Travel question of the day: Simon Calder on hiring a car in France

Have a travel question that needs answering? Ask our expert Simon Calder

It pays to do your research before hiring a car (Shutterstock)

Q I’m trying to book a rental car in southern France, picking up at Nice airport, early in September. It’s all a bit daunting online – loads of cheap deals, but not entirely clear what you’re getting. What would you do?

Name withheld

A Car rental is a ferociously competitive industry, which can provide outstandingly good value. In return for perhaps £20 a day, I can get unlimited use of an asset that is worth £10,000. But like many dimensions of the travel industry, the whole business has become distorted and opaque. So I’d start by looking at a price-comparison website, such as Skyscanner or Travelsupermarket, and get an idea of the price levels.

Then I would do the old-fashioned thing of picking up the phone and talking to two or three of the big multinational car-rental firms. After three decades of renting cars abroad, and several incidents of being clobbered for unexpected extras, I have concluded that I would rather pay a few pounds extra and have the chance for a proper conversation with someone and establish:

1 What’s the price for a deal where I accept an “excess” of, say, £500?

2 If I choose to take out separate insurance for that excess, will you accept the policy?

3 Can you add a second driver for free?

4 What’s the fuel policy?

The traditional plan is out full/back full. Many internet deals, though, insist on out full/back empty. You pay an inflated amount for the tank of fuel, and are cheerfully told to bring it back empty – which, of course, is an impossibility. Every drop of fuel that you leave represents profit for the provider. If it’s not an “out full/back full” policy, I will politely decline.

Having phoned around, I would take the best deal – and then be very careful when I pick the car up that nothing extra is added. In the US, in particular, I’ve been one of the many unwitting fools who don’t spot that they’ve been upgraded and are paying a small fortune for something they didn’t ask for.

Finally, I’d make jolly sure I got the car back on time. On the last occasion I rented a car in southern France I got slightly lost on the way to the airport, arrived two minutes after the deadline and ended up paying an extra £70.

Every day, our travel correspondent, Simon Calder, tackles a reader’s question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder