arbortreky

Greetings from Michigan/USA. I am planning a two and a half week trip to Spain and Portugal in April, and would really appreciate recommendations for the following:

1. Car rental companies (preferably automatic.... I can't drive manual/stick shifts!). I can book off of expedia etc, I just don't know how smart that is.

2. Name of couple, 4-star or better hotels in Lisbon/Portugal and in Seville/Spain

Finally, among discount air carriers, is Ryan Air pretty reliable? Their fares are so low I am wondering what's the catch! They don't make passengers push the planes, do they?

Michael

Ryanair fares are low, but not as low as posted. There are all sorts of fees and taxes added to the fare, so that a 1 penny fare ends up costing ?20 or more. You will be charged for checking a bag, and charged per kilo if it exceeds their allowance of 15 kg, I believe. In addition, if you wait too long, you will discover that the cheap fares are no longer available.

As for car rentals, try http://www.carjet.co.uk/

arbortreky

Much appreciated.

artlover

For car rentals I suggest autoeurope.com.

For hotels I suggest venere.com.

And yes, the warning about Ryan's added cost is valid, but if you're travelling light, they might work for you.

Michael

The question mark before the 20 was supposed to be a British pound sign.

dperag

we have had excellent results in Portugal with auto europe.
You can't go wrong staying in Pousadas. One I would recommend is a short distance from The Lisbon Airport called Pousada Dona Maria I Queluz

Sher

The last two times we planned a trip to Portugal, we found AutoEurope's prices to be very expensive for an automatic which is what we always rent.

Try Carjet. We liked the customer service and prices were great.

PKatx

i lived in south spain last year and traveled with my family from spain to portugal for 10 days. we rented a car in malaga, drove to lagos then lisbon and droped it off in madrid.

Ryanair is very cheap but very unreliable. Better cheap airlines are easyjet, a british company, spanair and iberia are both based in spain.

if you have any more question let me know i LOVE the area you are going to!! best of luck!

lobo_mau

In central Lisbon (Baixa/Chiado area) I usually recommend Borges (low range), Regency Chiado (medium range) and Avenida Palace (high range). No 1st hand experience in none of the above, but had good reviews of Regency here in Fodors.
Check "Help with Lisbon Areas", posted by Author: flbronc
Date: 11/14/2006, 07:41 pm

rsup4429

Ryan Air are reasonably, but one has to fly at odd times to get the cheap deals, so my wife and I just went with EasyJet OR Iberia. With Iberia we paid a premium but travelled at times which suited us.
For rental cars we use www.skycars, we have used them extensively with no hassles, we always use the Europcar selection but saved "heaps" by dealing with skycars, use your Emex or Visa card and any incidents will be covered.