Corfu Airport Auto Rental: 10 Mistakes to Avoid When Booking

Corfu rewards the vacationer who can move on their personal agenda. The island appears to be like small on a map yet if you get off the key roads, distances feel longer, buses thin out, and taxis upload up rapidly. That is why such a lot of travelers elect up a auto the instant they land at Corfu International Airport Ioannis Kapodistrias.

I even have rented motors at Corfu airport for work and vacation trips, in prime season and in late October drizzle. The development is constantly the comparable. The individuals who did some homework are on the street in 20 mins. The ones who rushed the booking stand in queues, argue over coverage on the table and pick out marvel costs on their card every week later.

If you wish a tender Corfu airport auto condo journey, the premiere lesson is to be aware of the place others pass wrong. The following ten blunders are the ones I see mostly at Corfu airport, besides what to do alternatively.

1. Assuming “airport motor vehicle condo” continuously manner on-site

Many guests look up “Corfu airport automobile apartment” or “appoint automobile Corfu airport” and count on each influence is in the terminal. It is simply not that elementary.

At Corfu, a few brands have desks in the arrivals corridor and their autos inside the airport parking just across the road. Others perform “meet and greet” or commute expertise. You exit arrivals, search for someone protecting a corfu airport car rental deals small sign, and trip a minibus to an off website online lot a couple of minutes away.

That is simply not always dangerous. Off website online establishments is also less expensive and extra versatile on matters such as mileage or extra drivers. The dilemma appears to be like in case you anticipate to stroll to your automobile in five mins and as an alternative lose 40 minutes tracking down a travel in 30 diploma warm after a 3 hour flight from London.

If you desire a actually on web site Corfu airport hire a motor vehicle option, determine rigorously. Look for clean wording resembling “desk internal terminal” or “on airport”. If the affirmation mentions a trip, meeting element or “administrative center four hundred m from terminal”, construct that into your timings. It subjects on arrival, and it somewhat topics in case you have an early morning departure and want to drop the automobile and nonetheless inspect in on time.

2. Booking best on cost and ignoring the insurance structure

I still see worker's brag that they determined the “just right car or truck apartment Corfu airport” for 12 euros an afternoon in August. That base expense is meaningless without information the insurance.

In Greece, straight forward assurance almost always entails 3rd occasion liability and a few type of collision smash waiver (CDW) with a high excess. I actually have obvious excesses from 700 to one,800 euros for an economy vehicle. If there may be injury, you pay up to that quantity except you've added hide.

The everyday error are two. First, laborers bypass any greater disguise and pass their fingers, then spend their vacation anxious approximately narrow streets in Corfu Town. Second, they buy an “excess refund” policy from a dealer website online and do now not fully grasp that the apartment visitors will nonetheless block the full excess on their card at selection.

A clever attitude at Corfu airport car or truck rental counters is to pick earlier the way you favor to address chance. Some travellers are cushty with a mammoth deposit as a result of they have a mighty credit card and ride with condominium claims. Others sleep stronger with a “zero extra” bundle that prices greater consistent with day yet shrinks the safety block and economic publicity.

Read the insurance coverage section formerly you click “Book”. Compare the settlement of including complete conceal from the rental manufacturer with a standalone excess coverage from a good insurer. There is no single top answer, however taking walks up to the desk with no a plan is the quickest path to stress and steeply-priced upsells.

three. Not checking gas coverage and mileage beforehand confirming

Corfu airport condo vehicles nearly normally use the identical couple of fuel guidelines. The difficulty is that they seem to be equivalent at a glance, but charge very different amounts over per week.

“Full to full” method you pick up the auto with a full tank, go back it complete, and merely pay for what you employ. This is assuredly the fairest selection, certainly for those who plan to drive around the island.

“Pre buy” or “full to empty” method you pay for a CFU vehicle rental tank of fuel at assortment and might return it on fumes. It sounds handy yet hardly works to your favour until you possibly can if truth be told use most of the tank and the brand costs gasoline at virtually pump costs plus a small expense. Many do now not.

Mileage is every other quiet trap. Most Corfu auto apartment organisations be offering limitless kilometres, which is right for exploring Paleokastritsa, Kassiopi, the south coast and inland villages devoid of considering distance. A few low worth bargains disguise a according to kilometre charge above a modest every day decrease.

If your affirmation e-mail is obscure or makes use of terms you do now not recognise, e-mail or message the provider and ask for clarity. You desire written confirmation of the two gasoline coverage and mileage. Verbal explanations at a busy airport desk are effortless to misconceive and lots more and plenty more durable to dispute later.

4. Overlooking riding realities on Corfu whilst making a choice on vehicle size

Looking at shiny footage, this is tempting to improve to a larger automotive. More space for bags, larger air-con, possibly even an automatic for remedy. On Corfu, the larger the car, the greater you want to reflect on in which you intend to force.

