ptr120

I'm after some advice on car rental options at Birmingham airport. I arrive in to BHX with Flybe and will want to get on the road as quickly as possible. Who is going to have me in a car the quickest? I have Avis Preferred but would also be happy to consider Sixt (although not used them before) or Europcar (used them before at other locations). One Option that popped up in my search is Inter Rent who seem to be owned by Europcar - are they at the terminal?

Thanks in advance

stut

Interrent is Europcar's budget offering, but I believe they have a separate location at BHX. Do be aware, however... You are required to return the car clean, and they have a habit of giving you part-full tanks of fuel (you have to return with the same as when you left). Their reviews are not good.

Otherwise, all the majors have the desks together, and the cars are all by car park 4, 5 minutes away. Not much to choose between them, and a lot of the queuing time is down to luck. Avis Preferred is a good queue-skipper. I find Europcar and Sixt have rather faster check-in procedures than Hertz and Avis in general, but YMMV.

I know it's not what you asked, but note that there is also a well served railway station at the airport, with inter-city as well as regional railway services calling there, should that be a better option for you.

hangpilot

If you're not buying Europcar's insurances they can take forever to fill in the waiver forms. Never had that with other companies, just Europcar, at multiple locations, including BHX.

ptr120

Thanks all - I went for Avis in the end. Being a preferred customer saved form filling

TribalistMeathead

Avis should be quick. I am Preferred and picked up a car at SOU for a one-way rental in the fall - I did have to go into the office for the contract and the keys, but all were waiting for me. I don't think I even had to show my driver's license. Had a similar experience renting from a neighborhood location in Oxford.

One warning, though: If you're traveling from outside the UK, and your credit card is issued outside the UK, and you don't want Avis converting the charges to your home currency, make sure they haven't automatically checked the box on the contract indicating you want them to do so. That happened to me both times, and I'm still a little annoyed about it, given the whole reason I got the card I used to rent the car was so that I wouldn't get socked with currency conversion fees.