Book car hire in UK or on arrival in Cape Town?
 

Which is the better option, have 3 weeks holiday in Cape Town in February - is it cheaper to book here in the UK prior to holiday or wait until we arrive in Cape Town?

Book it in the UK thorough Hertz, Europcar, Avis or equivalent. I've found the prices cheaper while booking through the UK and you will almost certainly have no mileage restriction.

Can't speak for the UK but it is much cheaper to book from Canada. While in South Africa for a month, we extended our 3-week rental for an extra week and Avis SA in Cape Town was very reluctant to honour the rate that we had been given in Canada and been charged for the prevuous 3 weeks. They did eventually - but not without a battle. I can't remember the fee discrepancy, but it was significant!

hi, robin,

I'm not in the least surprised that Avis were unhelpful. when we had a burst tyre, they were remarkably uninterested - all they cared about was that it didn't cost them anything.

Our UK agent has now intervened, and we are being refunded the cost, as we lost a half day getting it replaced at our expense.

Rosie - I'd book in advance, but not with Avis unless it's unavoidable.

regards, ann

Hi Ann! Good to know! We lived in SA in 2004-2005 and drove Avis cars all over SA and Namibia without any problem (other than getting them to honour our great rate). Having never had a problem with a vehicle, we have not had to deal with Avis under those circumstances. We are returning to SA/Namibia and Botswana in July/August 2008 and have already booked Avis vehicles - we will go in with our eyes open! Thanks!

hi, Robin,

one thing I wish I'd done was to programme the AVis emergency phone no into my mobile [and checked it worked] before we set off. DD and I tried no end of combinations while we watched DH changing our burst tyre, to no effect.

The agent who delivered our car to the hotel told us than in no circumstances were we to get another breakdown garage to help us out, but after we failed to get through to AVIS for 1/2 hour, I'm not surprised that they did that.

Good luck - i wish you a trouble-free trip.

Regards, ann

Hi Ann! I must admit I get a bit lazy about ensuring that I have the emergency numbers - your idea of programming it into our cells and ensuring that it works before we leave is a good one. Thanks!