BarbWire

I am considering the possibility of a 5-6 week trip to the UK in September and October. While I would spend a few days in London, most of my time will NOT be in cities but rather in rural areas. I anticipate about 4+ weeks or so of needing a car to wander about in. I will stay in a combination of hostels and B&Bs.

At this point I do not have a set itinerary (or flights) and am just penciling out rough budgets to see what is feasible.

A one-way rental (pick up in one location, drop in another) is the most likely scenario.

My question is: does anyone have recommendations for 4+ week car hires in the UK? The obvious choice is to look at Auto Europe. Rick Steves urges leasing for more than three weeks, but I'm not sure that's a good plan in the UK.

Advice gratefully received.

eastenderusvi

I don't know about leasing. We rented from Enterprise for 14 days. Had a great car with sat-nav, great service from the Enterprise folk. Picked up in Cardiff, dropped in Glasgow. Easy peasy.

BarbWire

Thank you.

So far I have gleaned from this forum and elsewhere:

Enterprise, Avis and Hertz -- but but be sure to pic up and drop off at corporate offices, not franchises

EuropaCar
AutoEurope
Kemwell

As I pencil more, I think I would pick up the car in Scotland, spend a week in the Highlands in September and then work my way south for the next 3-4 weeks. Eventually drop the car in a town well away from London and catch a train for a few days in London before flying out.

janisj

I'd just check w/ autoeurope myself. The longest single car rental I've done in the UK was about 5.5 weeks but that was years ago and how long credit card insurance covers has probably changed.

janisj

We were posting at the same time . . .

>>Eventually drop the car in a town well away from London <<

Actually -- just about the easiest place in England to drop a car is AT Heathrow (or any of the other London area airports, LGW, etc). Almost invariably, and town centre or city centre drop off would be more difficult. And public transport from the airport(s) in to London is easy peasy.

janisj

That should say >>Almost invariably, any town centre . . . <<

MmePerdu

I rented a car last year in the UK and I'm quite sure I went through my airline site (AA) which gave me a choice of a number of companies, compared them and I was able to choose the one with the best price. It was Avis. I suggest you give it a try and not assume the one that often has the best price will in all cases.

Some people like picking up and/or returning a car to LHR. I don't. Of course it depends somewhat on where you need to be once you give up the car but it's something I keep in mind when I'm booking it, find places on both ends within striking distance of a train station. Last year I began in London, train to Oxford, picked up the car there close to the station, then did the reverse at the end. But strictly personal preference.

BarbWire

I prefer not to pick up in a major city, especially after crossing several time zones.

If starting from London Oxford is a good place to pick up (assuming the one way system doesn't suck you into Abingdon, Been there, done that.) Chester is another good choice if one is starting by touring North Wales.

Unless there is a compelling fare reason to fly into London I will probably fly into a northern airport, chill for a couple of days, and then grab a car. Fly into Edinburgh, chill in St Andrews (a simple coach ride away) and pick up a car? Hmmmm.

Dropping at a London airport with several weeks of driving and navigating under my belt might make sense: as noted, the public transport into London proper is excellent. On the other hand, dropping in Cambridge or Milton Keynes is also simple, and the trains are good.

My real first step is to get pricing on the longer term (4+ week) rentals.

Good point about credit card insurance. I will put the rental on my Chase Sapphire Reserve card because of the excellent coverage, but will call tomorrow to see what the time limits are.

Thank you for this discussion.

janisj

>>If starting from London Oxford is a good place to pick up (assuming the one way system doesn't suck you into Abingdon, Been there, done that.)<<

Actually - Oxford Parkway station is a good place to pick up or drop a car -- but Central Oxford is a bear -- as your experience demonstrates

>>Fly into Edinburgh, chill in St Andrews (a simple coach ride away) and pick up a car? Hmmmm. <<

Your problem is rental locations. By FAR the easiest rental location is EDI (or GLA) - but there is no train connection to St Andrews. There are no national rental chains in St Andrews nor nearby. A perhaps better solution would be to fly into Edinburgh and spend a few days in the city car-less. Then take the tram out to EDI and collect a car there and head out.

greg

>>> Good point about credit card insurance. I will put the rental on my Chase Sapphire Reserve card because of the excellent coverage, but will call tomorrow to see what the time limits are.

Your limit is probably 31 days.
https://www.chase.com/card-benefits/...reserve/travel

I suspect a lease would be cheaper for a rental this long,

crellston

I frequently rent cars long term when returning to the UK. I always used to use Avis using their long term hire phone number NOT online. They generally have better rates than are available on their website. Max rental period is 28 days but you can extend this by phone or in person at a rental office.

More recently I have used Europcar, not directly but via EasyJet's website where the rates are considerably lower than on their main website. Also found them lower than Avis and you can hire for periods exceeding 28 days. I THINK you have to book an easyJet flight so if you need an internal flight, it could be a viable option.

dwdvagamundo

We picked ours up at Waverley train station in Edinburgh and dropped at LHR. It was a little dicey to get out of town, but, as it was a Sunday morning, no real problems aside from my screaming co-pilot and some startled looks from pedestrians. Hertz, as I recall.

We're doing the same thing this year, but will pick up at Glasgow Airport, drop at LHR, and will stay out of cities until I get used to driving on the left while sitting on the right. As Janis says, LHR is very easy to drop with good transport backed to the terminals.

BarbWire

Thanks for the suggestions. Crellston, I was not aware of the Avis long term phone hire number, so I will search for that.

I hadn't thought of doing an internal flight via Easy-Jet -- with 5-6 weeks, I have the luxury of time. But I will explore that -- and the associated car hire -- as well.

>>> A perhaps better solution would be to fly into Edinburgh and spend a few days in the city car-less. Then take the tram out to EDI and collect a car there and head out. <<<

I am undoubtedly in the distinct minority here, but I have absolutely no fondness for Edinburgh. For me it is an "arrive in Edinburgh and get out of there as quickly as possible" situation. But the point about no major car hire companies in St Andrews is well-taken.

So, a lot more research to do as I pencil in potential itineraries and budgets. Thanks again for all the leads.

jane1144

Another thought on rentals. I just rented, through AutoEurope in Britain for 4 weeks. We happened to get a manual transmission car which was what I was expecting. HOWEVER, in the newer cars there is an electronic parking brake which can only be disengaged when your foot is on the brake itself. If you are the type of manual transmission driver that counts on being able to use your hand brake in some tight situations, this does not work on these cars. I hadn't really thought about it, until a friend picked us up in Edinburgh. I noticed that he used his hand brake on steep hills (older car), and I realized that he would not have been able to do this in my rental.

janisj

You do have options other than Edinburgh. Most of the majors are in Inverness which you can fly or take the train into.

Also at GLA. If you didn't want to stay in Glasgow - it would be a very short drive to any of the villages along Loch Lomond. I normally don't recommend driving right of a long haul flight -- but most anyone could manage the short drive north to Balloch or Alexandria or Luss.

Demon22

I don't agree that returning a car to LHR is easy -certainly not for someone who isn't used to multilane freeways and pouring rain txhat we encountered ac ouple of years back! We use Autoeurope but also check out the site of the cheapest result to see if they can offer a similar deal. I second the pickup in Edinburgh Airport even if you don't like the place one night won't harm and the drive North is a cinch. Perhaps drop off in Norwich or Cambridge.

Saraho

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