Are you planning holidays in Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote or one of the other minor Canary Islands and you need to rent a car? Good, you’re on the right place, this post will show you all what you need to know, and there are good news even if you don’t own a credit card.
Fortunately the process to rent a car in Canary Islands is much more easier and cheaper and safer than elsewhere in europe.
Roads in canaries are also well kept, traffic is not a deal and you can easily find free parkings almost everywhere. The “autopistas” (highways) that you’ll find on the major islands are all free and gasoline is priced about 0,90 €/L, so discovering hidden corners of canary islands will not ruin your budget!
Now, move back to the car rentals in Canary Islands. First thing to know:
Forget the famous european car rental brands! 🙂
At the same way leave alone also the various car rental search engines/broker usually helpful in other parts of europe and that usually offer additional insurances that in this case you won’t need, because all the brands I’m going to show you include full insurance without excess in the normal rental price. So, book directly from the official webiste.
In detail, the car rental brands I’ll show you share all these important advantages:
- You can book for free on the website without paying anything and without giving any credit card details, you’ll pay the day you take the car;
- Free modify or free cancellation just by email;
- The price shown includes full insurance with no excess, unlimited mileage, somebody also offer some car accessories for free;
- Prices are very cheaper than classical famous european brands, usually you’ll pay 50-100 euros a week;
- There are no tricks or hidden costs on fuel. You don’t have to buy fuel from them as some other brands do, they just give you the car with a certain level of gasoline and you have to drop off the car with the same amount. That’s all;
- All these brands except one have their own office at the airport (and also in some major towns) so at your arrival in 5 minutes you’ll be at the counter and in some moments they will check everything and give you the car keys, that you’ll catch up at the near parking. They don’t bother you with car upgrade proposal or other stuff;
- Cars are almost new,3 times out of 4 they gave me cars with less than 20.000 km;
- The price you see on the website is the total price you’ll pay, nothing more to add at their desk;
- Extra: sometimes it happened they gave me a superior car than the one I chose for free!
Everything looks perfect, right? Well yes, I have to say that I never had a problem all the 4 times I rent a car in Canary Islands!
And there’s also a good news for who don’t have credit cards ! One of the following brands accept payments also by cash without extra fees! You just have to leave a deposit (about 20% more than the actual price) that is like a fuel guarantee, and they will give that back to you at the drop off if everything is ok. Now let’s see the brands:
1 – Autoreisen:
Autoreisen rent a car has offices at the airport terminals of the four main islands ( Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura) , and in Tenerife has some also in the south island towns. This car rental has all the advantages mentioned before and accept payments by credit card, which is issued at car withdrawal time.
I rent three times with Autoreisen thanks to the good opinions and cheap prices, two times they gave me a car of major category than the one I chose (a C category, Seat Ibiza, instead of a B category), and both were car with less than 20.000 km ( in one we personally celebrated the 20.000 😛 ).
Usually they also have the best prices, I suggest checking regularly the prices on the website because they sometimes rise and sometimes drop (as Ryanair do with their flights! :lol:).
Autoreisen also offer some accessories like baby seats for free.
2 – Cicar:
Good opinion also for Cicar, that would be your favourite choice if you need to rent a car in Canary Islands without a credit card. They accept also cash or debit cards: they just ask you for a little cash deposit (In my case was 22 euros for a 95 euros week rental in Gran Canaria) that they give you back at the drop off.
This brand also works in other cities of continental Spain and in Balearic islands, but in these cases i think that Cicar is not more and not less appealing than the classic famous european brands; in fact outside Canaries they apply higher prices and different conditions, as you can check here: http://www.cicar.com/ES/view/condiciones-popup
Anyway In Mallorca I took a car with them, they don’t have own office at the airport, they are supported by Enterprise, everything was fine, the car was almost new, but instead of receiving the key at the airport desk as in Canaries, they gave me a ticket to show at the parking, where the employee almost started the operations from scratch, trying to giving me cars in superior categories with a paid upgrade or additional insurances, taking some more time.
3 – PayLessCar
They work with Cicar, so same opinion as before; I never rented with them, so I don’t have a specific opinion; anyway sometimes they have the cheaper prices.
4 – Cabrera Medina
https://www.cabreramedina.com/IT
Also this one is working in collaboration with Cicar, they have a lot of offices in many towns, not only airports, in particular way in Tenerife, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, but also in minor islands like El Hierro, La Palma and La Gomera. A brand to keep in mind if you’re planning to travel in these last islands, where some of the previous brands may be missing.
5 – Plus Car
You can find them in all the seven islands , including El Hierro, La Palma and La Gomera. Somewhere they don’t have an office at the airport, but after booking they’ll send you an e-mail explaining that their employee will come at the airport with the car and wait for you at a specific parking number, so that’s not a problem.
Ready to drive?
After all, always check Rental conditions on the company website, and check every part of the vehicle when retrieving it and let the employee know if you see any problem.
The full insurance without excess covers every risk, except the ones caused by bad behavior, like losing the keys, wrong refueling, damages under the vehicle; you’re not covered also while driving out of asphalted roads, and damaging tyres, so pay attention on what roads you choose.
That’s not a problem anyway because almost every road is asphalted, except some in Fuerteventura or Lanzarote.
Apart from these brands you’ll find also some little car rental in many town, offering 1-3-7 days rental. I don’t have any opinion about because I never used them, due to higher prices and the fact that taking the car at the airport is more confortable for me. If you happen to choose these, my advice is to pay attention to what is covered by the insurance and the rental conditions!
Have a nice holiday!
Keep in touch for other posts Canary islands and their beautiness!
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