Getting home from Gatwick - I could use some help...

[Beejayjay]

Anybody know of a car rental company based at Gatwick that wont charge me an arm and a leg to hire a car for one day but not returning to it to Gatwick ?

We - better half, 2 boys 12 and 10 and myself - fly back with BA from our next trip, on the morning of 12th Jan at around 7 am. The train or bus/coach options to get from Gatwick to home in Milton Keynes, look nightmarish after a long night of travel - 2 changes and 3 trains, or 4 plus hours on a coach with a taxi journey at the end still !

We are getting a lift to the airport on Boxing Day morning - big, big thanks to my lasses Bro-In-Law - but we can't ask for a lift home as it's a week day.

So I'm thinking, get a car for the day and just drop it back in MK - most of the major co's have locations in MK, but all want a big premium on the basic hire for not returning the car back to Gatwick.

I have in the past hired a car for return to a location other than the pick up point, with Enterprise, but they no longer do that type of hire free of charge.

I'd rather not have to drive 2 - 3 hours into the rush hour traffic after a red eye flight but needs must.

Best quote I've seen thus far is about £120 for a Mondeo, a lot for a single day - can anyone help me improve on this ?

Another alternative would be a van/taxi hire of sorts, but I doubt this would be cheaper.

Or, I suppose we could go the hotel/parking route but as we'd be there for Christams night, I'd think it'd cost a boat-load more even than getting a car, van, etc. And we'd rather be at home Chrimbo night...

Tricky one... Any help would be very much appreciated ! Thanks.

 

[Hilary]

I can't help with car hire suggestions, but have you tried checking out a taxi / transfer cost?

We've done the same thing from Luton (practically Milton Keynes ) to Gatwick a couple of times when travelling with family who live there. I think we paid about £250 return for a 12 seater mini-bus, so something smaller and only one way may work out at the same (or even cheaper) than car hire, but you wouldn't have the nightmare of driving yourself around the M25 in the rush hour after a long flight.

If the cost is the same, I'd rather dispense with the hassle of renting a car and staying awake - let someone else do the work!

Do you know how much it would cost if you took the train / coach route? My guess would be that, apart from the inconvenience, it would work out quite costly for the four of you.

 

[marlouwrig]

Does it have to be self drive? Have you considered a car with driver service operating from your own area?

Here in Essex we have several companies which operate round trip services to and from various airports including Gatport Airwick 365 days per week 24/7.

I am sure there must be similar services in your area and the distance involved must be similar.

Both last year and this year we paid £97 round trip for a family of five with five large suitcases and handbaggage. We were picked up from home and the car and driver were waiting for us at the airport when we landed.

In fact last year our flight was six hours delayed and the car driver monitored the landing reports and made sure he arrived at the airport in time to pick us up.

I can't recommend the service highly enough - it takes out all of the stress and worry of driving when you are tired and stressed.

 

[Pootle]

Last month we fly out from Heathrow and back into Gatwick. We arranged car hire in advance with Europcar at Luton (not airport though) and the cost was £44.50 each way.

The key seems to be to not arrange it with an airport location. Good luck with it.

 

[Beejayjay]

Ok, after a bit more online research, I've managed to find a one day car rental, not returning to the original location, that wont break the bank.

National have a location here in Milton Keynes, so I've booked an Astra estate for the day at £63, not bad at all - I doubt we could get train tickets for the 4 of us for that.

It's a shame I'll have to drive, but not the end of the world...

I'm still gonna look at other options, but I doubt I'll get anywhere near this price for a van/car/taxi...

 

[Pootle]

Perhaps I should have mentioned that we did not get the £44.50 rate online. It was one of those offers only available by ringing up the local branch, in our case Luton.

 

[Mrs Dazzle]

Beejayjay

We have used a local taxi firm for the last couple of trips at £65 each way, from the south coast to gatwick, which is probably a little further than your return trip in miles at least. The major factor is that we are all totally cream crackered after a long flight and with the best will in the world it's seriously hard to stay awake even for a 2 1/2 hour trip home.

Remember you will also be contending with the M25 during rush hour.

Up the Gunnerskis......maybe.

Darryl

 

[FRANTIC FROG]

We have only ever driven to Gatwick once.We stayed offsite and used the hotel parking.
It was fine going up, ( We are from Bath) but a nightmare coming back after a long flight.
The deal was to take it in turns to drive home but I couldn't keep my eyes open and poor DH drove the entire way
We tried the train, again fine going but with 2 kids and almost double the luggage than we took coming home was not a pleasant experience on a Monday morning with the commuters(sp?).
We find the best way is to let someone else take the strain.
We have a coach for 12 of us this time and it will cost £25 each return.I know that £100 for a family of 4 could be consdered quite dear but what the heck, it's worth it in the end
Lin xxxxxxxxxxx