I will be renting an automatic car from Edinburgh Airport in April to drive around the country. (Not yet booked but know I need to soon because of needing an automatic.) If anybody wants to throw out a recommendation (or anti-recommendation) for car-rental companies at Edinburgh Airport, I'd be thankful. I've already heard to steer well clear of Green Motion! But I think I'd prefer to deal with a company that has U.S. locations anyway in case there's an issue I need to communicate about after I return.
Posted by
Minneapolis
1210 posts
Hi sourismom. I've not rented at Edinburgh airport, but have rented many times in Europe and have had consistently good experiences with Avis, Hertz, and Sixt. Enjoy your trip!
Posted by
Edinburgh
2637 posts
there is a very good car rental hub at Edinburgh airport with all the major companies there, book automatics as early as you can they are limited as we don't use a lot of Automatics in the UK.
I used Arnold Clark for car rental but there place is away from the main hub but worth considering.
Posted by
3122 posts
I agree, the car rental facility at Edinburgh Airport is good, though because of its size it's a bit of a hike from the taxi stand at the other side of the terminal. We enjoyed renting from Enterprise. Be aware that the airport is some distance from the city centre.
Posted by
OP
5 posts
Thanks for the replies! I'm renting from the airport even though it's more expensive BECAUSE it's far from the city center -- I don't want to drive in Edinburgh itself! Just want to get out and get on the motorway.
Posted by
bedford, indiana
459 posts
be sure to accept the smallest car you can stand, if you are new to the roads in the highlands they will be more narrow and bordered often by stone walls or curbs. I had reserved a small car but when I arrived at Edi the only size they had in an automatic was intermediate. There were only two of us so I didn't need a car that big and it was a tuff adjustment. When we walked to the car in the lot it did not look too large to me, based on my USA comparison, but later I realized it was bigger than I needed but once you are on the road its hard to go back, so if in doubt go smaller. I would also be sure the car has a spare tire, some rental companies don't include a spare and with the curbs bordering many roads I would think it would be easy to deflate a tire. The staff at the rental area at Edi were very friendly. You should scope out your route on street level google earth before hand to get a feel for the roundabouts and the way you access the "interstates" highways. I used these guys, www.gemut.com , a US based broker, and they were helpful and provided a lot of pre trip information. If you view their web site there is a link that is helpful with driving and rental tips in Europe. I did not think they were especially cheap but were helpful. Our car ended up coming from National rental and the check in/out guys were cool.
Posted by
OP
5 posts
@jarrardd
I definitely want to get a compact -- I lived in England for a year in college, so I know how tight things are in the UK! That's terrible they only had a bigger car when you got there. It's a HUGE fear of mine that I'll get to the rental counter and they won't have any automatics, which would destroy my entire itinerary and trip!