Plaza de Espana, Seville
We had a wonderful eleven-day vacation in Spain last month. We visited Seville, Cordoba and Granada. Usually we use public transport when traveling, but discovered going by train within Spain is very expensive. We stayed with friends in Seville and Granada, but the location in Granada was outside the city, so we needed to rent a car.
Since I am the family travel agent, I went online to research car costs, and was delighted to find a compact car that cost about $34 a day with insurance included.
The Alcazar gardens in Seville.
When it’s too good to be true, it probably isn’t good or true! Here are our lessons learned:
Tip #1: Go with a well-known, proven agency and read the fine print in the offer.
I didn’t. I LOATHE reading fine print! We booked with Marbesol. Marbesol?? When we arrived to pick up our car, we discovered that we had a “meet and greet: pick up with a full tank and bring it back empty”. Sounded good to me when I booked, but I didn’t read that “the company may charge you for gas”. We were told that we would have to pay 108 Euros for the privilege of bringing the car back empty (no refund for a partially full tank) AND we’d have to pay an 800 Euro deposit because the insurance didn’t cover everything. The car was tiny, and we knew a tank of gas would be much less than 108 Euros. Our other choice was to pay 129 Euros, which included full coverage, but we had to bring the car back with a full tank. So, we chose the second plan. Our good deal was now a not-so-good deal.
The Albayzin in Granada
Tip #2: Read the contract carefully before you purchase.
Full coverage may not be full coverage! When we returned our car, the couple ahead of us had the misfortune to have a fender bender. Nothing serious, but they were relieved that they had purchased full insurance. The agent congratulated them on having full coverage and said they only had to pay 245 Euros for the time the car would be out of commission for repair work. They argued that they had full coverage; but the agent said it didn’t cover the days the car would be out of commission. ARRRGGHHH!
The Albayzin; the Moorish quarter of Granada. Notice the Alhambra in the background!
Tip 3: Don’t pay for insurance with a third party company when you book the car online.
The few times that we have done this, the “independent party insurance” never covers enough, so you end up purchasing additional insurance from the car rental company.
We got to see an authentic flamenco concert. We were the only tourists there!
Tip #4: If you are going to a major European city, don’t rent a car!!
Even if you park it and use public transport, parking fees are 15+ Euros a day. Public transport is usually much more efficient and cost effective.
The amazing Mezquita Mosque-Church in Cordoba.
Tip #5: If you do rent a car, rent the smallest possible car that will fit you and your baggage.
Our car was tiny, but driving in Granada was very stressful because there were dozens of tiny one-way streets that would be more aptly called alleys. They had treacherous two foot metal posts about six inches on either side of the car that lined the alleys (to prevent parking). The street/alleys were so narrow that Andy sometimes had to do a three or four point turn just to make a right or left turn!
Parking garages often have insanely small parking spaces, with only about eight-foot aisle between the front of your car and the car opposite. We spent almost thirty minutes trying to get our tiny car into a tiny parking space!
That’s how close another car parked to ours!
Tip #6:Update your GPS!
Our Garmin is two years old, and as we were driving to the airport there was a split in the road in real life, but only one road on our Garmin. Then our Garmin told us we were driving on unpaved roads and wanted us to turn around, when in reality we were on a newly built highway. Fortunately we eventually found our way to the rental agency, but there were a few stressful moments!
We will do another car rental for a Germany-Italy-France trip in the summer, and we will hopefully learn from our own mistakes. We hope you can learn from our mistakes as well! Do you have any tips for us?
global nomad family 
If you come back to Spain, the buses are the best bet! Everyone takes them here, because they are super cheap (Sevilla-Córdoba 10 euros one way), and they go just about as fast as the trains. Some of the bus companies, like ALSA even have wifi!
Thanks for the tip! We will be going back to Spain next year, so we will definitely look into the buses!
Keep smiling whatever you face. Even the stressful moments are part of the memories you are making for later. I love all the pictures you took, especially those coming from Spain. It’s nice to see where my Muslim Arab grand fathers were.
So good to hear from you Tahreer! I was thinking to contact you because we will be visiting Israel and Palestine in August. Maybe we can meet up! I’ll send you an email:)
I had great success last year using Auto Europe. If you have a Visa card, it will cover you for insurance and you do not need to purchase insurance from the company.
Thanks for the tip, Paul! We’ll look it up for our summer driving trip. Hope to have you come visit us in Prague some time!
Thank you Paul for your clue to check Visa card for coverage. So, does this mean that no additional insurance is needed from the rental company as well as a third party? (It appears that our car insurance will cover any personal liability as well.)
Also, for the two options for gas refills, is the “p/u full and return full” the choice over “purchased full and return empty?” Only these two options given by Autoeurope.
And is it always best to book online ahead of time ? Right now they are giving a price of $78 from Oct. 17 through the 20th (P/U not at Madrid airport and return to airport because all others closed.
FYI Anne and I are travelling to Bangalore for a mission trip with India Transformed and spending 4 nights in Madrid and Valencia on the way home. Great to see your name pop up and sounds like you are enjoying some travel.
I’m not sure if Paul will see your comment or not. I took Paul’s advice and used Autoeurope for our rentals in Germany and Israel. Check with your credit card company to find out exactly what they cover as far as car rental insurance. I discovered my insurance only covers rentals 14 days or less, and they do not cover Israel.
Choose the pick up full, return full option. Booking online is better as you’ll get a better rate than if you just show up. Your rate of $78 sounds great!
Thanks Nicole. Thanks for cluing me into taking option 2 . I did check my credit card – it covers everything except personal liability and our car insurance does cover the personal liability. Wow Israel too – are you doing that one on your own and taking tours once you get there?
I did check into the buses and trains for transport between Madrid and Valencia, but so far it seems more expensive with schedules that aren’t as accommodating and lengthier. We plan to pick up the car after our day in Madrid at a site other than the airport and then return at the airport as they are the only ones open on a Sunday. It does seem like a really good deal and from what I can tell, driving on the road is very similar to the states. Is that what you remember? Ex. Driving on the right side of the road.
We are doing Israel on our own, renting a car and traveling with our friends.Looking forward to it! We found renting a car to be more economical than using the train also. Driving was very easy in Spain on the highways, but tricky in the city because of small streets in the old part of Granada. Be careful of your speed, so you don’t get a ticket!
Nicole! It is Amy, from WINGS. Your photo of Plaza de Espana made me smile. I used to go there several times a week to work on reading don Quixote. I am so happy that you are able to have all of these adventures.
Thank you, Amy! It’s great to hear from you! I’m glad the photo made you smile. Plaza de Espana would be a great place to read or do homework:)