We will be renting a car in Barcelona to drive through Catalonia and southern France, ending up in Bilbao. While in France, we will be meeting up with friends and want to add an additional driver to the rental car. Does anyone know of a rental car company that will allow us to add an additional driver when that driver is not present when the vehicle is picked up? Alternatively, does anyone know of a rental car company that will allow us to pick up the car in Spain and add an additional driver at one the company's branch offices in France?
Posted by
Houston
3516 posts
From my experience with the well know rental companies, making a change like that after initially picking up the vehicle means it becomes a new rental contract billed at the current walk up rate and you get charged whatever early termination fee they want for the first part of the contract. I don't know if they will allow adding a second driver who is not present at the time of initial pickup.
If you need to stop in at the rental office anyway, you could rent the car with only the initial driver and then turn it in and do an immediate second rental when the additional drivers are with you. Just a thought.
Posted by
Tunbridge Wells
6113 posts
I am currently in Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands, where we have hired a car from a local company. We are both insured to drive (unusually, at no additional cost, unlike the multi-nationals), but we did have to show both driving licences at the desk at the airport when collecting the car. Only the main driver signed the paperwork, but in mainland Europe, we have always both had to sign when collecting the car.
Check with the company that you are proposing to use what their policies are before committing.