How to rent cars at Alicante Airport (ALC)
Anti-Scam Guide
To help my friends, my volunteers, the students at my Academy, visitors to the Valley, guests, clients, and any random person who happens to find this page, and is looking to rent a car in Alicante, Spain, I have now made this guide to reduce your risks for being scammed. And to make the process as smooth and comfortable as possible. Enjoy!
Background
I have rented more than 200 cars from rental car companies at Alicante Airport since 2008. I normally pay between 2-12 euros per day for a rental car! In 2013 I rented cars all the 365 days of the year and the total came up to 632 euro! That is an average of 1.73 euros/day!
Now, let me show you the tricks and the traps, so you too can avoid losing money, time, and energy when you want to rent a car.
If you appreciate saving a lot of trouble and hundreds of euros, by following this guide, please consider donating a few euros of what you saved, to return the favor.
For all these years, I have been using AutoEurope.eu for booking my rental cars
(Disclosure: I am not affiliated with them and make no money or benefits telling about them).
AutoEurope is an independent company that negotiates with rental car companies all over Europe. AutoEurope will allow rental car companies to be visible on AutoEuropes booking website, allowing the rental car companies to reach the millions of people who have subscribed to AutoEurope. In return, the rental car companies must keep low prices and give out a super cheap offer now and then. Today, I will show you how to find those cheap offers while avoiding being scammed by rental car companies. So far, I have never had any problem with AutoEurope. On the contrary, their telephone support is very helpful when the rental car companies try to scam you when you are there to pick up your rental car.
STEP 1 - At home.
Do a quick preparation first!
Go through the list below and make sure you have everything in order before proceeding to step 2!
If this is not in order, then do not bother to rent a car in Alicante! You will lose your money! And you may risk not getting the car you paid for!
VERY IMPORTANT!
Notice! If you are 25 years old or younger, you will have to pay a few euros extra per day when you rent a car in Spain. Around 10 euros/day is normal. This will come up when you make a reservation online.
In Spain, it is usual for rental cars to have manual transmission and the rate for those with automatic transmission tend to be higher. Check your driver’s license now to see if you can only drive cars with automatic transmissions!
Make SURE you have a CREDIT CARD! Not a debit card! A lot of people do not know the difference! “Credit Card” or “Credit” must be written on your card! If not, or if it says “Debit”, you can not use it! The car rental company may force you to pay hundreds of euros for worthless full insurance if you get this one wrong! (See scam details below!).
Make sure the credit card is either VISA or MASTERCARD (They accept nothing else!!!) Or the car rental company may force you to pay hundreds of euros for worthless full insurance! (See scam details below!).
Make sure your credit card has at least a 2500 euro credit limit, available for you at the pickup date! Or the car rental company may force you to pay hundreds of euros for worthless full insurance! (See scam details below!).
Make sure the expiration date on your
credit card
passport
international driving license
is valid minimum 3 months AFTER your return date of the rental car! Or the car rental company may refuse to give you your car. And you won’t get your money back either. In the best-case scenario, they may let you have it, but for a significant fee!
STEP 2 - At home.
Increase your discounts from the beginning!
You can book rental cars with AutoEurope without being a member. But I recommend signing up as a member from the beginning! This is free, and you will get an extra 5-15% discount on most rentals. The discount may not always apply if it is a sale or other discounts apply. Another benefit is notifications about really good deals before they get published. ;-)
Step 3 - At home.
Find the best deals!
Each car rental company is obliged to provide a very good deal now and then for AutoEurope users and members. The best deals are kind of “hidden” so that most non-members of AutoEurope won’t see them. Even for members, it takes some experience to learn how to find them. I found that the more of the following criteria you can meet, the better the deals:
Booking 4-6 weeks ahead.
Booking on Tuesday mornings.
Set pick-up and return time to the same time. Preferably before noon. Example: 10 am-10 am or 11 am-11 am.
Set pick-up and return dates to Sundays.
Sometimes they have a good 1-week, or 2-week or 3-week deal! Or even 4 week deal! I normally check for all those options.
I have experienced paying 27 euros for 1 week when 2 weeks was priced at 230 euros! In this case, it is better to rent two cars for 1 week each, if you have the possibility to go back to the airport one extra tour to change cars.
WARNING!
Avoid this company!
Step 4 -At home.
Book early, change to better deals later!
AutoEurope charges no fees for booking. Neither for canceling as long as you cancel a minimum of 48 hours before pickup time!
I would recommend start booking rental cars as soon as you know the exact dates you need them. The more weeks or months ahead, the better! Because at least then you have secured a car! Then up to two days before picking up the car, you can check regularly for better deals. When you find one, book it immediately and then cancel the old booking.
Note! The rental will be blocked on your credit card, and normally it will take 1-3 days to unblock your canceled booking. So for a few days, you may have a double blocking on your credit card. Make sure you have enough money for that!
