Corfu Airport Auto Rental: 10 Mistakes to Avoid When Booking

Corfu rewards the visitor who can circulation on their very own agenda. The island appears small on a map but once you get off the principle roads, distances sense longer, buses skinny out, and taxis add up speedy. That is why such a lot of friends prefer up a vehicle the moment they land at Corfu International Airport Ioannis Kapodistrias.

I actually have rented cars at Corfu airport for work and vacations, in excessive season and in overdue October drizzle. The development is perpetually the related. The folks that did a few homework are on the road in 20 mins. The ones who rushed the reserving stand in queues, argue over insurance coverage at the desk and become aware of surprise costs on their card every week later.

If you wish a comfortable Corfu airport vehicle apartment ride, the biggest lesson is to be mindful where others pass improper. The following ten errors are the ones I see most of the time at Corfu airport, which includes what to do rather.

1. Assuming “airport auto condominium” regularly capacity on-site

Many visitors seek for “Corfu airport automotive apartment” or “appoint automotive Corfu airport” and anticipate each and every result is contained in the terminal. It will not be that elementary.

At Corfu, some manufacturers have desks within the arrivals hall and their cars inside the airport parking simply across the street. Others operate “meet and greet” or trip capabilities. You exit arrivals, search for somebody keeping a small signal, and experience a minibus to an off web site lot a couple of minutes away.

That is simply not unavoidably terrible. Off website online services will be less expensive and greater versatile on matters corresponding to mileage or extra drivers. The complication seems to be once you be expecting to stroll in your car or truck in five minutes and in its place lose forty minutes monitoring down a shuttle in 30 diploma warmth after a 3 hour flight from London.

If you wish a definitely on website Corfu airport hire a motor vehicle choice, inspect cautiously. Look for transparent wording consisting of “desk within terminal” or “on airport”. If the confirmation mentions a travel, meeting factor or “place of business 400 m from terminal”, construct that into your timings. It concerns on arrival, and it particularly matters in case you have an early morning departure and desire to drop the automobile and still test in on time.

2. Booking basically on fee and ignoring the coverage structure

I still see folk brag that they discovered the “top-rated vehicle rental Corfu airport” for 12 euros an afternoon in August. That base price is meaningless with no knowledge the insurance coverage.

In Greece, easy insurance plan pretty much comprises 0.33 social gathering liability and some form of collision break waiver (CDW) with a high extra. I actually have viewed excesses from 700 to at least one,800 euros for an economy car. If there's ruin, you pay as much as that amount unless you've additional quilt.

The standard error are two. First, people pass any further conceal and go their hands, then spend their excursion being worried about slender streets in Corfu Town. Second, they purchase an “excess refund” policy from a broking service website and do no longer appreciate that the apartment visitors will nonetheless block the overall excess on their card at choice.

A practical method at Corfu airport vehicle apartment counters is to judge upfront the way you desire to deal with chance. Some travelers are cosy with a sizable deposit considering they've a good credit score card and experience with condo claims. Others sleep more suitable with a “0 extra” equipment that bills more in keeping with day yet shrinks the safety block and financial exposure.

Read the insurance plan area earlier you click on “Book”. Compare the check of including full disguise from the apartment friends with a standalone excess policy from a reputable insurer. There is no single right resolution, yet taking walks up to the table with out a plan is the fastest course to rigidity and dear upsells.

3. Not checking gas policy and mileage sooner than confirming

Corfu airport rental automobiles almost consistently use the same couple of gasoline policies. The situation is they glance similar at a look, but settlement very other amounts over per week.

“Full to complete” way you pick up the automobile with a full tank, go back it full, and simply pay for what you operate. This is characteristically the fairest possibility, relatively if you happen to plan to force across the island.

“Pre buy” or “complete to empty” potential you pay for a tank of gasoline at assortment and may go back it on fumes. It sounds effortless but hardly ever works in your favour unless you'll be able to without a doubt use such a lot of the tank and the organization quotes gas at close to pump quotes plus a small expense. Many do now not.

Mileage is some other quiet catch. Most Corfu car apartment businesses be offering limitless kilometres, which is right for exploring Paleokastritsa, Kassiopi, the south coast and inland villages without interested by distance. A few low fee offers conceal a according to kilometre payment above a modest on a daily basis restrict.

If your confirmation email is obscure or uses phrases you do not understand, e-mail or message the corporation and ask for clarity. You choose written confirmation of the two fuel coverage and mileage. Verbal factors at a busy airport desk are convenient to misconceive and lots more and plenty tougher to dispute later.

4. Overlooking driving realities on Corfu when determining automobile size

Looking at smooth photos, that's tempting to improve to a bigger car or truck. More space for bags, superior air-con, possibly even an automatic for convenience. On Corfu, the larger the auto, the extra you need to give thought in which you plan to pressure.

