hi...anyone have experience with thrifty car rental at heathrow?...is it easy to pickup there?...how easy is it to depart the london area from heathrow?...thanks all

It's been a few years but from what I recall is you must take a hotel shuttle bus to the Sheraton. This shuttle bus goes around ALL the terminals and several other hotels before getting to the Sheraton, needless to say this took about 1-hr. And they also charge for the shuttle service. I think it was about 5gbp per person. The upside is that it is very close to the motorway and makes it convenient for getting away and returning and misses the airport nightmare.

There isn't much difference between one Heathrow rental agency and another. None of them are on the airport property and most require some sort of shuttle.

A few of the smaller agencies don't use shuttles buses - they simply pick you up in the car you are renting and either send you on your way or take you back to the agency to complete the paperwork.

Thrifty is no better/no worse that most of the others. Just go w/ the one that gets you the best rates.

thanks janis...i figured as much

I have to differ with Janis here. We just returned from England and rented a car through Thrifty. NEVER AGAIN!!! After waiting for an hour at the rental car bus stop at terminal 4 (we were directed there by airport Information), we asked a stranger for help. He was kind enough to call Thrifty for us on his cell phone. They told us to take the train to Terminal 3, search for the Hopper buses and take it to the Sheraton. The travel took an additional hour and a half (after our wait) and the bus cost us $8 each! Do not rent a car from them if you are going to Heathrow Terminal 4! I rent a car yearly when I go to England and have never had a problem renting a car until this trip. It was not worth the extra 2.5 hours of our trip when we were exhausted. We did it because the quote was cheaper, but ended up paying for the bus and wasting hours of precious time dragging our luggage around. We also got the worst car I have ever rented. I felt like it was going to fall apart on the motorway. Honestly, it was scary and I drive a smallest Honda here at home. Also, the man at the counter was extremely rude to us. When I complained about the lack of instructions on how to get there, his exact response was "we are a cheaper rental agency and you get what you pay for".

>...his exact response was "we are a cheaper rental agency and you get what you pay for". <

"Who do you think we are, Hertz?"

Hi

I have some related questions to Thrifty Car Rental UK (not sure if anyone knows the answer but just want to try out in this forum, I have written to Thrifty Car Rental few times but they have not replied to my emails):
1. Can we rent a car from Thrifty (or any car rental company in UK) if we only produce home country driving license (no IDP), passport and credit card?

2. thrifty website has this small print says "rate include all rents, VAT..and unlimited mileage unless stated otherwise...." follow on there is statement says that "local mileage restriction may apply" BUT there is no way clarify what do they meant by such restriction?

the rate is pretty cheap and attractive but i do not feel comfortable of all those small prints containing such vague exclusion proviso...

ya, may be the guy was right, as the name tells, they are "Thrifty"...