STEP 5 - At home.
Checklist before traveling.
Make sure you bring with you ALL of this:
Your passport.
Your International Driving license.
Your credit card (that you used to pay for the rental! IMPORTANT!).
At least 50 euro in cash.
A printout of your confirmation (voucher)! You will have received an email with your voucher from AutoEurope.
Some car rental companies will deny you your paid car if you do not have a physical PAPER printout of your voucher!
Or in best case scenario they will charge you a significant fee!A phone with a camera or a camera/video camera, to take pictures of the rental car.
STEP 6 - At Alicante Airport.
Finding your car rental company.
Depending on what is written on your voucher, you now have one of two options:
Option 1 - The car rental company is at the airport.
A) At the Arrival floor level you will find counters for the largest rental car companies.
B) The smaller rental car companies may have their offices at their parking, in the parking house right outside. Go to the end of the arrival floor, pass the rental car company counters, and take the stairs up to the next floor. There you can walk a glass bridge over to the parking house. The elevators have marked the floors with the rental car companies logos.
Option 2 - The car rental company is located just outside the Airport.
In this case, you will have to take the stairs/elevator down to the lowest level. Then go outside and look for the Shuttle parking for your rental car company. They normally pass by every 10-15 minutes with a large van with their logo on. Although they have their own parking marked by a sign with their logo, be prepared to wave them to stop and pick you up! Show the driver your voucher. The drive will take about 5-10 minutes and is free of charge.
Tip!
If other customers are sharing the shuttle, enter the shuttle last so that you can get out first! For every person who gets in line at the rental car company counter before you, you increase your waiting time by 15-30 minutes!
STEP 7
At the rental car company counter.
Make friends with the rental car company clerk!
Note that all these rental car companies are fighting for survival. The competition is fierce! And their job is to suck out as much money as possible from the clients when they have arrived at the counter. They are not making any money on the rent. Their entire business model is to have cheaper rental prices than their competitors and then make the money on you when you show up with no other options available. This is close to blackmail. Imagine the amount of angry customers they have to deal with daily!
I found that I very often get a free upgrade or fewer attempts to scam me when I start out attempting to meet the clerks with empathy, friendliness, and effectiveness.
Before it is your turn, make sure you have the following ready to be put on the desk all at once, opened on the right pages and facing the clerk:
Voucher (as a printout)
Passport
Driving license
Credit card
Meet them with a smile and some Spanish:
“Hola, como estas?” (Hi, how are you?)
“Que bueno dia, no?” (What a wonderful day!)They will ask if you have rented with them before. If you have not, you will have to fill out a little form with your data.
When they ask, I always say “I rented from you many years ago and your service was so good that it was easy for me to choose your company again, this time!”
These three strategies help build a positive rapport and in their mind, it will separate you from all the other angry clients.
But be aware, from now on, their scam attempts will start:
STEP 8
At the rental car company counter.
Avoid the “insurance” scam!
The clerk at the rental car company will ask you if you want insurance. I always politely say:
“Thank you for the offer, but I plan not to use the car much, this time. I will definitely consider it next time I rent. Thank you!”
The insurance is their best way to make money on the car, so they might try every trick in the book to manipulate you to buy insurance. Remember you are already by law covered for damages caused by other people on your car, through their insurance. And the minimum insurance you already have covers you from damages caused by you to other people’s cars or property. What is NOT covered is damages on your rental car caused by you! So you just need to drive safely!
Their most used scams to manipulate you to buy the full insurance are:
Arguing road safety and economic consequences for you. These are scare tactics. Keep calm and politely say “No thank you” until they give up. If you get stressed, they will become more aggressive, thinking now they got you.
They know that most people have a standard credit card limit of 1000 euros. So when you do not want insurance they (rightfully and legally) will block a deposit on your credit card. This amount will be released a few days after you return the car with no damages. They make sure that the total deposit for fuel, the rent, and the security deposit exceeds that limit so that the blocking will be denied. In that case, you will have no other choice than to pay for full insurance, which can be 200-400 euro! This is why I recommend going there with an accessible credit limit of 2000 euros! ;-)
Also, in the terms you accepted when you booked, the driver has to be the same person whose name is on the voucher and whose name is on the credit card! If you misunderstood the difference between a credit card and a debit card, you have a problem and will have to buy full insurance! You can not use anyone else credit card.
If your credit card is NOT a Mastercard or VISA or will expire 3 months after returning the car, you also have a problem and will have to pay for full insurance!
STEP 9
At the rental car company counter.
Avoid the “Your car is not in” scam!
The rental car companies love to tell you that your car is not in. And that they have a smaller car in the same class. It is their right of course. But most of the time it is just a scam. They will tell you that for only a few more euros a day, you can upgrade to an even larger car in a higher class with a huge discount to save a lot of money!
