The Overthinker’s Scorecard: renting a car abroad
Renting a car abroad always seems wonderfully straightforward when you’re sitting at home. You book online, receive a confirmation email, collect the keys and drive off into the sunset. That, at least, was my understanding of the process.
Then we went to Sardinia.
Our booking said we had to collect the car by 3.15 pm. Although our flight was delayed, we reached the rental desk at 3 pm. Success, I thought. Unfortunately, we were not the only ones to make our way there. The queue was enormous. We joined the back, shuffled forwards at the speed of continental drift and eventually reached the desk, only to be told that they’d given our car to someone else because we were late.
“We’ve been standing in your queue,” I pointed out. Apparently that was a separate issue.
Booking.com eventually cancelled the reservation, refunded us and found us another car with a different company. The only minor drawback was that it wouldn’t be available until 7 pm, so we went for pizza and tried to forget that collecting a rental car had somehow become a half-day activity.
At seven o’clock we reported to the second rental company, optimistic that our administrative adventure was finally over. It wasn’t. The booking was in Marc’s name, but his passport said Marcus.
These, we were informed, were different people.
After a lengthy phone call, the booking was updated. Problem solved. Except it wasn’t.
The credit card was in my name. Marc was the driver. I wasn’t driving because of new medication, and Marc didn’t have a credit card in his own name. The fact that we’re married and share a surname didn’t appear to carry much weight. At this point, I was beginning to suspect we’d wandered into a Kafka novel.
Fortunately, there was another solution. If we bought the company’s extra insurance, they no longer needed the credit card. Wonderful. Except that my credit card refused to pay for the insurance. Eventually we found another way to pay, signed what felt like enough paperwork to purchase a small country and finally drove away at 8.30 pm, with another two-hour drive still ahead of us.
The irony? The car did end up with damage after all. The further south we drove, the rougher the roads became, and for once the expensive insurance I’d been grumbling about turned out to be money very well spent.
The Overthinker’s Scorecard
Ease of collection: ☆☆☆☆☆
Bring snacks.
Administrative plot twists: ★★★★★
Every solved problem generated a brand-new one.
Pizza while waiting: ★★★★★
The unexpected highlight of the afternoon.
Likelihood of questioning reality: ★★★★★
By 8 pm I was beginning to suspect the car was theoretical.
Would I rent a car abroad again?
We haven’t rented a car abroad since. I’m sure that’s entirely unrelated.
Something I’d tell a first-timer:
Bring the passport, the driving licence, the credit card, the person whose name is on the credit card and, ideally, a solicitor. If everything goes smoothly, consider yourself exceptionally lucky.
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