We have seen a few people on here recommend ARC car rental. We usually rent through Hertz for business and family trips in American and Europe. What are the advantages/disadvantages of renting with these two rental agencies. We would ideally like to take a taxi to our Athen's lodgings when we land and pick up a rental car in Athens not the airport, but then we would like to drop it off at the airport the night before we leave or 4am the morning we leave. What are the possibilities? Also I am concerned about road side assistance if we break down in some remote place on the Peloponnese.
Posted by
1230 posts
Have you looked at the road-side assistance policies for each? Or emailed the companies? We used ACR and they were very responsive via email in all planning prior to the trip. We picked up the car at the Athens airport and intended to return it there, but midway through our trip we decided to go to the Piraeus port instead, and they were flexible with this change and charged a $30 fee for the different drop-off point. What roads in the Peloponnese are you worried about. We drove many, and most were well trafficked except for the Arcadia mountains and those between Sparta and Kardamyli. Google maps was very off in the Arcadian mountains ands sent us down some seriously remote and dangerous roads, so be sure to have paper map too. Otherwise, Id ask specific questions of each company and compare. Most car rental companies Ive used have an after-hours drop-off procedure, so be sure to ask about that
Posted by
NH (USA)
1222 posts
While I haven't used ARC I have heard very good things about them.
If you want the car delivered to Central Athens then it will be an additional charge, maybe 30 euros. You really don't want to drive anywhere in Central Athens. It's possible the agency can drive you out of the city so you won't have to deal with the wild and crazy traffic, let alone Greek drivers.
Your bet option is to take public transportation back to the airport where the rental agency will meet and same for dropping it off.
If you have a cell phone with you you can call the rental company if you breakdown but I'm not sure how quick they can get help to you that far into the Peloponnese. They may have to call someone local to help but I'm unsure if there is any additional charge.
I've rented cars, mostly on islands and have never had any break downs so didn't need assistance. That doesn't mean it won't happen so you may want to check with the agency to see what their policy is.
Posted by
Huntsville, AL, USA
8319 posts
I try to stick with either Hertz or AutoEurope when renting cars in Europe. Most of the Hertz locations are company owned stores, and they essentially operate like they do in North America.
Many big name car rental operations in Europe are franchise operations. And they don't operate the same as they do "back home." And I've not always been satisfied with the way they run their businesses.
Price is not always the main reason for sticking with a company. I prefer consistency. I have a Hertz Gold card from 20 years ago, and rental rates remain the lowest possible because it's an ex-MegaCorp card..