LAXGUY

You won't have to show an IDL in order to rent a vehicle but it's worth having one in case you are stopped by police for something like a traffic violation.

Hoyaheel

Thanks for the input. Guess we'll have to figure out who the drivers will be - don't want to have to pay too many extra driver fees (esp since I can't find those fees on rental company websites up front either) The UK driver will be one, so only one of the US drivers will have to get the IDL....

Oh, and we also have to figure out where we're going to stay

WorldLux

They are usually displayed in the options during the booking process. Probably ~5 to 10€/additional driver & day. Additional Young drivers adds another 5-10€/young driver & day to the additional drivers fee.

The IDP is not so much of an hassle to be honest. They can save you some time in traffic stops. I would say that they are worth their money.

Hoyaheel

Well, all I can say is that in the last online rental place I was reading all the fine print, it said to check at the counter of the car rental place for the actual fee for an extra driver. Sometimes the fine print just doesn't have all the details you want (ironically, it did tell me how much the GPS and toll device rentals were)

As much of a hassle as a Chinese visa? No. More than a regular US driver's license? Yes. It's all relative. Biggest PITA for me now is I've lost my regular passport photo place I had an IDL years and years ago and never used it and these days I HATE to rent a car when I travel overseas (and therefore tend to plan vacations where car rental isn't necessary)

WorldLux

If I pick random dates for Portugal, I get the following page on Europcar. The other websites behave similar (apart from maybe Avis).



Yes. But as I told you before, check the rental condition. The big names in the business don't require you to have an IDP. Personally I'll take my IDP along on trips as it makes traffic stops more comfortable.

Palal

In Lisbon I usually rent from small agencies through consolidators through economycarrentals. So far have not had a bad experience with the small agencies. Be sure to familiarize yourself with the toll system and take the toll tag option when offered by the rental agency as it's worth the hassle.

You should have the IDP, though it's YMMV in case of a traffic stop.

HMO

I used this consolidator last year, the final agency was Drive On Holidays. Good car, good service. But it was a stick one - if I'm not wrong, they had only one or two automatics.

Palal

I've gotten drive on holidays a few times, all in all a good experience with them. Not sure how many automatics they have, but if you reserve an automatic through economycarrentals, that's what you'll get.

TWA884

I just took your advice and booked an automatic car though EconomyCarRentals.com. I just received the confirmation. The car rental provider is Luso Rent-a-Car. The price was considerably cheaper than for a lower category car from Sixt which I booked through AutoSlash.com.

I can hardly find any information about Luso. What's their reputation?

For what is it worth, our itinerary will be taking us from Lisbon to Évora, Marvão, Pinhão, Porto, Buçaco, Coimbra, Alcobaça, Obidos, Sintra and back to Lisbon.

Thanks.

CaptainMiles

Some (most?) Luso rates are with limited kms. Your trip could be quite long. Did you check that your rental is for unlimited kms?

Also, Luso does not allow cars taken out of Portugal unless you state so up front and pay extra. I know your itinerary does not mention crossing border, but Marvão is close to Spain and you could be tempted to cross the border. Don't do that with a Luso car unless you have the right paperwork up front.

TWA884

Thanks.

The rate that I booked includes unlimited kilometrage. We have no plans of crossing into into Spain; I was there last summer and our time is limited.

What's Luso's reputation for customer service? What's the word on the condition of their fleet, are the cars relatively new and well equipped?

Palal

I've rented from them once or twice, but the last time that I got them was 4 years ago. The car was a new toyota yaris. Pick up and delivery were at the airport, where they brought the car there and had someone pick it up from there on return. I'm not sure how they are operating now if they have an office near the airport with a shuttle, or if they're doing the same thing as before.

I would suggest getting the toll transponder (via verde) if it doesn't cost more than 1-2 €/day - it'll save you a lot of time and hassle with tolls.

TWA884

From my confirmation email:

Palal

Had a negative experience renting from Centauro via Economy Car Rentals due to the mandatory 25€ "refuelling charge". Basically, you are charged for the fuel up front, and can return the car with as much fuel as you want, they'll refund the difference between what they charged and what you have and will charge you 25€ on top. It was spelled out but in tiny print in the Ts and Cs of ECR, so do be careful and avoid centauro.

They're listed as located near the airport with a shuttle, but they're actually located near Oriente, so you'd probably get them when renting from Oriente too.

Thankfully most of the time you can see who the provider is after booking, and cancel the booking if it's not too close to the booking date.

TWA884

Thank you.

As I pointed out in my first post in this thread, my car rental provider is Luso-Rent-a-Car.