Catalpa Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 A London-based friend is shortly to travel to Brittany via Portsmouth / Caen-Ouistreham. They don't own a car so will be hiring one. Initial investigation has raised the reluctance of UK car hire companies to hire on the basis of the car crossing to and being driven in France.Does anyone know of a (reputable!) car hire company that doesn't twitch nervously at the suggestion their car is going out of the country? Or alternatively, is hiring a French car at Ouistreham a better bet?Anyone done either? Does anyone have any advice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomoss Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 I think it might be cheaper to hire the car in France than to pay the ferry charges both ways for a UK hired car.I have usually found good prices here www.holidayautos.co.uk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judith Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 I did research this sort of thing, but it was about 5 years ago now, so out of date. I did find hire companies happy to hire to travel to France, but they did increase the insurance premium (but not excessively from memory). I tried most of the usual ones, but the one I found reasonably accommodating (until they moved offices and they then when phat!), was Thrifty. Can only suggest that you ring around a few local companies (including the nationals - who knows you may get a goodie) and see what they say. They are ususally franchises so you may find one.We did once use the Hertz service where you drove in a UK hire car to Calais, changed over to a French car and reversed on the way back. [Sorry, forgotten it's name] Only problem we had was they gave us an automatic on the return, and we did not know how to drive one of those. Not sure that Hertz do it anymore. ...other problems was having to transfer all the booty to another car ..... Other than that, depending on where you are, hire to the port, go across as foot passengers, and hire at other end, but that does limit the baggage you can take .....and I don't know what car hire is like at Ouistreham. Train London to Portsmouth is ok, done that to meet family at Portsmouth and cross with them .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Coeur de Lion Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 I have also found that hiring a car through a co.uk website is far cheaper than a .fr website. So if they decide to hire in France, hire it via the co.uk version of the website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crossy67 Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 I hired a van from Practical car and van hire, they're a franchise all over the UK. Your insurance premium will be a bit more but they never had a problem with me taking a luton half way across Europe twice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 Your friend could find this company of interest. We have used it several times, and there is no problem with vehicles (cars or trucks) being taken to France as long as you inform them and pay a small amount extra. It would be pretty much on the way to Portsmouth - the base is about an hour north of the ferry port, and right beside a main railway station.(Post edited - I missed the fact that the friend was in the London area when my original reply was posted in haste) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catalpa Posted July 12, 2011 Author Share Posted July 12, 2011 Thank you very much for all your replies. I've given said friend a link to this topic so she'll benefit from your suggestions direct. Thanks again. [:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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