How To Collect My Rental Car At Heathrow Airport

Our Heathrow car rental providers offer a free shuttle bus service, which run every two minuets, from the all Heathrow airport terminals to the car rental sector of the airport, as all rental cars are kept off terminal at Heathrow, so you need to board the free shuttle service in order to collect your rental car at Heathrow Airport. This journey only takes a little while, so allow around 10 minuets for this journey, also the free shuttle service takes you back to the terminal of your choice when you have finished with your rental car.

Its worth noting that there are many off airport rental providers who may offer a slightly cheaper rate for your car rental but don't offer a free shuttle bus service, instead they rely on the hotel hoppa service which runs only every 30 minuets and costs around £4.50 per person, so if your travelling into London Heathrow Airport with family this can increase the overall cost of your car rental, and also the stress levels, so take this into consideration when booking your rental car.

What do i need to rent a car at Heathrow Airport

If your thinking of using our car rental service at London Heathrow Airport you will need the following to complete your rental.

First of all you will have needed to reserve a car with us, you can just turn up but expect to pay more, as all the best deals are offered on a pre booked car rental basis.

You will need a credit card to pay the outstanding car rental charges, none of Heathrow car rental providers accept cash, you will need to leave a preauthorization on your credit card for the cost of the rental plus any security deposit, normally around £250 so ensure you have enough credit to authorize this amount.

You will need your driving license. Drivers must present a full valid national license at time of rental, which must have been held for at least 1 year prior to the rental checkout. All visitors to the UK must present a full valid license. Licenses issued overseas must be clearly identifiable as a driving license, otherwise an International Driving License will be required. A Passport, ID card showing home address and proof of entry/ exit into/ out of the UK (e-tickets acceptable) must also be produced if not a UK resident.

UK residents who hold the new photo card license must also present the paper counterpart at the start of the rental. Endorsements are only shown on the paper counterpart so customers MUST produce both documents. Holders of the old style UK paper license must also provide an additional form of photographic ID in the form of a Full Valid Passport

Car Rental Deals At Heathrow Airport

To get the best deal on your car rental from Heathrow airport you need to pre book early, this is when the car rental companies are more keen to take the early bookings and offer the best rates for car rental. When booking early you can usually save around 30%.

Free extra driver car rental Heathrow airport.

you will note when getting a quote for car rental with us some of our car rental deals offer a free extra driver, this is offered as an incentive to book your car rental early. This can reduce the cost of your rental and also allow you to share the driving, which is always a bonus.

Heathrow Car Rental Insurance

Well this is always the mind field when renting a car. We have negotiated deals with most of the major car rental providers at Heathrow to include all the insurance you need to be road legal in the UK but let me try and break this down below into what insurances are included and what they actually mean, so you can get a better understanding,

Liability Insurance - The road traffic act 1988 which was slightly changes in 1991 requires that all cars have this in place so this is a required insurance and is included in all our car rental deals. This protects you your passengers or public property against damage you may cause when driving the rental car.

CDW Insurance & TPI - Collision damage waiver and theft protection insurance is a product which covers the full cost of the rental car all except a deductible excess ( usually any thing from £500 - £1000 depending on the rental company). So if you were to have an accident in the rental car and cause £4000 worth of damage you would only have to pay the deductible amount, and not the full cost of the rental car, phew i hear you say, but just be aware you will still have to pay what ever the deductible amount is as mentioned above. Now when you arrive to collect your rental car the agent will be more than happy to sell you an insurance called excess waiver which usually means if you do have an altercation your not liable to pay a penny subject to the insurance terms. Whilst these insurances offered by the car rental companies at Heathrow will increase your overall cost of your rental, it just means there is no need for you to payout an excess fee if the worst was to happen.

They are many other products out there offer such as excess reimbursement insurance, which is considerably cheaper, but just means you will need to pay the excess if you were to have an accident then reclaim this amount back from your service provider. You can get covered for as little as £2.50 per day with this cover of opposed to £10 per day with most of the major car rental providers. You may want to check your holiday insurance, as this may also cover the excess amount in the event od a claim. If your from Canada or the USA check with your credit card provider as many cards will cover this excess amount free of charge.

Some great tips when renting your car at Heathrow.

When collecting your car make sure you take a good look over it, if you see any damage inform the checkout agent right away. Look at the windscreen, make sure there are no stone chips, check out the wheels ensure they are not scuffed or there is any damage to the tires. Take your time when checking out the car and if your not fully satisfied ask for another rental car.

Don't forget check the inside of the rental car, make sure the fuel is displaying full. Before you drive away just familiarize yourself with the workings of the rental car.

where are the mirror adjuster, check to see if these are set right for you, are you sitting comfortably check where you adjust the seat. Where are the indicators are they on the left or right of the steering wheel. Fuel is it a diesel or petrol car, just remember where the filler cap is for your rental car, is it on the left or the right of the car. Whilst i know this may all sounds silly but it really does help trust me. Familiarize yourself with what roads you will be going on to get to your destinations. You have the M25, M4, M3, M40, A30 all very close to Heathrow so you wont be far away from a major road. Remember your speed limits, motorways which are highlighted in blue maximum speed is 70 mph A roads which are in green signs again these can vary from 50mph to 70mph Also look out for variable speed limits these are big speed signs normally on motorways which vary the speed according to the traffic conditions. Remember speed limits are not a target, just drive to the conditions of the road, and the most important piece of advise i can give to you is enjoy your journey, and enjoy your time in the UK.