enewell

We would like to pick up our rental car at the Edinburgh airport, spend 10 days in Scotland, then drive down through the Lake District and Yorkshire, ending up in Sussex. After all that, we would like to return the car to Gatwick before heading into London for the last week of our trip.

Would this be a problem as far as the car rental -- lots of surcharges? If so, how could we break up the trip to still see all the countryside in between our start and end points? We don't want to take the train all the way south.

Thanks for your collective wisdom!

jamikins

As Edinburgh is in the UK I dont imagine there would be alot of extra charges - maybe a one way fee but not a charge for dropping in another country. There will likely be surcharges for picking up and dropping off at airports.

FYI - LHR is Heathrow, do you mean Heathrow or Gatwick?

alanRow

Gatwick is the nearest airport to Sussex so would be the best option

BUT I hope that "We would like to pick up our rental car at the Edinburgh airport" doesn't really mean "we fly into Edinburgh after a 12 hour flight then we would like to pick up our rental car at the Edinburgh airport" as that is not a good idea.

And when is this trip - if August then Edinburgh is somewhat busy & expensive due to several large festivals

flanneruk

As a general rule, there are no "away from original base" surcharges in Britain among the major operators, there are some airport surcharges for collecting and dropping off - but one-way hires exclude you from smaller local operators who might sometimes be cheaper.

But details vary by location, by car type, by company and over time. No-one on this board knows anything like as much about this as the websites of the hire car companies concerned abnd their main consolidators, like autoeurope

Go to them and plug in your specific details.

enewell

Sorry for the mix-up. Yes, I did mean dropping the car off at Gatwick. We will arrive in Edinburgh and spend 4 days before picking up the car.

Would picking up the car somewhere other than the airport be feasible? I'm just wanting to avoid the city traffic if possible.

Our trip is mid-Sept through mid-October.

Thanks for your help!

Lifeman

There are a number of car hire outlets in Central Edinburgh--all the major ones who will do a one way rental. They will usually drop your car at your hotel, or pick you up and take you to their office.

Edinburgh itself is not such a daunting place to drive. It's not like London with a sprawling city centre. It's fairly compact and doesn't take long to get away out of the city, so don't feel that you have to drag out to the airport, especially with luggage.

alanRow

Whilst Edinburgh is reasonably compact it still is a PITA to get out of especially if you are unfamiliar with driving in UK cities.

And as OP is intending to drive further into Scotland they'd pass the airport anyway.

alihutch

As a general rule, there are no "away from original base" surcharges in Britain

I've usually found that there are, it's a one way rental, although airport to airport maybe easier. I've usually found that Europcar are cheaper for the extra charge.

There are some slightly hysterical one way systems in Edinburgh and some juntions that look OK on the map but in real life the streets are on different levels!

janisj

>><i>As a general rule, there are no "away from original base" surcharges in Britain<<

>>I've usually found that there are, it's a one way rental, although airport to airport maybe easier. I've usually found that Europcar are cheaper for the extra charge.</i><<

That is very strange IMO. I've rented MANY cars in the UK and almost never had a drop off fee. Airport collection surcharge? yes. But extra to drop off in another location, not once that I remember.

But perhaps that is because I usually book my cars in advance from the States and not after I'm in the UK.

Gordon_R

Janis - unfortunately one-way drop-off fees are becoming increasingly commonplace here in the UK. I just did a few sample checks with Europcar and Avis for the same duration hire, both returning to EDI, and returning the car in the south of England. The cost difference was significant especially in the case of Avis. I can't see what difference it would make whether you booked in USA or UK.

janisj

"<i>I can't see what difference it would make whether you booked in USA or UK.</i>"

Well -- for one thing -- we generally pre-pay and all fees are included (like w/ autoeurope) Choosing a rental car often takes me longer than arranging flights because of all the permutations. I've found its usually cheaper to book from autoeurope or the stateside version of one of the majors than through the UK sites. Maybe the difference is the drop off fees.

Lifeman

alanrow...I've driven through, into and around Edinburgh on many occasions and don't find it a pain at all. The only problems were when they building the tram route down Princes Street.

Maybe it's down to confidence in dealing with cities?