RyanAir/Hertz car hire

Flights; transfers; trains; ferries; routes; getting to and from the PO; lifts offered or wanted; motoring and biking matters.

Moderator: Moderators

Post Reply
User avatar
Pete F
Rank 1
Rank 1
Posts: 23
Joined: Thu 02 Aug 2007 09:31

RyanAir/Hertz car hire

Post by Pete F »

It now seems that if you book a Hertz car from Girona through RyanAir for 3 days or more, they insist that you pay for a full tank of petrol and return the car "empty".

Of course, you don't discover this until you've completed the booking. At least I didn't!
Serge

Post by Serge »

If they have started that then it must be fairly recent, we always use Hertz from both Gerona and Perpignan, admittedly we don't book it through Ryanair, but we have always had to take the car back full of fuel.

We have had the 'return empty' rule imposed on us by Auriga Car Rental at Gerona, that was for a quick visit where we hired the car for less than 4 days - we have never used them again.

Pete, I can understand your frustration as it is virtually impossible to take a car back empty!
User avatar
Steve&Julie
Rank 4
Rank 4
Posts: 108
Joined: Sat 28 Apr 2007 11:00
Contact:

Post by Steve&Julie »

Quite agree, we only drive from the airport to the house and back again and have resorted to syphoning off petrol into cans to use when we have a longer visit (not really recommended). The price is exorbitant as well (especially when you take the exchange rate into account which I know isn't their fault). Hiring a car now costs £50 extra whether you like it or not. I particularly object to no refund even on a full half tank which means they are effectively selling the fuel twice.
User avatar
Kathy
Rank 5
Rank 5
Posts: 290
Joined: Wed 19 Jul 2006 09:12
Contact:

Post by Kathy »

Pete do you think this is because you purchased the car hire through Ryanair? Here are their options from Hertz site. If this is the case then why the difference?

Refuelling Options


Hertz has three refuelling options available to meet your needs:
1. Fuel Purchase Option (FPO) - you may now purchase a tank of fuel from Hertz at the time of rental at a price that is competitive with local fuel stations. This method eliminates the need for you to refill the tank before returning. Please be aware that we are unable to give a refund for unused fuel.
2. You can let us refuel the vehicle for you. You will only pay for the fuel required to replace the fuel you used and for the service and convenience of Hertz refuelling the tank on your behalf.
3. You can stop and refuel the tank yourself, immediately prior to returning the vehicle.
User avatar
Pete F
Rank 1
Rank 1
Posts: 23
Joined: Thu 02 Aug 2007 09:31

Post by Pete F »

Kathy wrote:Pete do you think this is because you purchased the car hire through Ryanair?
Possibly. You are of course supposed to get a better rate...

I'll do some more checking next time.
User avatar
Kathy
Rank 5
Rank 5
Posts: 290
Joined: Wed 19 Jul 2006 09:12
Contact:

Post by Kathy »

We joined Hertz club and if you rent more than three times a year (I think it is three) you get an invite to join the gold club. Once you are in the gold club the rental rates are equivalent to the offers given by Ryanair. Even better you get free upgrades. Out of curiosity I have compared costs for the same car hire period both with our membership and Ryanair, there was about 3 Euros difference. Now that Ryanair have affiliated with Hertz you have to book cars earlier, we couldn't book with Hertz for the last half term as all their cars were gone. This was fo Gerona which appears to be dominated by Ryanair.
User avatar
john
Rank 5
Rank 5
Posts: 1075
Joined: Tue 20 Dec 2005 20:14
Contact:

Post by john »

Kathy is correct. But the problem is that because Hertz is a franchise operation,local "rules" seem to depend on who is the franchisee in any particular location(though of course if things were as they should be it wouldn't make any difference!)

If you have historically got a good discount on your Gold Card (as I have) usually it's better than Ryanair's price,and,as Kathy says, you should get an upgrade. However,as if to prove the anomaly,last week,my wife picked up a car at Stansted that I'd booked,and the numbskull on the Hertz desk there insisted that as it had been booked "through ryanair" (it hadn't),then a Fiesta was the best he could do.