The highway from the airport into Corfu Town is wide enough, yet as quickly as you wander into older districts, roads narrow to at least one lane with stone partitions on equally sides and cheap rent a car Corfu tight corners round homes. Some coastal villages and hilltop settlements are even tighter, with parking that barely suits a compact hatchback.

If you might be staying at a resort on the main east coast road, a bigger automobile won't be a quandary. If your villa is up a steep lane inside the north of the island, a small to medium car with decent chronic and nice turning circle is a miles larger resolution than a bulky SUV. I actually have watched folks spend 15 mins maneuvering a giant motor vehicle out of a lane that turned into surely designed for scooters and donkeys.

For maximum company, the sweet spot for Corfu airport auto condo is a small or compact auto, manual or automatic based on your relief. Enough boot space for baggage, but small enough to slip into tight parking spaces and meet oncoming visitors with room to breathe.

5. Ignoring critiques of one of a kind Corfu airport branches

Many travelers do a speedy look at various of the model call and forestall there. They see a titanic overseas agency they recognise from domicile, expect a elementary sense, and reserve. In exercise, branch high quality can range broadly.

Search chiefly for the friends name plus “Corfu airport” and learn the fresh comments for that location. Patterns subject greater than human being proceedings. If one man or woman mentions a longer wait time, that may just be a busy Saturday in August. If 20 human beings across 3 months report aggressive smash claims or unexplained charges, pay concentration.

This suggestions applies both to regional vendors. Some small Corfu rent a motor vehicle organizations close the airport are awesome, with pleasant carrier and flexible policies. Others reduce corners or have faith in technicalities to boost income. Reviews most commonly make the difference transparent.

A 15 euro big difference on every week’s rental is simply not really worth a foul argument over “pre present” scratches you had been certainly not allowed time to file.

6. Not getting ready your records and card correctly

One of the dullest issues, but I nevertheless watch it unfold in line on the airport every summer. The bureaucracy for hiring a auto in Greece is easy, however there are a few outstanding main points.

You almost always desire:

1. A legitimate riding licence that you just have held for at least twelve months, normally two, relying on the organization and car or truck staff.
2. For non EU / EEA drivers from definite nations, an International Driving Permit along your house licence. Check this beforehand, as a result of you should not receive an IDP once you are already in Greece.
3. A credits card within the leading driver’s title with ample purchasable limit to cowl the deposit or extra block.
4. Passport or country wide ID card for id.

Where worker's get caught is with the card. Many Corfu airport car apartment desks do not accept debit cards for the protection deposit, handiest for cost. Others be given them yet solely with costly more insurance. Prepaid cards are aas a rule refused outright.

If your confirmation does not evidently kingdom that debit playing cards are widely used for the deposit, imagine you need a customary credit card with embossed call and numbers. Also make certain the cardboard minimize is excessive satisfactory. I watched a pair from Germany turned away considering their modest minimize couldn't accommodate a 1,500 euro block for the excess plus their lodge’s pre authorisation.

Print or retailer your affirmation email as a PDF, inclusive of the voucher whenever you booked thru a dealer. Mobile internet at Corfu airport is more commonly advantageous, however a dead battery or roaming challenge should no longer stand between you and your car or truck.

7. Chasing “no deposit” grants with out examining the small print

The word “Corfu airport car condo no deposit” is sexy, surprisingly while you dislike the theory of enormous quantities of euros blocked to your card. Genuine low deposit or no deposit recommendations do exist, however the devil sits in the element.

Usually, whilst a manufacturer advertises no deposit, it capability one of two matters. Either they have got outfitted the hazard into a larger every day cost with mandatory complete insurance coverage, or they are going to nonetheless hold a smaller volume as a gasoline or site visitors tremendous warranty. Sometimes either.

There is not anything mistaken with paying a little bit greater for the peace of brain that comes from not having 1,000 euros frozen for your card. Just fully grasp what you are shopping for. Check:

The desirable amount they will maintain for your card, if any.

Whether the no deposit provide is tied to a selected insurance coverage bundle. How they manage minor smash, inclusive of small scratches or chips.

Compare this to a standard kit from an additional issuer that uses a deposit however promises minimize quotes. Over a week’s trip, the whole expense can swing both approach. The worst mistake is to booklet at the energy of “no deposit” alone and then explore a long checklist of exclusions and further rates in case you attain the table.

8. Skipping the inspection and image activities at pickup

You are tired, the queue has been gradual, and the sea coast is looking. The agent points to the automobile, you signal the shape, throw your bags inside the boot and drive off. That 5 minute shortcut can value dearly if there is latest damage that never made it onto the record.

At Corfu airport, where dozens of autos rotate among renters every week in summer time, small bumps and scrapes are habitual. Most enterprises are fair approximately this and mark the entirety they understand. Some aren't thorough, exceptionally at top instances.