The highway from the airport into Corfu Town is broad sufficient, yet as quickly as you wander into older districts, roads slim to one lane with stone partitions on each sides and tight corners round structures. Some coastal villages and hilltop settlements are even tighter, with parking that slightly suits a compact hatchback.

If you're staying at a motel on the main east coast highway, a larger automobile would possibly not be a worry. If your villa is up a steep lane in the north of the island, a small to medium car or truck with first rate force and appropriate turning circle is a much improved possibility than a bulky SUV. I even have watched of us spend 15 mins maneuvering a full-size auto out of a lane that become honestly designed for scooters and donkeys.

For such a lot travelers, the sweet spot for Corfu airport auto condominium is a small or compact automobile, manual or computerized relying for your convenience. Enough boot house for baggage, but small enough to slip into tight parking areas and meet oncoming site visitors with room to respire.

five. Ignoring reviews of different Corfu airport branches

Many travelers do a brief look at various of the brand name and stop there. They see a considerable global organization they know from home, suppose a wellknown revel in, and reserve. In observe, department good quality can range greatly.

Search certainly for the firm name plus “Corfu airport” and read the contemporary reviews for that position. Patterns count number more than unusual lawsuits. If one human being mentions a longer wait time, that could just be a busy Saturday in August. If 20 worker's across 3 months document competitive hurt claims or unexplained prices, pay awareness.

This suggestions applies similarly to neighborhood vendors. Some small Corfu hire a automotive agencies close to the airport are most excellent, with friendly carrier and bendy policies. Others cut corners or depend upon technicalities to boost revenue. Reviews in the main make the difference transparent.

A 15 euro big difference on per week’s condo is not well worth a nasty argument over “pre current” scratches you have been not ever allowed time to file.

6. Not preparing your archives and card correctly

One of the dullest issues, yet I nevertheless watch it unfold in line at the airport each summer. The bureaucracy for hiring a car or truck in Greece is simple, however there are some beneficial main points.

You always need:

1. A legitimate using licence which you have held for no less than three hundred and sixty five days, once in a while two, based at the employer and auto neighborhood.
2. For non EU / EEA drivers from special nations, an International Driving Permit along your private home licence. Check this ahead, considering you is not going to receive an IDP if you are already in Greece.
3. A credits card in the leading driving force’s identify with sufficient attainable restriction to duvet the deposit or excess block.
4. Passport or national ID card for identification.

Where workers get stuck is with the card. Many Corfu airport vehicle apartment desks do not take delivery of debit playing cards for the protection deposit, handiest for price. Others settle for them yet simply with pricey extra insurance. Prepaid playing cards are commonly refused outright.

If your confirmation does no longer truely kingdom that debit cards are universal for the deposit, suppose you need a standard credits card with embossed call and numbers. Also make sure the card restriction is prime satisfactory. I watched a couple from Germany became away considering their modest prohibit couldn't accommodate a 1,500 euro block for the extra plus their resort’s pre authorisation.

Print or store your affirmation electronic mail as a PDF, including the voucher when you booked due to a broker. Mobile internet at Corfu airport is more commonly positive, but a dead battery or roaming situation may want to no longer stand between you and your automotive.

7. Chasing “no deposit” presents with out studying the small print

The phrase “Corfu airport car condo no deposit” is appealing, distinctly in the event you dislike the idea of 1000s of euros blocked in your card. Genuine low deposit or no deposit selections do exist, however the devil sits inside the detail.

Usually, whilst a service provider advertises no deposit, it potential one of two issues. Either they've constructed the possibility right into a greater each day cost with needed complete insurance plan, or they can nonetheless cling a smaller quantity as a gas or traffic first-rate ensure. Sometimes both.

There is not anything flawed with paying a bit of greater for the peace of intellect that comes from no longer having 1,000 euros frozen for your card. Just bear in mind what you're paying for. Check:

The designated volume they're going to dangle in your card, if any.

Whether the no deposit supply is tied to a selected insurance package. How they take care of minor destroy, corresponding to small scratches or chips.

Compare this to a universal kit from one other institution that makes use of a deposit but offers cut back rates. Over every week’s holiday, the complete settlement can swing both method. The worst mistake is to e book at the strength of “no deposit” alone and then discover an extended list of exclusions and extra expenditures in case you achieve the desk.

eight. Skipping the inspection and picture ordinary at pickup

You are worn out, the queue has been slow, and the seaside is asking. The agent issues to the auto, you sign the shape, throw your luggage inside the boot and pressure off. That 5 minute shortcut can check dearly if there may be existing ruin that not ever made it onto the record.

At Corfu airport, in which dozens of motors rotate between renters each week in summer season, small bumps and scrapes are pursuits. Most carriers are sincere approximately this and mark the whole thing they recognize. Some should not thorough, mainly at peak times.