Don’t fall for that! Call their bluff and tell them:
“No thank you. I prefer to get the car I booked. I have all day so I can wait for it to come in!”
They will now ask you to step aside so that they can take care of the next customer. Hoping they will win the waiting game.
Then you politely point out that:
“No thank you. I have been waiting in line for my turn. As I still have not got my car, it is technically still my turn. I will wait right here until I get my car or you give me a better car without extra costs. Don’t you dare bypass my turn!”
Every time I said that “my car” just magically happened to have come in 5 seconds ago. “It just needs to be cleaned first.” I usually then respond with:
“I don’t mind a dirty car. I’ll take it as it is, as long as you write that on my confirmation that I can return it dirty.”
They will normally accept that or “happen" to” get another car that has just been cleaned. They are not losing on that deal because you can return the car dirty anyway. And they think you don’t know that. So at least they feel a small win, and can let you go with that.
STEP 10 - At your rental car.
Avoid the “scratch and damage” scam!
The rental car companies have several strategies to suck more money out of you when you return the car.
Here are the most common ones and how to counter them before you even leave their parking lot:
SCRATCHES
They would love for you to pay for damages or scratches caused by, and already paid for by previous customers.
Avoid this by ALWAYS inspecting your car for scratches and damages. Take photos AND video of all of the exterior. If ANY damage or scratch, go inside and make them come out to check it and write it down on the contract. They will be extremely reluctant to do it, but they have to, so stay firm and don’t give in! Because they will be even more stubborn when you return the car without documentation of the damages. They will then make you pay hundreds of euros for old scratches. Typically they will say that they don’t count small scratches (But they certainly DO!)
MISSING ITEMS
Check that your car has:
Reflex vest (1 or 2).
2 emergency triangles.
Spare tire/jack/Bolt key or Tire Sealing foam and a working air pump (Test the pump!).
Or else they will charge you for them. If something is missing do not leave until they have given you new ones. These items are required by law, and the owner of the car (the rental car company) will get the fine. Then they will take that money from your credit card + a significant fee!
Also, check that these items are not missing:
(It is normal today that rental cars come without these items. But take a picture anyway! if they are missing)
Radio antenna (If the car has the old external antenna.)
Hub caps
Air filling caps
Fuel tank lid
Ashtray
Cigarette lighter plug
There is normally no need to get them to sign for any of these missing items. A photo is normally enough.
STEP 11 - At your rental car.
Avoid the “fuel and milage” scam!
Before leaving check that the mileage is the same as in the contract. And that the fuel tank is full! Take a picture of the indicators!
Sometimes they will try to scam you on the fuel by telling you that it is the last rent out for that particular car before it gets sold. So there is no need for you to return it full with fuel. This is a blatant lie! They will deny ever having said that, and now they will overcharge you on fuel costs + taking a significant fee from your credit card for “re-fueling”. If your contract says Full-to-Full, then ALWAYS return the car full! No matter what they tell you!
STEP 12 - On the road.
Avoid the “tire puncture and low fuel” scam!
Take the extra few minutes to go to the closest gasoline station to:
Fill up your tank.
Save the receipt if you filled up more than 1 euro. You can reclaim that when you return the car!
They normally steal 6-7 liters from cars (worth 10-12 euros), knowing it will probably not show on the fuel indicator. They make millions a year doing this!Check the air pressure in your tires.
They normally let 15-20% of the air out of one or more of your tires. Hoping that you will get a puncture. Then when you have no insurance, they will send a very expensive tow truck and/or charge you 300-400 euro for a new tire!
HOT TIP!
I do recommend you buy a bottle of sealing foam spray for tires at the gas station. This cost normally 6-12 euros and is the best insurance you can have!
You can ask for:
”Espuma para sellar neumáticos”
(Tire Sealing Foam)
If you DO get a flat tire, just spray the foam into the tire and then fill it up with air at the nearest gas station or with the enclosed air pump. They will never know. If you use the rental company’s sealing foam (they secretly marked it!), they will charge you for the foam you used, a new tire, a new rim, and a significant fee! This can quickly add up to 500-700 euros!
STEP 13 - Returning the car.
Avoid all the scams!
FUEL
If your contract says Full-To-Full, then click on the button above to get the location of the closest gasoline station at Alicante Airport and fill up the tank. ALWAYS keep the receipt for at least 30 days!
SCRATCHES/DAMAGES
Do Step 10 all over again!
MILEAGE/FUEL
Do step 11 all over again
SIGNATURE
ALWAYS get a signature on your contract that they have inspected and found the car in order.
They may be very reluctant to do this but tell them that your boss or spouse will kill you if you don’t get it. That usually works!
Thats it!
You should now have had a great time in Spain with no worries or extra costs.
If you appreciate saving a lot of trouble and hundreds of euros, by following this guide, please consider donating a few euros of what you saved, to return the favor.