As for insisting that you take the fuel option at Girona,well this idea was also sold HARD to my wife by the Stansted idiot,but she stuck to her guns and declined his kind offer. I'm sure if you do the same at Girona,then Hertz cannot enforce this iniquitous "rule".
Anita & Peter
Rank 1
Rank 1
Posts: 24
Joined: Tue 19 Jun 2007 12:58
Contact:

Post by Anita & Peter »

We hired a car through Hertz/Ryanair/Gold Club (all boxes ticked) at Gerona last week. The fellow in front of us at the Hertz desk had a heated discussion on this very matter and had to pay €44 for the FPO option. We didn't and returned the car full as usual.

We don't know if it was because we reserved the car some time ago that the FPO didn't kick in. We will see what happens art Easter with interest.

BTW we didn't get an upgrade as we normally do so the corsa was only just ok for 4 adults. Thank goodness we only had Ryanair's 1 piece of hand luggage each! (no check on the number of pieces at either Leeds or Gerona)
mpprh
Rank 4
Rank 4
Posts: 172
Joined: Fri 06 Jan 2006 11:36
Contact:

Post by mpprh »

This may be a local thing, but I doubt it.

I had the usual "return full" option with Hertz earlier this month.

Peter
The Languedoc Page
www.the-languedoc-page.com
Image
Owens88
Rank 5
Rank 5
Posts: 444
Joined: Fri 13 Jan 2006 01:49
Contact:

Post by Owens88 »

I think it is a Gerona thing.

John
John
www.Goodviews.co.uk

Vernet Les Bains and East Midlands
User avatar
Nigel and Karen
Rank 4
Rank 4
Posts: 154
Joined: Mon 20 Mar 2006 22:04
Contact:

Post by Nigel and Karen »

No Prob for me in Jan, but I did hear someone complaining about it?

I wonder if the lenth of the rental effects the offer?

I rented a car for 3 weeks.
Serge

Post by Serge »

Could be a local rule for the 'gullable'.




No offence intended Pete!
Webdoc
Rank 5
Rank 5
Posts: 201
Joined: Tue 02 May 2006 19:09
Contact:

Post by Webdoc »

Owens88 wrote:I think it is a Gerona thing.
John
I seem to remember the booking page says it's two places - Girona Airport and one other (can't remember which). I'm sure it was in force when I came to Girona a month ago but there was a distinct danger that one could return the car full out of habit and lose out.

Interestingly I noted that although the printed paperwork from the website said "bring the car back empty" the yellow Hertz folder they put their contract in still said "bring the car back full".

I guess it's a local franchisee policy. Perhaps we should all contact Hertz independantly to complain. That might work.
User avatar
Kathy
Rank 5
Rank 5
Posts: 290
Joined: Wed 19 Jul 2006 09:12
Contact:

Post by Kathy »

I guess it's a local franchisee policy. Perhaps we should all contact Hertz independantly to complain. That might work.
Good idea. They have always responded within 2 days to any e-mail sent. Now that they have an influx of Ryanair customers it will be interesting to see if their regular members are still valued as much.
User avatar
Pete F
Rank 1
Rank 1
Posts: 23
Joined: Thu 02 Aug 2007 09:31

Post by Pete F »

When I received the online booking confirmation it included the following:

"If you rent for three days or more from Alicante or Gerona airports, your vehicle will be provided with a full tank of fuel which will be charged on pick-up. This charge should amount to approx. EUR37 - EUR79 depending on the vehicle model and price of fuel at the time of hire. Please note that there will be no refund for unused fuel, so you are advised to return the vehicle empty."

I thought that that was effectively part of the contract, so I didn't bother to fight it. Perhaps I should have!

As I said, this was booking through the Ryanair link, and I'm not a Gold Club member.
Webdoc
Rank 5
Rank 5
Posts: 201
Joined: Tue 02 May 2006 19:09
Contact:

Post by Webdoc »

Pete F wrote:When I received the online booking confirmation it included the following:

"If you rent for three days or more from Alicante or Gerona airports, your vehicle will be provided with a full tank of fuel which will be charged on pick-up. This charge should amount to approx. EUR37 - EUR79 depending on the vehicle model and price of fuel at the time of hire. Please note that there will be no refund for unused fuel, so you are advised to return the vehicle empty."

I thought that that was effectively part of the contract, so I didn't bother to fight it. Perhaps I should have!

As I said, this was booking through the Ryanair link, and I'm not a Gold Club member.
Bother, damn and blast.
As per my previous post, my booking confirmation said just the same. So I returned the car half empty and then got charged 50 odd Euros for the refill. LATER I discovered thet (as a Gold Club member) I should have brought it back FULL.
Jolly confusing if you ask me.
Post Reply