimizes the likelihood!
It is as well to shop around for the best price. There are plenty of sites that will compare prices for you. Some of these sites will give you a price for rental and will tell you about availability, others will only tell you if the vehicle you want is available, once you have placed a reservation.
One of the best site comparisons is Ebookers. Although they only act as a booking agent, there prices are often cheaper than if you book with the car hire company direct.
The major car hire companies operating in Spain are Hertz, Europcar, National Atesa.
One of the major pitfalls with hiring a car in Spain is that you are normally not guaranteed that you will get a particular make or model of car. When a car model is quoted, it is usually followed by the words "or similar". Sometimes this can make a significant difference. The Opel Zafira and Citroen Grand Espace are 7 seaters, but are often described by hire companies as 5 seaters. This means they can offer you a five seater hire car of similar size and specification. If you want a seven seater, you will probably need to select a vehicle from the 7 seater mpv range.
Vehicle Categories
Most car hire firms offer vehicles across a wide range of categories. As noted above, your rental agreement is usually for a car in a certain category, rather than a particular model. To make things more confusing, different companies use different categories, so it can be a little difficult to compare like for like.