Treat your inspection as section of the condo, not a nuisance. Walk round the automobile, assess each and every panel, the wheels, and the front and rear bumpers specifically. Pay awareness to:

Small scratches and dents.

Alloy wheel scuffs and hubcap injury. Chips or cracks inside the windscreen. Any destroy on the roof should you are tall ample or can see from an perspective.

Photograph the whole thing, even points which might be already marked. Capture the auto from both corner, the odometer interpreting, and the gas gauge. Time stamped graphics in your mobile create a report it truly is hard to argue with later.

Encourage the crew member to add any missing marks to the sort prior to you signal. If they seem reluctant, keep polite but agency. A few minutes right here is worth a long way more than an angry e mail alternate after you return home.

9. Forgetting to devise parking and get admission to at your accommodation

Corfu airport car apartment is the simple piece. The more difficult element, specially in top season, is residing with the automobile while you achieve your accommodation.

Many historic villages and some portions of Corfu Town have very limited parking. Some beachfront resorts have inner most thousands, others remember utterly on public areas that stock up quickly in July and August. Steep deepest driveways are conventional for villas, normally with awkward angles and free gravel.

Before you book, ask your accommodation approximately parking in exclusive, life like phrases. Do not accept “parking a possibility”. Ask whether or not this is deepest or public, what percentage areas they've, how tight the entry is, and regardless of whether large automobiles match comfortably.

This could impression now not handiest your alternative of condominium motor vehicle measurement, as mentioned in the past, however additionally whether or not you even want a vehicle to your whole remain. For illustration, for those who are spending three nights in Corfu Town after which every week in a north coast village, you can actually do more suitable to spend the first aspect taking walks and taxis, then set up a Corfu airport car condo opening at the day you depart town.

Thinking in segments like this will likely save dollars, parking headaches and the strain of threading a automobile by way of the the town’s one way formulation in the event you are still jet lagged.

10. Returning the automobile in a hurry and neglecting the basics

I have misplaced depend of what number of disputes soar at drop off as a result of the renter is hurrying to catch a flight. When you might be dashing, you fail to remember gasoline, you park in which you should not speculated to, otherwise you hand over keys without checking the very last documents.

Give your self a correct buffer for return. If your flight is at 13:00, do not plan to roll into the car park at 11:forty five, noticeably in case you rented off website online and desire a go back and forth trip lower back to the terminal.

At go back, goal to:

1. Refill the tank at a station as regards to the airport in the event you are on a full to complete coverage. Keep the receipt. There are quite a few petrol stations within a brief force, however some should be would becould very well be busy.
2. Remove all very own objects from the auto, along with door pockets and beneath seats.
3. Walk round the vehicle with the agent wherein possible and ask them to make certain in writing that the auto is returned and not using a new harm and with a complete tank if perfect.
4. Take remaining pix, such as the gasoline gauge and odometer.

If it is advisable to use a key drop container for the reason that you might be returning out of doors place of business hours, pics and a immediate video walkaround develop into even more superb. Corfu airport hire a motor vehicle suppliers mostly deal with those returns incredibly, but a clear visual checklist protects you in case a new dent seems on the inspection sheet later.

A fast pre reserving checklist

Used well, a automobile turns Corfu right into a bendy, common island to explore. Used badly, it will become a thread of anxiety going for walks via your excursion. Before you commit to any airport automobile appoint Corfu deal, run due to this short list.

1. Verify if the employer is on airport or off web page with a go back and forth, and how that impacts your timings.
2. Read latest experiences primarily for the Corfu airport department, now not simply the model.
3. Compare general can charge, adding insurance, gas policy and any mileage limits, no longer just the base on a daily basis expense.
4. Check parking and get right of entry to at your lodging and judge motor vehicle dimension thus.
5. Confirm what playing cards and files you need and whether any “no deposit” provide has restrictive situations.

Handled with this stage of consideration, Corfu airport condo autos believe less like a bet and extra like a smartly controlled instrument in your experience.

Final stories from the queue at Corfu airport

If you spend 30 minutes inside the arrivals hall on a busy afternoon, possible well-nigh are expecting who will breeze thru and who will emerge as pissed off. The ones with published confirmations, clear choices on assurance and practical expectations approximately the auto and the island generally tend to go away smiling. The ones who booked on charge by myself and did no longer read a note of the terms are those arguing at the table.

Corfu automotive condominium does now not should be tough. It is with ease a topic of matching the certainty on the floor along with your very own tolerance for threat, funds and using self belief. Look past headline fees, comprehend how insurance and deposits work, decide the excellent size of auto for Corfu’s roads, and supply yourself time at the two pickup and return.

Do that, and your lease a motor vehicle at Corfu airport becomes what it have to be: an easy gateway to mountain villages, quiet seashores and overdue dinners in small tavernas, in your possess clock in place of all people else’s.