Matching a hire car to your passengers and luggage
Tell the team how many people will travel and how many cases, buggies or bulky bags you expect. Seating and boot space are separate questions. Say whether you need an automatic or are happy with a manual, and mention any child seat request early so it can be checked before you are quoted. Include details for every driver who may take the wheel.
Picking a suitable car
Start with the journey and pick the car to match it. Smaller cars are suited to city driving and short stays, automatics make local driving easier, estates and SUVs give more room for luggage, and people carriers are a better choice for families or small groups. The range available includes the Fiat 500, VW Golf, Ford Focus Estate, Ford Focus Automatic and Hyundai i10 Automatic, subject to dates, driver details and availability. The precise make, model, transmission, seating, payload and licence position are confirmed when you are quoted, so treat the vehicles listed as a guide to the kind of hire on offer rather than a guaranteed reservation of a particular model.
Information Worth Recording for Work Travel
Start with a simple list of the facts the booking will rest on. Write down the dates and times you need the car, the driver's details, and the address where the vehicle should be delivered or collected. If the trip involves several meetings, note each location, the contact expecting you there, and a phone number for every one of them. Consider whether an automatic would suit you, or whether a particular body style, such as an estate for equipment or an executive saloon for client visits, fits the journey better. Record any flexibility in your dates too, since knowing you could shift a hire by a day sometimes opens more options. Once the list is complete, anything you cannot answer yourself becomes a question for the team when you ask about a price.
Arranging a Car for a Longer Stay
A longer stay changes the shape of a booking, so it deserves its own notes. Begin by writing the full span of dates, including the day you expect to hand the car back, and think about whether that end date might move. If you will be based in one place for most of the stay, note the address where the car will sit overnight and whether anyone there needs to know about it. List the trips you expect to make during the stay, such as occasional shopping runs or a mid-week visit elsewhere, and note roughly how much luggage you are bringing. Where you are staying somewhere with restricted access, the contact at that address is the person to ask about arrival arrangements. These details can then be passed to the team when discussing your options.
Explore other car hire areas
Last checks before booking
Before you confirm the hire, check the key details: vehicle availability, driver requirements, mileage, insurance, delivery or collection arrangements and any extras you have asked for, along with driver age, licence history, the deposit, the insurance excess and any travel abroad. A clear request gives the date, the length of hire, the rough route, the delivery or pickup address, the expected passengers or load, and any particular requirements that might affect which vehicle is suitable.