Car rental in Great Britain

Jenny,

I'd probably reserve at least three months from my travel date, but even now should be acceptable. As I recall, my last rental was with Hertz, but I've used other firms in the past (would have to dig through my notes for the details).

I haven't really had any "bad" experiences although when I returned my car the last time, the agent said there was damage to the rear number plate holder. I don't recall damaging that at all and there was little apparent damage when I looked. Perhaps another driver backed into the vehicle in a car park? Fortunately on that occasion, I had purchased the zero deductible "super CDW" so I just walked away and didn't have to pay a single pence for the damage.

I'd highly recommend a GPS along with a good map, as I've found both to be very useful driving accessories. Also, I've found that driving in the U.K. seems to take longer than planned, so be sure to allow extra time for each trip. I assume you'll be renting an automatic transmission vehicle?

Happy travels!

I book mine at the departure gate while there's nothing else to do but twiddle your thumbs. I rent a lot of cars, the price doesn't seem to be much different for Date X than if you booked it way the heck ahead of time. The whole process takes less than five minutes.

After that, I go ahead and give the credit card companies their travel notifications.

Thers still enough time left for a pretty good nap.

Thank you, Ken-- I will most definitely get the extra CDW insurance! In Hawaii once our rental car was hit by another car while parked at our condo. After a major hassle with the rental agency (Thrifty), we ended up paying a bundle. We weren't planning on getting an automatic since we both drive manuals. Is it much more difficult while driving on the left? Jenny

Jenny,

With cars in the U.K., the pedals are in the same location but you'll be shifting with your left hand. If you don't think that will be a problem, you should be able to manage fine with a manual transmission rental. I'm quite able to manage manual transmission cars (floor shift, column shift) if necessary as that's what I used when learning to drive many years ago, but prefer an automatic when possible.