-
Does anyone have any experience of car hire in Malaga Airport. The usual suspects of Hertz, Sixt, Europcar, Avis, Budget and Enterprise all seem to be there, along with a huge selection of local ones (which are about a third of the price of the others)
Looking for short/no queue on-airport pick up, reasonable price and if possible child seat included for free.I am Avis preferred, Hertz 5 star.
- This topic was modified 55 years, 4 months ago by .
Malaga seems to be one of the worst places for dodgy car hire firms, and there are reports about dubious practices by even the big name operators (finding ‘scratches’ and other ‘damage’ after you’ve returned the car, and things of that nature).
Helle Hollis is the firm I used and which was also recommended by a whole bunch of people on sites such as Tripadvisor.
They have a complimentary minibus that picks up / drops off. Only a 2 minute ride from the airport to their premises.
Go full to full on the fuel policy; there is a petrol station a couple of hundred yards away.- This reply was modified 55 years, 4 months ago by .
Malaga seems to be one of the worst places for dodgy car hire firms, and there are reports about dubious practices by even the big name operators (finding ‘scratches’ and other ‘damage’ after you’ve returned the car, and things of that nature).
Helle Hollis is the firm I used and which was also recommended by a whole bunch of people on sites such as Tripadvisor.
They have a complimentary minibus that picks up / drops off. Only a 2 minute ride from the airport to their premises.
Go full to full on the fuel policy; there is a petrol station a couple of hundred yards away.Thanks, with a 4yo in tow, would prefer not to have to have an additional bus in the process though.
Malaga seems to be one of the worst places for dodgy car hire firms, and there are reports about dubious practices by even the big name operators (finding ‘scratches’ and other ‘damage’ after you’ve returned the car, and things of that nature).
Helle Hollis is the firm I used and which was also recommended by a whole bunch of people on sites such as Tripadvisor.
They have a complimentary minibus that picks up / drops off. Only a 2 minute ride from the airport to their premises.
Go full to full on the fuel policy; there is a petrol station a couple of hundred yards away.Thanks, with a 4yo in tow, would prefer not to have to have an additional bus in the process though.
If you look on google maps, you’ll see the Helle Hollis site is well within walking distance from arrivals – 5 mins tops I reckon.
EDIT: go away Captcha
- This reply was modified 55 years, 4 months ago by .
I’m using MalagaCars next month following a number of recommendations on here. Off-airport but they are certainly cheap and no payment is required until you collect the car. Packages with unlimited mileage and full insurance cover look to be excellent value.
They also respond very quickly to any email queries.We used Hertz at Malaga airport back in December 2019 and they were fine. The car was clean, no problems returning it etc etc. The only issue was that they didn’t understand the 4 hour hertz grace period that you got with hertz status but it was all sorted quickly
I’m using MalagaCars next month following a number of recommendations on here. Off-airport but they are certainly cheap and no payment is required until you collect the car. Packages with unlimited mileage and full insurance cover look to be excellent value.
They also respond very quickly to any email queries.Hmm, I’ll see if I can find those recommendations through search then. I know TA has a load of people either saying good or bad things about them, but also seems like half of them were confused as to whether it was malagacars or malagacarhire they used…
Actually had firefly on Amex Travel pop up at £9/day. But then I read the reviews.
We used Hertz at Malaga airport back in December 2019 and they were fine. The car was clean, no problems returning it etc etc. The only issue was that they didn’t understand the 4 hour hertz grace period that you got with hertz status but it was all sorted quickly
Was there jump-the-queue or suchlike with status?
@elguiri – I think their website actually stresses that they are not Malaga Car Hire 🤣
Goldcar is usually OK. Not used them in Malaga but used them extensively on the Canaries. If you use the discount code “MyGoldcarClub” (from memory) you get 35% off.
Goldcar is usually OK. Not used them in Malaga but used them extensively on the Canaries. If you use the discount code “MyGoldcarClub” (from memory) you get 35% off.
Goldcar is the firm that seemed to have most of the complaints when I was doing my research. So many negative comments on TripAdvisor, mostly regarding additional charges for damage that you didn’t do.
