Car Hire Tips UK

With much talk in the media about the environment and the ecological impact of virtually everything we do, it’s time to take a look at the car rental industry to see how “green” car hire is and what the rental firms are doing to become more eco friendly.

Most of the major car rental companies have already recognised the growth in customer demand for low emission cars and have started to change their fleets to accommodate.  The range of low emission cars currently available is quite limited, both in options and rental locations, but it’s growing quickly with changing patterns in customer demand.

So, who’s doing what?

Avis Sweden has invested in more than 400 of the new ethanol-powered Saab 9-5 BioPower cars, along with around 75 Ford Flexi-fuel and 20 Toyota Prius. In the US, Avis have added 500 Nissan Altima Hybrid vehicles and 1,000 Toyota Priuses to their fleet. In the UK they have reduced their rental fleet emissions by 4%. Avis has also been a carbon neutral company since 2000.

Hertz have introduced a “green collection” which allows you to choose from a range of cars that offer a weighted CO2 output level of less than 140g/km and achieve 40 - 65 MPG, depending upon vehicle size. This weighted CO2 level is already below the 2008 voluntary levels set by the EU for the European Automobile Manufacturers Association. This collection is available from 50 selected outlets across Europe.

Holiday autos have also launched a range of hybrid cars in selected locations across Europe through its rental partners. If you want to go really green though and live in London, why not try out an electric car. Future Vehicles (www.futurevehicles.co.uk) was one of the first to set up in this market, offering cars within the M25 area.

Car hire at Heathrow Airport is available from all the major car rental firms who are mostly situated along the Bath Road at the airport’s perimeter. Heathrow is the largest UK airport and the third busiest airport in the world so there’s plenty of competition about for the millions of customers who pass through the 5 terminals each year.

The car rental firms car parks are all outside the airport itself and most offer a shuttle bus between the terminal building and their rental office. These shuttle buses are complimentary and run very regularly so you shouldn’t have to wait long.

Once you get to the rental office you could find yourself in a queue during busy times so try and factor in a short wait into your travel time if possible. Also, at a busy location like Heathrow it’s worth looking at the rental companies loyalty schemes as sometimes they offer an express checkout service (usually at no extra cost) providing you book in advance.

Heathrow Airport is used by over 90 airlines which fly to 170 destinations worldwide. The airport is the primary hub of British Airways and Virgin Atlantic and a major hub for bmi. Of Heathrow’s 67 million annual passengers, 11% travel to UK destinations, 43% are short-haul international travellers, and 46% are long-haul.

The busiest single destination in terms of passenger numbers is New York, with over 3.4 million passengers travelling between Heathrow and JFK / Newark airports in 2006. The airport has five passenger terminals (imaginatively named Terminals 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5) and a cargo terminal.

Heathrow is also well served by public transport links with the Heathrow Express train service and links to the London Underground both being accessible from the airport itself. So a money saving option might be to take a short journey on public transport to a rental location away from the airport as this could save you money.

All the rental companies have to pay Heathrow operator BAA for the privilege of being allowed to sell their services with the airport and that airport “surcharge” is passed on to their customers in one form or another, so you can often get a better deal if you’re prepared to make the extra effort to get to a local rental station.

A lot of people also rent cars at Heathrow when they get there. At busy times (which is a lot of the time at Heathrow!) this can be the most expensive way to book, so if you can plan ahead, it’s definitely worth booking in advance at this airport.