Car rental at Athens airport
 

Hi!

Our honeymoon in Greece is in 8 weeks and while our plans are mostly finalized we have yet to decide what to do with our transportation.

We will be arriving at Athens airport Monday May 25th early morning (7:00) and will need to rent a car for 5 days, going in Nafplio for 3 nights, then Delphi 2 nights before bringing the car back to the airport in time to catch a flight to Crete.

We are looking for economical/compact, manual. When I searched online (Sixt, Europcar, Kronos...) we see prices as low as 30 euros per day when my guides say it should be more around 45 euros. I guessed the 30 euros price is before the 23% tax...

Should we book with a car rental company now or wait and do it on site when we land in Athens? If we already know our plans is it worth it to book in advance?

And which company has the best value for money?

Use US car rental broker AuroEurope if you live in the US.They will stand behind you if there any problems. Based in Portland, ME so you can call them as well.

I am from Canada :S

Be sure to go to your local CAA office to pick up an International Driving Permit.

We rented at Athens airport through Economycarrentals. They're a broker and booked us with a unfamiliar brand that was off-airport, though not far. It all worked fine and was very reasonable. One caveat: you must be able to drive a stick shift.

I have had good experiences 3 times renting a variety of vehicles at Athens airport from http://www.budget-athens.gr/?gclid=C...Fdx05QodUkGLfw -- note the HYPHEN. This is Greek-Owned Budget agency ... with its own extensive fleet and better prices than all the others I compared with desks in airport. Good service; you do paperwork in airport and walk about 100 yards outside, to pick up your car. Mimar is incorrect, you CAN get automatic shift, but for it, one would need to book farther ahead... you however already stated you can do stick shift, so you're golden. If I were you, I'd look at the website fleet, and pick what you want now ... then you wouldn't be stuck with something you like less.

Besides the IDP, another good thing of course is to do a walk-round before taking vehicle, and asking any "dings" you spot to be noted on your contract. Also -- take the full insurance rather than counting on being covered thru your credit card -- yes there may be coverage but the agency will be 8-9 hours different time, and half a world away, and hard to reach if you should have big trouble. Not likely, but FDW will give you peace of mind.

Final tip -- they give u a car with gas tank FULL and it's supposed to be returned full ... for the least cost, you should fill up just before you reach the airport. The last gas station is about 10 KM before the airport.. keep your eyes peeled.

Thanks travelerjan!
Our car here is a stick shift so it was not even an option for us to rent an automatic one anyway ;)
Thanks for the tips regarding insurance and the full tank!

And we've got our international permit by CAA too!

Another good car rental agency is Athens Car Rental ACR. They meet you in the parking lot across from arrivals and you drop it off outside departure. All the paperwork is done while you are examining the car and takes no more than 10 minutes.

Because they are not an Airport rental agency their prices are lower. Every car rental we have done in Athens has been done with agencies that service the airport this way.

ACR is a local company and has a flexible attitude. We used them last summer. Our flight time changed and I asked them how much it would be to bring the car back two hours later and they said no charge.

Personally i would only rent from well known international rental agencies, that may be more expensive, and less flexible, than unknown local car rentals, but offer higher standards and assistance if something should happen, while you are 400 km away from Athens.

I know quite a few cases, where people lost money and time, just because they rented from small local agencies, and had the bad luck of having an accident or a problem with the car..

Of course not all of them are bad and most likely nothing bad will happen, but i prefer to stay on the safe side.

And do as the poster above said to get international drivers permits from CAA. Greece is the only place we have ever been asked to show it (it was just last spring).

We rented a car from a husband and wife broker who were recommended to us by a tour group leader. The key is the personal recommentioned. The advantage was they drove to our hotel and dropped off the car. When we returned to Athens 5 days later, they told us to leave the car in the hotel lot. It really doesn't get any easier or better than that.

nanabee, that kind of tip is wonderful BUT only useful if you can also supply the name of the broker, so these people could look them up on the internet, determine their bona fides, and contact them. Otherwise, it only serves to make newcomers envious.

The particular (very valuable) service you mention -- having a car service drive YOU thru the hectic central-Athens traffic --is offered by one large established agency I have heard of in Athens ... Avanti/Swift. If u are in An athens hotel, they will pick u up there and take you to the on-ramp of your highway out of town (the driver gets out, and gets into a 2nd agency car that has followed u for this purpose).

In this particular thread, the original poster, luckily, has no need of that service ... they are landing at the airport, hiring a car for out-of-town driving only, then returning to the airport to fly to an island.

Have a good GPS with an up to date map.
I didn't find driving in Athens so hectic.

I am not sure that leaving the car somewhere without having someone inspecting it is a good idea......
What if a charge came later for a damage of the car?

Sometimes we've returned a car when the office was closed, dropping the keys into a box in the door. This was with larger, well-known companies. To protect yourself, take lots of dated photos. (Actually always a good idea.)

YOu are all worrying about something that's not gonna happen for the OP, because they are returning the car to the airport, not to a hotel or dropping keys thru a door.