There are numerous articles dedicated to how bad Goldcar is!
https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/travel/goldcar-rental-so-bad-it-has-its-own-complaints-website-34193/We have used Europecar a couple of times. They also have some pretty bad reviews but we’ve never had an issue. I don’t know if a combination of being a Spanish speaker and doing a thorough examination of the vehicle (with photos) prior to driving away makes them less likely to mess us around.
We used Hertz at Malaga airport back in December 2019 and they were fine. The car was clean, no problems returning it etc etc. The only issue was that they didn’t understand the 4 hour hertz grace period that you got with hertz status but it was all sorted quickly
Was there jump-the-queue or suchlike with status?
When we were there, I’m pretty sure there was no queue at all when we turned up so didn’t need to bother with queue jump or the like.
Hertz don’t offer free additional driver for Amex Plats do they? It’s coming out same price as Avis at the moment, which does give us that via BA
I’m using MalagaCars next month following a number of recommendations on here. Off-airport but they are certainly cheap and no payment is required until you collect the car. Packages with unlimited mileage and full insurance cover look to be excellent value.
They also respond very quickly to any email queries.I’ve used them, no issues.
Some places look walkable but means crossing main road. I used Wiber…. Buying their all inclusive package ( insurance) upfront. Damage- no problem. Would not like to have relied on third party cover though.
we rent 7+ times a year – malagacar every time. i don’t even bother checking prices elsewhere.
Just wanted to get an update after the 2 years – what’s people’s opinion of the car hire companies in Malaga now?
Again looking at Avis via BA at around £400 for 6 days, and other local companies around £200
@NorthernLass you must have gone back a good few times in the interim !Malagacar were excellent and I’m planning to use them again next year. We used another company (Centauro) on our last visit as we wanted to collect the car in the city centre – they were very friendly and efficient but the car wasn’t really very like what we’d booked and had a lot of damage so I probably wouldn’t use them again.
*We only had that vehicle for 2 days so couldn’t be bothered making an issue of it.
Malagacar were excellent and I’m planning to use them again next year. We used another company (Centauro) on our last visit as we wanted to collect the car in the city centre – they were very friendly and efficient but the car wasn’t really very like what we’d booked and had a lot of damage so I probably wouldn’t use them again.
Thanks, seen quite a few recommendations for them. Just have to forgo the double tier points by not booking Avis for 150 more than Malagacar then.
It depends how badly you need the TPs!
Unless it’s changed you can book Malagacar without even giving card details so you can cancel up to the last minute. It’s a bit faffy having to go off site, though the office did look walkable from the HIEX if you were staying there before or after a flight.
That is the question that’s been tormenting me of late, what is bronze worth to me (7 day seat choice basically)…
ahh, faffiness is also a factor to consider but if it doesn’t delay us by over an hour we should be able to cope.
I hire cars from Malaga Airport 2-3 times a year. I’ve probably hired from every company over the last 20 years and the one thing I can say for sure is that it’s difficult to get a consistent experience from any of them.
My current go-to company is Budget, who usually offer a good balance between service and price. That said, I also hire on a regular basis from Firefly who have a bit of a poor reputation but their prices can be dramatically cheaper. It helps if you can speak Spanish and know what to expect (e.g. they will try to add insurance to your price).
If you don’t want any hassle and don’t mind being off-airport, then Malagacar offer very good all inclusive rates.
Do not go anywhere near Goldcar. Two years ago we dropped a car off in a hurry and forgot to take pictures. They found damage (we hadn’t done any) and charged us €160, which we claimed back through separate excess cover. FIVE WEEKS later they got in contact again to tell us we were being charged €1500 for more damage – after five weeks! My friend had a solicitor friend write a scary e-mail and we never heard back, although I’m certain we’d never have heard back if we’d sent a two word reply.
We’ve used OKMobility (next door to Goldcar in the terminal) multiple times and they’ve been great. Had a parking sensor fall inside the bumper a couple of years ago (nothing to do with us) and they were fine with it. They seem very honest.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Popular articles this week:
