Hi all, I'm looking to rent a car abroad and I have come across Kayak. Have any of you had experience with them, and are they any good?
TIA

they are just a agents, rather than a rental company. what country are you travelling to?

always been plain sailing whn i've used them

GetIntoEm wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 14, 2024 10:48 am

they are just a agents, rather than a rental company. what country are you travelling to?

Italy

ISpeds00 wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 14, 2024 10:49 am

always been plain sailing whn i've used them

Back-to-front mob.

i'm sure they will be fine, i generally book with one of the big names, Hertz, Europcar etc just for comfort factor.

if you're arriving at a major airport it'll be a breeze, some of the smaller ones close their offices or have a call out number which can be a faff.

take the insurances also

I've always used RentalCars.com (https://www.rentalcars.com/) part of Booking.com these days. Rented in Italy and Belgium a few times, again they're agents rather than a rental company but never had any issues, always had a good deal and decent cars.

Always worth taking the insurance (especially in Italy!!)

They left me up the creek without a paddle

Ightenhill_Claret wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 14, 2024 11:37 am

I've always used RentalCars.com (https://www.rentalcars.com/) part of Booking.com these days. Rented in Italy and Belgium a few times, again they're agents rather than a rental company but never had any issues, always had a good deal and decent cars.

Always worth taking the insurance (especially in Italy!!)

Thanks for this, a quick search shows reasonable prices, a bit more than Kayak but Booking.com have been around long enough, so that's reassuring.

You are better just going direct to the companies themselves it’s much easier.

I regularly rent cars abroad for work and the best companies to work with are Sixt, Hertz and Greenmotion.

Always get the top level insurance that way you are not agonising looking over the car for any scratches or dents. Just drop the keys and go.

Ightenhill_Claret wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 14, 2024 11:37 am

I've always used RentalCars.com (https://www.rentalcars.com/) part of Booking.com these days. Rented in Italy and Belgium a few times, again they're agents rather than a rental company but never had any issues, always had a good deal and decent cars.

Always worth taking the insurance (especially in Italy!!)

I booked with rentalcars.com for a trip to Spain. Absolute nightmare when the plane was delayed as they didn't inform the company. Ended up booking 3 different times with over an hour on the phone and still needed to get taxis at 3am and then back to the airport the next day.

Absolutely don't get the insurance from the hire company. Get Excess insurance instead for a fraction of the price.

Jel wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 14, 2024 10:45 am

Hi all, I'm looking to rent a car abroad and I have come across Kayak. Have any of you had experience with them, and are they any good?
TIA

Kayak have been around for years, they're owned by booking.com.

They're just an agent and the booking will be with a specific hire firm. I normally tick collection from airport only (no shuttle) which tends to get rid of the dodgier (albeit cheaper) options.

I'd also get third party car hire insurance, this kind of thing https://www.questor-insurance.co.uk/ins ... -insurance Generally annual insurance costs about the same as 4 days or so insurance from the hire company.

quoonbeatz wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 14, 2024 12:54 pm

Absolutely don't get the insurance from the hire company. Get Excess insurance instead for a fraction of the price.

Definitely!
Buy it here before you go, plenty of sites offering it at at least half the price they charge at the airport or resort.

Some sound information so far thanks.
How do you go about getting insurance for a car here when you aren't sure of which car you'll get, and certainly the reg number?

Jel wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 14, 2024 1:57 pm

Some sound information so far thanks.
How do you go about getting insurance for a car here when you aren't sure of which car you'll get, and certainly the reg number?

It's car hire excess insurance you're getting. It's basically insurance against being charged by the car hire company, not insurance for the car. The link I put above explains it.

All sorted, thanks guys. £56 for the car with Kayak and £17 for the excess with Questor. Not bad for 4 days.

I've used Kayak before for car rentals without any issues. The voucher they issue will be with one of the big car rental agencies such as Hertz, Dollar Europcar etc.
There are some dodgy outfits out there offering ridiculously low rates so just be careful it is the Kayak website you are looking at.

Jel wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 14, 2024 10:55 am

Italy

Where abouts in Italy out of interest?

Jel wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 14, 2024 10:55 am

Italy

Ive driven in many countries in Europe and America. I ha e enjoyed it almost everywhere............except Italy!!
The drivers are just mad. If they have such a thing as a highway code, nobody must have read it!

CaptJohn wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 11, 2024 7:10 pm

I've used Kayak before for car rentals without any issues. The voucher they issue will be with one of the big car rental agencies such as Hertz, Dollar Europcar etc.
There are some dodgy outfits out there offering ridiculously low rates so just be careful it is the Kayak website you are looking at.

The post is titled "Kayak" I presume that the OP is looking at the Kayak website

Rileybobs wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 11, 2024 7:29 pm

Where abouts in Italy out of interest?

Lake Como

quoonbeatz wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 14, 2024 12:54 pm

Absolutely don't get the insurance from the hire company. Get Excess insurance instead for a fraction of the price.

Search car rental insurance on the comparison websites. These insurers provide excellent cover and service for minimum cost. They cover more than just excess. You can then ignore all and any insurance or extras that the car hire company try to sell you when you pick up the car.

1968claret wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 11, 2024 8:12 pm

Ive driven in many countries in Europe and America. I ha e enjoyed it almost everywhere............except Italy!!
The drivers are just mad. If they have such a thing as a highway code, nobody must have read it!

They're fine.
Once you get to know which rules they ignore, which additional, "informal" rules they apply and how often to sound your horn, it's simple.

Definitely worth reading up on 'defensive driving techniques' before entering the streets of Italy - especially if you head anywhere south of Milan....

I’ve used Kyak for flights but find Drivalia are very good agents & very competitive.

Just watched "The Cockleshell Heroes" on Film 4 ... Kayak feature heavily in that

I once had a nightmare scenario in Italy when my wallet fell out of my pocket onto the road at an Autostrada toll booth. It was about 5 miles on that we discovered it was 'missing' and we had to take the next exit and return. I managed to park about 16 lanes away obviously going the opposite way and hopped from booth to booth looking like someone on medication. Much to my relief my wallet was still on the road having been flattened a few times. I picked it up and hopped back across the lanes waving and smiling like someone on medication!

It cost me another toll but thankfully CCTV wasn't a thing back then.

Driving in Italy, watch out for the ZTL’s. Took them 11 months but the £80 fine caught up with me.
https://www.evz.de/en/travelling-motor- ... d%20access.