flight leaves before car return is open
 

We are leaving Malaga Spain early in the morning, but the car rental place isn't open yet. Does anyone know if there are provisions for that? Or are we going to have to spend a fortune on Taxis to getting the car back the day before, and they back to the airport the next morning. Thanks!

Some rental places have drop boxes for keys...you could check into that.

But do make sure you remember to do so! I was charged several days rental because we couldn't find the box at Dublin Airport, and had to mail back the keys. It took several more days because I couldn't get an answer to WHERE to mail the bloody things. It sucked.

Hello disneymoon, I would take photos of the rental car when you drop it off and keep the photos so if the rental company tries to charge you for dents etc., you have proof of the condition of the car when you returned it. I would contact the rental car company to get the answer to your question. Hopefully they will have a drop box. Have a wonderful trip!

Put the green insurance packet and the keys in the drop box, take pictures of the car, and call them as soon as you can to verify they got everything.

Had the same thing happen to me once as GreenDragon - there was no box. When I called they said I should have left everything with the café across the street (WTH?). I too was charged the extra days it took to get there in the mail. BUT, 99% of the time, there's a drop box.

We did the key box thing. It went well. (Madrid) Love Italy's idea of th photo is a really good one.

You do need to verify w/ the specific rental location though. Some allow out-of-hours drop off, and some don't.

I always take pictures of the car when I check it out. That way, if I ding something, I can claim I took the pictures when I returned it.

(In other words: pictures prove nothing.)

You can try to find out THE answer before you leave by speaking with someone from the agency OR you can make certain you ask about this when you pick up the car.

Which do you think would be the best source of actual information?

Since the "actual information" might necessitate a change in logistics, nailing it down before leaving would be the best course of action.

We've had difficulties with this also; In Avignon I dropped the car off on New Year's Day, and they charged for me an extra day or so, until they opened next. Auto Europe sorted it out, but did say i might have to prove that I was indeed in Strasbourg on Jan.1,2, etc. by showing hotel receipt, etc. The charge was removed w/o my having to do that.

In Siena we returned the car early on a Sat. just by chance, luckily; seems that they closed at noon and have a locked car park, so we would have had no place to leave the car but the street, and they said that would not have been a good idea.

So, as others are saying, good to check this out before you go, and not just with the broker here but with the actual rental place in Spain.