Treat your inspection as a part of the rental, no longer a nuisance. Walk round the car, test each panel, the wheels, and the entrance and rear bumpers chiefly. Pay focus to:

Small scratches and dents.

Alloy wheel scuffs and hubcap injury. Chips or cracks in the windscreen. Any break at the roof if you happen to are tall ample or can see from an angle.

Photograph the entirety, even things that are already marked. Capture the car from every single nook, the odometer analyzing, and the gasoline gauge. Time stamped pictures in your telephone create a rfile this is challenging to argue with later.

Encourage the workers member to add any lacking marks to the type sooner than you signal. If they seem to be reluctant, live well mannered yet company. A little while the following is well worth far greater than an angry e-mail change after you come home.

9. Forgetting to plot parking and get right of entry to at your accommodation

Corfu airport automobile rental is the straight forward piece. The tougher edge, in particular in height season, is dwelling with the car whenever you succeed in your accommodation.

Many antique villages and some elements of Corfu Town have very constrained parking. Some beachfront motels have exclusive so much, others matter utterly on public areas that refill immediately in July and August. Steep exclusive driveways are familiar for villas, frequently with awkward angles and free gravel.

Before you e book, ask your accommodation approximately parking in designated, practical terms. Do now not settle for “parking feasible”. Ask regardless of whether it's non-public or public, what number spaces they have got, how tight the get entry to is, and whether or not higher vehicles suit effectively.

This must influence not in basic terms your decision of condominium car dimension, as observed prior, yet also whether you even need a auto in your finished live. For example, if you happen to are spending 3 nights in Corfu Town and then per week in a north coast village, you can also do stronger to spend the first edge strolling and taxis, then arrange a Corfu airport car condo beginning on the day you go away city.

Thinking in segments like this will store payment, parking headaches and the strain of threading a motor vehicle by means of the town’s one way manner whilst you are nevertheless jet lagged.

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

I even have lost matter of what percentage disputes jump at drop off due to the fact the renter is hurrying to trap a flight. When you are rushing, you fail to remember fuel, you park wherein you will not be purported to, otherwise you surrender keys devoid of checking the ultimate documents.

Give yourself a authentic buffer for return. If your flight is at 13:00, do now not plan to roll into the car park at 11:45, specifically whenever you rented off web site and need a commute ride to come back to the terminal.

At return, goal to:

1. Refill the tank at a station on the brink of the airport for those who are on a full to full policy. Keep the receipt. There are a couple of petrol stations inside of a brief power, yet some should be would becould very well be busy.
2. Remove all personal gifts from the automobile, including door wallet and beneath seats.
3. Walk round the auto with the agent the place you can actually and ask them to be sure in writing that the automobile is again and not using a new ruin and with a complete tank if acceptable.
4. Take last graphics, such as the gas gauge and odometer.

If you must use a key drop field considering the fact that you are returning open air place of work hours, graphics and a immediate video walkaround transform even greater critical. Corfu airport hire a motor vehicle providers more commonly take care of those returns extraordinarily, but a transparent visual report protects you in case a brand new dent appears to be like at the inspection sheet later.

A fast pre booking checklist

Used properly, a auto turns Corfu into a versatile, effortless island to explore. Used badly, it turns into a thread of tension operating as a result of your holiday. Before you commit to any airport car or truck hire Corfu deal, run with the aid of this quick checklist.

1. Verify if the business enterprise is on airport or off web site with a commute, and the way that influences your timings.
2. Read up to date studies notably for the Corfu airport department, no longer just the model.
3. Compare overall value, together with assurance, gasoline policy and any mileage limits, no longer just the bottom daily fee.
4. Check parking and get right of entry to at your accommodation and opt for car or truck dimension accordingly.
5. Confirm what cards and data you need and even if any “no deposit” provide has restrictive conditions.

Handled with this point of realization, Corfu airport rental vehicles really feel less like a big gamble and more like a smartly controlled device on your outing.

Final mind from the queue at Corfu airport

If you spend 30 minutes in the arrivals hall on a busy afternoon, you will just about expect who will breeze because of and who will find yourself frustrated. The ones with revealed confirmations, transparent judgements on insurance coverage and real looking expectancies approximately the auto and the island tend to depart smiling. The ones who booked on expense alone and did now not learn a observe of the terms are the ones arguing at the desk.

Corfu automobile rental does no longer should be frustrating. It is genuinely a count number of matching the truth at the flooring along with your own tolerance for risk, funds and driving self belief. Look beyond headline quotes, be aware how coverage and deposits work, pick out the desirable measurement of motor vehicle for Corfu’s roads, and give yourself time at both pickup and return.

Do that, and your appoint a car or truck at Corfu airport turns into what it must be: an light gateway to mountain villages, quiet beaches and overdue dinners in small tavernas, in your personal clock other than all people else’s.