Hi All,

T&C's are the most important in these cases, at Enjoy Car Hire we work with a number of suppliers and they all have similar petrol policies. We do however work with one company in Malaga who supply a half tank of fuel and expect the car to be returned empty. It is not quite Full-Empty but it is a compromise considering most other companies are Full-Empty.

Enjoy Car Hire

Not really advice I would personaly pass on myself as this could add unecessary pressure and hassle to your holiday due to the fact that Mark the Spark pointed out, of the shortage of vehicles (which doesn't look to be easing greatly) meaning if you needed a vehicle for the duration of your stay you could end up very dissapointed and car less.

The advice I would give is to clearly read all the T's & C's before making your booking to avoid any surprise charges that weren't expected or budgeted for and to avoid being left with a price that might be sky high or no vehicle at all book early, that is the message that is being put out there much like through the summer especially if you are going to Spain and Portugal.

Pete

It's a bit of messing about but a way I found to beat this rip off is to book the car for 4 days (or whatever the period of time before full-empty comes into force is) and then when you go back re-hire it for the remainder of your holiday, 3 days for one week breaks. Or hire fresh at your local area where better deals than on site airport kiosks charge.

Beware that there is a shortage of hire cars in Majorca and Spain in general this year due to recession fears car hire firms didn't buy in the full quota that they would normally do banking on less travellers.

hi. we have just returned from alicante last night and i had a full full agreement with car hire 3000.

it took a lot of recserach as we were rip off BIG TIME with gold car in majorca in 2008.

they did however try to charge me 6 euros per day for the 2nd driver BUT AS THAT WAS ON THE AGREEMENT PAID IN FULL WERE COULD THEY GO!!!

good luck

clive

It was for Malaga for end of next week. There was no option to limit it to full-to-full fuel, even though the FAQ seemed to say there was. Only transmission, air conditioning etc could be selected.

Thanks

Hi,

We are very sorry that you were not able to book on the website, could you possibly post details of the location and dates you were looking for and I will see if we can correct the issue

Thanks.

holidayautos.co.uk

Not any more you dont. After 15 mins with your premium-rate 'helpline' (well no actually it was the alternative from 'no to 0870' website) they confirmed it wasn't selectable on the website, but they did a booking over the phone that had the 'full to full' option. It was only with a higher grade of car (£20 more but am happy to pay it) and with Atesa.

SHAME ON ALL OTHER SPANISH CAR HIRE COMPANIES FOR OPERATING THE FULL TO EMPTY RIPOFF!!!!

holidayautos.co.uk now has the option to guarantee the choice of a full to full fuel policy in most Spainish resorts. This covers the main airports including Malaga, Alicante, Murcia and Valencia.

For further details please go to holidayautos.co.uk and run a quotation.

thanks

holidayautos.co.uk

sorry mate but just got back from spain alicante and record are now running a full -empty for bookings over 6 days .had a right blue with them ,but it was a waste of time told them it was the last time i would book with them ( it wont be though ther are the best i have found )

laters john

I travel to Malaga quite regularly as we have a holiday villa out there and always hire from Sixt. I have found them to be very helpful and the cars are always very good. I came on travel supermarket to see how the others prices compare but to be honest Sixt still seem to be near enough the cheapest and I wouldn't fancy booking through a broker like Holidayautos just to save a few quid. We do end up paying for a full tank of fuel which is a bit annoying but apparently thats the case with most car hire companies in Malaga, and if we've got some left at the end of our stay we'll just take a drive around the area to see the scenery on our way to the airport. I'm tempted to try a different company but we know we'll have a stress free time hiring from Sixt so for the time being I can only advise you go for them.

We always use Economy Car Hire and have never had to pay for a full tank of petrol. We have used them in Palma, Faro, Reus and Malaga. Just returned from The Algarve and we had to leave a credit card slip which was returned to us on returning the car, and the car was 1/4 full on pick-up and we had to return it with the same(as close as) fuel in it. They have great prices too.

Hi,

There is one car hire firm that operates from Murcia airport, that only charges for approx, a third of a tank. The car hire name is Dickmmans, they can be booked direct on their web site, or we 'go through'' economy car hire. I hope you find this information of some help.

Barry

Hi Matt,

 

Avis offer a pre-paid fuel option which you can take when you pick up the car. Alternatively, you can bring back the car with a full tank of fuel, in which case you will incur no fuel charges. Finally, if you have not taken our pre-paid fuel option and the vehicle does require refuelling then you will be charged for the cost to refuel this in addition to a refuelling service charge.

Unless you are looking for a Prestige car we unfortunately cannot guarantee the make/model of car.  If you are looking to rent a car in the UK we do have a selection of cars on our 'Select Series'  which we can guarantee the make/model of.

---

Stephen Spiers
Customer Support
Avis Rent A Car UK
Website: www.avis.co.uk
Blog: www.wetryharder.co.uk

Hi Lago98

Yes, avoiding this full-empty con is very difficult, even when you've got it totally clear and agreed at booking. At least you're there for 2 weeks so might use it all; we usually have 1 week, need a car for elderly mother-in-law, and never use more than 1/4 tank. I think if we all fought against this rip-off every time, we might get a result eventually - but I never hear anyone else arguing at the desks, just me. I hope this forum will encourage other short-duration car-hirers to be more aware, to search harder and not to accept full-empty unless it suits them. If we all fought, we might just win. 

In the meantime I do believe there is a good business opportunity for a tank-siphoning operation at each Spanish airport!

Hi Broigel,

Not as simple as I thought, sorry.  I've just gone through Carjet again for our September trip and there's no way of telling which company you get till you've booked.  I didn't end up with Auriga, but got Goldcar Rental, who have a desk at the airport and only do full to empty.  I could have waited till I'd booked to let you know, but it was your thread that reminded me to book, so I only booked after I posted you.  Too tired of messing around to change it now - I'll just have to put up with Full to Empty.  At least we've got 2 weeks to use up the fuel!