Hertz - Does anyone have experience of one-way rental in UK?

We have a reservation for 4 day rental, pick up at Edinburgh, drop off at Liverpool.

The reservation has ONE-WAY CONFIRMED, but the breakdown quote details do not have one-way drop off fee - the only out of ordinary fee is the Location Service Charge of 22.50 GBP. The definition of such on Hertz site refers to rental at airport, railroad station and some City Centers - pretty much covering everything if you ask me.

We emailed to Hertz to find out how much, if any, one-way drop off fee is and the email response we received today said there is no one-way drop off fee.

We also have an identical reservation held at Avis, which charges 40 GBP one-way drop off fee.

The estimated total charges for a Ford Fusion at Hertz is 93 GBP (with a 20% discount code).

The estimated total charges for a Renault Laguna (intermediate) is approx USD 228. (Avis site cannot quote in GBP if your residence is U.S. and after 3 email exchanges with Avis customer services, we give up trying to get a GBP quote - all they did is to re-convert the USD back to GBP based on the xchange rate the day they replied the email. We never know how much the GBP quote is) Avis reservation also has a discount code for may be 30%.

I don't understand the problem. If there was a drop fee, it would be included in the rate quote. If it's not included in the rate quote, then there is no drop fee.

I've rented one-way in NL and France with Hertz and had no one-way drop fee so you should feel safe assuming your total is all-inclusive. Take the 93 pounds Ford Fusion.

I don't understand the problem. If there was a drop fee, it would be included in the rate quote. If it's not included in the rate quote, then there is no drop fee.

We would much prefer this information is clearly spelled out on the quote.

The pick-up location for Hertz car is a corporate location, but the drop-off location (LPL), is an independent licensee location.

We just want to make sure there would not be any unpleasant surprise when we drop off the car, or, worse, later on showing up on our credit card.

We would much prefer this information is clearly spelled out on the quote.
I've never seen a one-way rate quote that said "Drop-off fee: $0."

I have had to pay a drop fee in the UK, but it was clearly stipulated in the contract.

The only thing I don't like is that they don't close out the contract the moment I return it. You might want to double check that the place is open and manned when you plan to return the car. Call it at the return time the day before to make sure they're open.

I suppose it's worth saying that the two cars types you've highlighted are quire different.

A Renault Laguna is a typical European large family car (like a Mondeo or Mazda 6). A Ford Fusion is a strange thing. It's smaller than a Focus or Mazda 3 (It's actualy v similar to a Mazda 2) but larger than a Fiesta or Renault Clio. It's probably best considerd as a a sub-compact MPV. I know Hertz rent Fiat Ideas which are similar.

You may wish to change your car choices to allow you to better compare apples with apples.

HTH

1) Yes, we pay attention to the location operation hours - we will drop off the car at LPL on a Friday around 11:30am so we are ok here. I do read about horror stories about dropping cars off at afterhours in many European cities - a sure invitation for trouble it seems.

2) Correct about drop off fee - Avis drop off fee is clearly stipulated on the quote. Hertz just said one-way rental confirmed, did not say whether it is included in the quote or not. we would have no problem if the estimated total said including one-way drop-off - but it did not say so.

3) The Avis Renault Laguna actually is quoted $30 cheaper basic rate than the compact cars Avis offered. Had we chosen the compact car, the total cost would be in the $260 to $270 region. (tax would be higher, so does the surcharges, only the one-way drop off fee remains the same at 40GBP).

4) Is Ford Fusion smaller than Focus? They are at the same base rate. Fusion is 2.0 and Focus is 1.6 per Hertz site. We assume 2.0 is 2 litre and 1.6 is 1.6 litre - so Fusion has more horsepower than Focus? Though Fusion looks like having no trunk.

2) Correct about drop off fee - Avis drop off fee is clearly stipulated on the quote. Hertz just said one-way rental confirmed, did not say whether it is included in the quote or not. we would have no problem if the estimated total said including one-way drop-off - but it did not say so.


I rent one-way all the time. It always says one-way rental confirmed. From my experience, Hertz charges a higher daily rate on one-way rentals rather than having a drop fee.

I really don't understand why you are being so concerned with this given that both the Hertz reps AND multiple people on this forum have all reported that you won't be charged a drop fee.

4) Is Ford Fusion smaller than Focus? They are at the same base rate. Fusion is 2.0 and Focus is 1.6 per Hertz site. We assume 2.0 is 2 litre and 1.6 is 1.6 litre - so Fusion has more horsepower than Focus? Though Fusion looks like having no trunk.

Fusion is smaller than Focus. What you may be choosing is a "Fusion 2", part of a range which comprised Fusion1, Fusion 2 and Fusion 3! Engine is probably a 1.4.

Fusion is a mini MPV. Focus (or similar) will almost certainly be a hatchback in UK. Certainly, the touristy parts of Scotland are awash with Hertz Focus LX 5 doors this summer.

[CODE]Fusion is smaller than Focus. What you may be choosing is a "Fusion 2", part of a range which comprised Fusion1, Fusion 2 and Fusion 3! Engine is probably a 1.4.

Fusion is a mini MPV. Focus (or similar) will almost certainly be a hatchback in UK. Certainly, the touristy parts of Scotland are awash with Hertz Focus LX 5 doors this summer.

Hertz classifies Fusion 2 as compact, same as Focus. Focus adds 1 GBP extra in total estimated cost. Ford Mondeo adds 3.5 GBP extra in total estimated cost. These are very little differences in pricing under the discount code. Mondeo is classified as Mid-Size - probably is not a good idea given the high price of petrol.

The look of Fusion certainly is different than those sold in U.S.

Edit: I just googled it and sure enough, Fusion in Europe is a completely different car than Fusion in U.S. Fusion in U.S. is a replacement of Taurus - almost a full size car.

I've done one-way Airport -> Airport rentals with Hertz in the UK a few times and never had to pay a one-way fee so it's not unusual that you haven't been quoted an additional fee. It surprised me the first time I booked it but after that I never worried about it and have never had an unexpected charge.

To answer your later question... A Ford Mondeo is similar in size to a Renault Laguna so that's probably the one to use for an apples-to-apples comparison. Fuel prices are high these days but fuel efficiency of cars in the UK is generally better than cars designed for the US market (e.g comparing a Taurus with a Mondeo). I know that is a sweeping generalisation ;) but I'd say check the size of the car rather than choosing it based on fuel efficiency alone. If it is only 1GBP more expensive to get a Focus than a Fusion, I'd definitely do that and for a further 2.5GBP, personally I'd probably go for the Mondeo sized car. That is based on my personal preference though and I don't know what you're using the car for. If I was hiring it just for me for a quick trip, I'd go for the Focus but if it was for a family holiday, the extra 2.5GBP would be justified.

Thanks for your inputs on the one-way rental experiences with Hertz.

I did not realize Ford Fusion in UK is a totally different car than Ford Fusion in U.S. - the Ford Fusion in U.S. is definitely a mid size car. Anyway I changed the car to Ford Focus. There are only 2 of us travelling, so Focus is good enough.

I also prefer Hertz as it is quoted in GBP, versus the stupid Avis quote is in USD and no breakdown of details.

The remaining question is, why Hertz net prices are 15 to 20% cheaper than Avis net prices (Hertz booked with a 20% off discount code, Avis booked with a 30% discount code, but Avis has a pesky 40GBP one-way drop-off fee)? Both codes are found on these boards.