brisky

Hi Folks
I'm about ready to have a nervous breakdown.LOL Can anyone give me some recommendations for renting a carfrom Glasgow airport? I read tons of horror stories..has anyone had good experiences? Any recommendations?

BigRuss

Is this a horror situation related to Prestwick or Scotland generally? We didn't have problems with the latter, but we did NOT rent from Glasgow (or even go there).

Royal

Hi. We didn't rent at the airport but we did return a car to Glasgow airport and it was a very frustrating situation.

We rented a car from Europcar through Auto Europe and picked it up in York and returned it to Glasgow airport.

We drove around and around the airport following signs which were incorrect as the Europcar drop off had changed locations and the signs hadn't been updated. Thankfully we found someone who actually drove in front of us and led us to the right location. Once we were there everything was fine but it was very frustrating.

GreenDragon

I rented a car through Enterprise, but from Edinburgh airport, dropping it off at Glasgow. It took a while to get the car(s) (we had 6 people = 2 cars), but no big problems. Dropping off was a breeze at Glasgow. I realized when our connection got into London that I had left my camera in the back seat - they kindly shipped it to me

brisky

Big Russ..horror stories were about car rental companies in general.
We neeed to get a car at Glasgow Airport on Aug 26 and return it Sep 15. Arnold Clark was recommended, but I'm having a hard time getting them to reply to emails. I can get a discount from Avis, but they are mentioned frequently in the bad reviews. I don't understand what the different companies include for insurance and what is the best way to deal with insuring the excess. One charges 10pound per day and a company called insurance4carhire quotes less than 2.

janisj

"<i>I read tons of horror stories..</i>"

Huh? -- I don't think I've read any 'horror' stories about GLA - What website are you referencing? Not Fodors I don't think.

I have either collected or returned a car at GLA at least 6 or 7 times and have never had any issues at all. (in addition to times at Prestwick, EDI and other locations)

I often book through autoeurope. They are often the cheapest - but not always. I get a quote from them and then try other sites like the rental companies and other brokers.

Don't fret things -- getting lost isn't a horror story IMO, getting cheated might be . . .

brisky

Janisj nope not on here and not Glasgow....just general negative reports. I realize that most people won't post good experiences only complaints, but it still worries me.Ive looked at autoeurope..looks ok, not the lowest so far, but a positive reference is more important. I think I'll give Arnold Clark one more try tomorrow, and I'll try Avis again too to compare.

janisj

"<i>but it still worries me.</i>"

Well, it is sort of difficult to discuss issues/problems unless we know what sort of horror stories you've heard.

To be honest -- the only consistent problems that a lot of folks do mention are about renting in Ireland. There are specific issues that relate to Ireland -- for instance credit cards usually don't cover the CDW. Those sorts of things have nothing to do w/ the UK.

The main thing anywhere in Europe -- note EVERYTHING about the condition of the car on the forms when you pick it up. Every dent/nick/scuff.

BigRuss

I try to use Europcar, which has a pretty good rep, or an American company's local franchise because if anything goes wrong I will be able to b*tch up a storm to their HQ when I get home.

But we had a very smooth rental from Thrifty in Edinburgh.

GreenDragon

We did have an issue with insurance in Scotland. While our credit card would cover the UK, they only covered vehicles up to $50,000 in value. The car we were renting ran about £26,000 - which at the time was over $50,000, the pound being about 2:1 at that time. Which means we had no choice but to buy their insurance. It is likely more difficult now to run afoul of this rule, but do keep it in mind.