Advice for renting cars in Spain needed

More info needed. What rental outfits are bothering you and where are they? Where in the Basque country ? It's three or four provinces and enclaves, depending on how you count - - pretty large area. Where in the heck is Rondaboth?

I believe she means "...Ronda, both...." As for the "hidden charge" that you mention (not very hidden if it's listed in the information), if you return the car full instead of empty, they will refund the fuel charge that you were charged in the first place. Most rental companies have the same type of charges, and you will know them before you commit to a booking.

I rented earlier this year through www.gemut.com They are a US based broker guarantees lowest rates and are very reliable. After I booked with them I did find a lower rate and they matched it. Highly recommended.

I've rented from Sixt many times in Europe, including Spain. There are always extra charges, with all rentals, that raise the initial rate, but I don't think of them as "hidden." if you have an AMEX card (not sure if any or only platinum qualify) you can sign up beforehand for a great service that covers all the car insurance for about $25 for the entire trip, not per day. This saved me hundreds of dollars on a recent trip to Spain. Once you've signed up for the program with AMEX, it automatically activates whenever you use your card for a car rental.

I happened upon this post and am very interested as we are off to Spain in May. We want to pick up the car in Jerez, tour around and,eventually, return it to the airport inMadrid. Has anyone made the drive from Granada to Toledo? We think we will stop and visit Ubeda. Is there anything else on the way? I will definitely check out those rental companies. Thanks

We always use Auto Europe, which is a consolidator, for our European rental cars. We rented last year from them and just returned from another trip as well. They have put us with different agencies - most often Europcar. You pay for the car ahead of time and present a voucher at the rental car desk. The only extra charge I've had is fuel when I returned LESS than full and was advised up front that I was to return it full. There are also sometimes fees like airport, extra drop, toll, etc. that need to be paid at the "local" desk. These have always been described in my voucher so that I was aware upfront as to anything I had not already paid for. They are easy to use - either online or by phoning. And this past trip when I had to make changes the changes were made without any extra expense.

We always use the broker AutoEurope.com (based in Maine) and have never had a problem. But this year we used AutoEurope.UK or .EU. in Spain. That is where we got stuck paying $100 extra "to fill your tank and bring it back empty" and we also had to pay a "drop off fee". But, their insurance was all inclusive, and was part of the rate. When you rent you need to read the fine print in the contract. Unfortunately our AE.UK contract did NOT specify how much they were going to charge us to fill up the car, or what the drop off fee was going to be. But I have NEVER had this probem with AE.com ( United States.) One advantage you have in booking now is that you can cancel if you find a better deal elsewhere. Go to the AE (US) website and play with the pick up and drop off points. Usually you will find that if you pick up at an airport or rail station your price will be a lot higher, but it makes no difference where you drop it off. You can also do a search using Kayak. Oh, and bring a GPS, and a Michelin fold-out map of Spain and compass. I was warned that many of the main East-West roads would not show on my GPS. There is no way that we would have gotten out of Ronda without directions and that map; the GPS did not have any of the newer roads. In Ronda eat at Almocabar and Bodega Bar Restaurante San Francisco. Both are awesome, and both are on Plaza Ruedo. (Do NOT eat at Casa Maria.) Since you have a car also drive and visit the Pileta Caves; facinating!

We got the best rates in Malaga for 2 weeks from Carjet. They are based in the UK and were very responsive and much cheaper quotes than I got from anyone else. They also upgraded us to a great touring Mercedes. We did however have to pay them for a full tank upon return so use all the gas you can. Used National in Madrid. We had a business rate there. Sue

I've used Europcar in Spain a number of times - rates usually good, service always good. Never had a problem with unexpected charges. Also had good luck with National once in Mallorca -- I had a 'reservation' via Yahoo Travel with Payless, which apparently doesn't really exist in Palma -- National came to my rescue with a car at the same price.