2018 LHR Christmas Week Car Hire
 

I've rented cars many times at LHR but never at Christmas. The rates are sky high, is this because of a large volume of Londoners leaving town for the holiday?

Always the same, seems huge demand for cars from visitors to the UK (especially ex-pats like me returning home!) as well as Londoners renting a car to head out (also me in a previous life)

I try to book well in advance on a cancellable rate. In the past I used to get pretty good rates from Watford (can't remember which company ) - might be worth checking if taking a taxi out there or similar locations to collect would work out better value (watch out for opening hours though)

Last year in April I paid ~GBP 100 for a week from Easirent. Of course it took an hour to have them not force me to take their insurance because I wanted to rent with the CSR.

Have definitely noticed the rates being very high this year. Often booked with Easirent in the past but they are astronomical. Have taken the Watford route myself, Enterprise about half the price there than anything around LHR.

On most weeklong trips (like this one) the motivation to rent to and from LHR is that after I account for the taxi to and from the airport (typically 30 quid each way) the car is practically peanuts for the rest of the week.

Hillingdon
 

I always rent from Enterprise in Hillingdon. ⅓ cost of Heathrow at peak times. £20 taxi, or £2.50 local bus if you know the area.
For me - best benefit is open later on Saturdays than other 'off' airport rental companies.
If arriving at LHR early morning - have plenty of time for coffee and breakfast....

I could not find a Hillingdon location on Enterprise's website. The closest location to Heathrow is Bath Road Hounslow.
Unfortunately I'm returning on a Sunday and virtually all the "local" locations near LHR are closed.

If I choose the Hounslow location and select a Monday return the rate is indeed almost half (USD 350 vs USD 650). I think on this trip I'll forgo the car and spend the pounds on Uber.

Are you looking for automatic transmission? This is always a limiting factor, as automatics are in the minority here.

@AutoSlash were able to help me yesterday with a very competitive quote for a car from LCY - collecting Saturday 22nd and returning on the evening of the 26th. Their prices are in USD but even with the fx fees on my credit card it'll be a considerable saving over what I could have got elsewhere.

Similar question: Are rates normally higher in May than other times of the year, or is it just too early to book? I'm seeing rates for May 2019 about 2x what they would be in January.

There are two public holidays in May, along with the school holidays (the very end of the month this year). If you're looking around then, it's going to be busy.

The Enterprise branch is listed under 'Uxbridge', but is located at the top of Hillingdon Hill - apologies for confusion.