Category Archives: Car Rental

Car Hire Alicante

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Famous for its miles of sandy beaches, serene palm tree lined boulevards and amazing shopping malls Alicante, and it’s wonderful boulevard with palm trees and shopping streets, is one of the most well-known towns along the Costa Blanca. Alicante just happens to be the starting point for thousands of tourists every summer, while during the winters tourist flock to the coasts at Benders, Calpe and Denia. An excellent weather, beautiful long alley, Alicante invites its visitors to a memorable trip along its coast, the wonderful island of Tabarca or a simple tranquil walk, down the palm tree lined streets. Alicante offers countless sightseeing attractions, from cathedrals to churches and of course a wonderful harbor area. Languages spoken in Alicante are: Spanish and Valencian while English and or German being the two most popular foreign languages in the city. Alicante time difference to GMT + 1 hour

Alicante Airport is situated about 11km from the city of Alicante at El Altet. It is a major airport of Costa Blanca. It is easily accessed from the main A7 motorway. A modern and spacious airport handling more than 5 million passengers each year and operating at various floors, each, with all the facilities one would want during transit, Alicante Airport is well equipped to deal with such huge numbers. The signs and access is very appropriately planned, so, reaching the airport is not a big hassle, even for the first timers.

Directions: You just cannot miss it! Right before the exit door of the arrival lounge you will find the desks of all major car rental companies operating at Alicante airport which can be accessed from within the arrival area or from outside.

Some points you need to keep in mind while booking a car from Alicante Airport:

1. Book your car in advance, through the internet, with a reputed car hire company operating in the region. Also look out for a pad lock symbol at the bottom of the browser, which ensures that the web page is secured. Any reputed car hire website will have a SSL (an internet feature which protects your online transactions from consumer fraud).

2. At the airport make sure that, just in case the company cannot provide you the model/class of vehicle you booked at the airport, you are upgraded to a higher model/class at no extra charges.

3. It’s always wise to make transactions with your credit cards if doing a on the spot car booking, or making some additional payments; it simply reduces the chances of fraud and is cheaper.

4. Booking Cancellations: In case of cancellation of your car booking, you must know that usually there will be no charge if you cancel within 24 hours of the pick up date.

Insignificant it may sound at this moment, but you can make your trip to Alicante a memorable one by doing a good homework about the city and its services.

8 Easy to Follow Car Cleaning Tips to Avoid Extra Fees When Returning a Rented Car

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Avoid extra car rental fees by making time to go through and thoroughly clean the vehicle you have hired. These cleaning fees can be very high so it pays to use a checklist so you don’t miss anything.

Don’t assume you know what is considered a clean vehicle until you ask and get a clear response. Have a look through the vehicle before you take it to be sure it is clean.

Apart from a good general clean inside and out pay attention to some detailed areas:

* Dirt Or Scuff Marks Around Feet Areas – Getting in and out of vehicles can cause scuff marks in hard to see areas. The driver’s side in particular can harbor dirty foot prints around the pedals and if you have children in the back you never know where a footprint might be lurking.

* Marks On Upholstery – You might want to take some extra precautions with upholstery and throw a towel or rug over the seats in case of spills or marks of any kind. It might be very good practice to not eat and drink inside the car. Even things like lotions and oils can stay behind.

* Sticky Residue On Surfaces Inside The Car – as with footprints, finger and hand prints can be left behind. There may be other reasons why sticky residue can form and have dirt cling to it, so run your clean hand over surfaces to feel for any.

* Smoking – the best advice about smoking inside a rental vehicle is simply, don’t. Smoking is an addiction and many people need to have a cigarette but it is safer and cleaner to stop and take a break outside of the car for that purpose. Smoking does have a strong odour in an enclosed area and non smokers are very sensitive to this. Check that no odour is lingering from your clothing, hair or hands even when smoking outside of the car.

* Seats – under seats can be a great little trap for objects and rubbish. Also check down the sides and in the crease where the back joins onto the seat.

* Windows – Windows with smudges, smears, and dead bugs look very unsightly. These may be obvious on the front windscreen but be sure to check all windows and glass or chrome surfaces for marks and dirt.

* Compartments – Modern cars these days often have extra storage compartments and holders for drinks etc. Be sure you open, pull out if needed, all compartments to check inside.

* Glove Box – There are so many incidences of thins being left in the glove box as an oversight that this deserves its own point. This is where we can often pop things into when in a rush and then completely forget to look later.

It may be considered by some that if you are paying for car rental then you have the right to return the car in any condition and be able to smoke inside if you choose. Car hire companies will have varying standards and to simply assume might see you charged extra under the contract.

Check the policy on this and also look through the car before you drive away to be sure it is in a clean condition. If you accept it dirty it doesn’t always mean you can return it that way.