Europe & Beyond » Car Hire

Driving in Snow

Henri — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 16:57:48 +0000

Another great holiday idea Driving in Snow is a tip from the guest travel writers at Europe & Beyond a travel blog with lots of holiday ideas.

Just reading about some of the half term ski holiday deals still availble for half term and took note of the a deal based at Valmorel – a far cry from the luxury ski resort of Kilimandjaro. It is usual to fly from gatwick to grenoble to visit this resort but low cost airlines are slashing prices on flights to Nice where holiday makers can hire a car to complete the journey to resort.

Car rental firms in Europe have always been ready to supply special tyres in readiness for the usual conditions. Winterized vehicles are supplied with all-weather tyres and in some regions you can have snow tyres fitted.

Many skiing holidays in France begin with cheap flights to Nice airport where groups have arrange their own car hire. Nice, in the south of France, is a major destination for both summer and increasingly winter travellers in search of low cost ski holidays. Depending on the conditions of the ski resort you are travelling to you can request tyre chains when you book your car hire. France is one of the many countries where snow chains are offered as an optional extra but the small cost could save you a lot of time and trouble should you run into uncleared roads whilst on holiday.

Driving in snow and Ice

For snow and ice – high gear and low revs gives you more torque. Move off in second, or even third if you can manage, and keep your revs just above stalling speed

When you’re not sure what the surface of the road is like I do two things. First I look for ‘diamonds’ twinkling in the light. That is ice crystals. And second, drop the window an inch and listen. If there is silence on days like this then chances are I am on an icy road. Time in both cases to slow down. Gently.

The problem in the UK is that we all use standard tyres in winter and their rubber compound has an odd characteristic that causes the coefficient of friction to dip around zero degrees Celsius. A few degrees lower or higher and they work better. So called winter tyres use a different compound to avoid this, but they wear out faster. In the Alps and other ‘snow’ territories of Europe, winter tyres are obligatory and they make a huge difference. In Austria winter tyres have to be fitted by law for the six months of winter, but they certainly get you through most of the worst snow and ice situations without problems.

Car Hire USA Airports to Centralise Facilities

Henri — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:31:43 +0000

Another great holiday idea Car Hire USA Airports to Centralise Facilities is a tip from the guest travel writers at Europe & Beyond a travel blog with lots of holiday ideas.

The wave of airports in the US building centralised rental car centres continues to grow. For the past decade airlines across the United States have merged car hire zones into a single facility. Instead of individual car hire USA companies are running seperate buses to and from the airport and each hire company having its own car parking areas. Busing is shared, car rental counters and cars are side-by-side and valuable space around airports is freed up. Still to take up the schene is the worlds biggest car hire market – Orlando.

Commenters were quick to voice their opinion

This is more efficient; but each car hire company loses its competitive advantage. No more dropping you off at the actual rental car. Why not just have one agency then – or better yet, the airport have its own hire car system?

Now if only the rental car companies would update their computers to give correct driving directions to and from the new facility….

As an Atlantan, I rented a car from National to pick up at the Atlanta airport, drive to a meeting in extreme south Georgia, and drop off at 5 AM the next morning at the Tallahassee airport for a flight to St. Louis and then back to Atlanta. National’s computer reservation system directed me to drive to their new airport rental facility, where no private vehicles may park. I parked in the street, went inside, was directed to park in the airport terminal decks and take a shuttle bus back (train was not yet running). All that threw me an hour off schedule so I arrived late at my lunch meeting almost to the Florida border.

All the rental car companies need to update their directions to customers, whether arriving at this facility by air or by car.

I think the consolidated facilities are great because they reduce the number of shuttle busses and should reduce rental car company costs. Unfortunately, they rarely reduce the costs paid by consumers. Additionally, they add to the industry’s deceptive pricing practices because they quote a low rate, then later add in “consolidated facility” and shuttle charges” (which were covered under under their quoted price when they provided the service).

Cleveland and San Francisco both opened consolidated rental car facilities in 1998 and since then they have opened in many other major airports in the USA .

More are planned, such as pooled car hire Orlando, rental firms in Miami, San Jose, Memphis and deeper south in New Orleans.

Though emissions from one car are nothing compared with those from even the best airplane, they add up. So instead of renting a car to get around the city you’re visiting, try researching public-transit options. Public transit is often cheaper and faster, offers a great way to sightsee, and is almost always more earth-friendly

Car Hire Voucher Codes – Discount Car Rental

Henri — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 10:18:37 +0000

Another great holiday idea Car Hire Voucher Codes – Discount Car Rental is a tip from the guest travel writers at Europe & Beyond a travel blog with lots of holiday ideas.

Discount Car Hire Voucher Codes

Do you find that you spend hours searching for the best car hire deals online – convinced that somewhere on the web you can get a cheaper deal only to discover that your savings amount to very little.

At Europe & Beyond we offer the latest voucher codes for car hire in Europe and elsewhere around the world.

Latest car hire voucher codes Summer / Autumn 2009

September

September Car hire with 15% off by using this easyCar voucher code SCORCHIO
Expiry Date:01/10/2009

Go to easyCar website

August

By using easyCar discount voucher code HOTTER
Expiry Date:01/09/2009

get up to 10% discount on August Car Rental

expires 01/09/ – This voucher code is designed for easyCar. Simply copy and paste it into the Redeem Promotional Code box during checkout.

Book online to get the best discounts available – and remember this summer 2009 it is

expected that there will be a shortage of hire cars throughout Europe so book early. Car hire Spain, France, Italy and Cyprus are most likely to be affected by the shortage – those leaving their booking arrangements to the last minute may be very disappointed with the lack of choice of cars – if any are available at all.

You may be looking for holiday car hire when you arrive at the airport or to arrange local car rental when you reach your final destination either way you can save money using voucher codes when you book your car online.

This summer in the build up to the busiest time of year car hire companies are offering high value voucher codes that will get you upto 15% discount off the total cost of car rental – for a weeks hire of a family saloon car that can mean a saving of up to £50