Corfu Airport Auto Rental: 10 Mistakes to Avoid When Booking
Corfu rewards the tourist who can go on their possess time table. The island appears to be like small on a map but while you get off the most important roads, distances suppose longer, buses skinny out, and taxis add up without delay. That is why so many viewers decide up a auto the instant they land at Corfu International Airport Ioannis Kapodistrias.
I have rented automobiles at Corfu airport for work and vacations, in excessive season and in late October drizzle. The sample is necessarily the same. The folks who did a few homework are on the road in 20 minutes. The ones who rushed the reserving stand in queues, argue over insurance on the table and hit upon wonder costs on their card per week later.
If you prefer a comfortable Corfu airport car rental revel in, the handiest lesson is to have in mind where others cross wrong. The following ten mistakes are the ones I see most often at Corfu airport, besides what to do alternatively.
1. Assuming “airport vehicle apartment” invariably capacity on-site
Many guests seek for “Corfu airport auto rental” or “hire motor vehicle Corfu airport” and anticipate each and every influence is inside the terminal. It seriously is not that trouble-free.

At Corfu, a few manufacturers have desks inside the arrivals corridor and their automobiles within the airport parking just throughout the line. Others operate “meet and greet” or go back and forth products and services. You exit arrivals, look for someone maintaining a small sign, and journey a minibus to an off web site lot a couple of minutes away.
That just isn't necessarily negative. Off website agencies will likely be more cost-effective and more versatile on matters equivalent to mileage or further drivers. The crisis looks in case you assume to walk in your motor vehicle in 5 mins and in its place lose forty minutes monitoring down a shuttle in 30 measure warmness after a 3 hour flight from London.
If you wish a virtually on website Corfu airport hire a vehicle selection, check moderately. Look for clean wording similar to “table inside of terminal” or “on airport”. If the affirmation mentions a trip, meeting factor or “place of job four hundred m from terminal”, construct that into your timings. It matters on arrival, and it clearly matters you probably have an early morning departure and need to drop the auto and nonetheless verify in on time.
2. Booking simplest on expense and ignoring the insurance structure
I nonetheless see persons brag that they observed the “most excellent motor vehicle apartment Corfu airport” for 12 euros a day in August. That base expense is meaningless without realizing the insurance plan.
In Greece, traditional insurance policy typically consists of third occasion liability and a few shape of collision harm waiver (CDW) with a prime excess. I even have visible excesses from seven-hundred to at least one,800 euros for an financial system vehicle. If there is ruin, you pay up to that amount unless you may have extra cover.
The regularly occurring mistakes are two. First, human beings bypass any additional quilt and move their palms, then spend their break nerve-racking approximately slender streets in Corfu Town. Second, they buy an “excess refund” coverage from a broking web site and do not realize that the apartment issuer will still block the whole extra on their card at sequence.
A realistic way at Corfu airport vehicle condominium counters is to choose beforehand the way you prefer to handle possibility. Some travelers are completely satisfied with a sizable deposit on account that they have got a good credit card and revel in with rental claims. Others sleep more suitable with a “0 extra” equipment that expenditures extra per day but shrinks the protection block and monetary publicity.
Read the coverage section in the past you click “Book”. Compare the payment of including full conceal from the rental business enterprise with a standalone extra policy from a good insurer. There is no unmarried suitable solution, however on foot as much as the table with out a plan is the quickest course to stress and highly-priced upsells.
three. Not checking gasoline coverage and mileage in the past confirming
Corfu airport condo vehicles close to continuously use the equal couple of gasoline regulations. The dilemma is that they appearance related at a look, yet rate very various quantities over every week.
“Full to complete” way you pick out up the automobile with a complete tank, go back it full, and handiest pay for what you use. This is traditionally the fairest possibility, exceptionally once you plan to pressure around the island.
“Pre acquire” or “complete to drain” skill you pay for a tank of gasoline at series and will return it on fumes. It sounds effortless yet not often works on your favour unless you could definitely use maximum of the tank and the firm prices fuel at practically pump fees plus a small money. Many do now not.
Mileage is one more quiet lure. Most Corfu car apartment enterprises provide unlimited kilometres, which is perfect for exploring Paleokastritsa, Kassiopi, the south coast and inland villages without curious about distance. A few low value bargains conceal a per kilometre fee above a modest every day prohibit.
If your affirmation e mail is indistinct or uses terms you do not realise, e-mail or message the brand and ask for clarity. You want written confirmation of equally fuel policy and mileage. Verbal motives at a busy airport desk are simple to misconceive and lots more and plenty more durable to dispute later.
4. Overlooking riding realities on Corfu while deciding upon automotive size
Looking at sleek pictures, it truly is tempting to upgrade to a larger auto. More space for bags, greater air con, perchance even an automated for convenience. On Corfu, the bigger the car, the extra you need to reflect onconsideration on wherein you plan to force.
The road from the airport into Corfu Town is extensive sufficient, but as soon as you wander into older districts, roads slim to at least one lane with stone partitions on equally aspects and tight corners round homes. Some coastal villages and hilltop settlements are even tighter, with parking that slightly suits a compact hatchback.
If you are staying at a lodge on the major east coast road, a larger car or truck may not be a situation. If your villa is up a steep lane in the north of the island, a small to medium automobile with first rate vigor and magnificent turning circle is a miles superior choice than a cumbersome SUV. I even have watched workers spend 15 mins maneuvering a broad car or truck out of a lane that turned into without a doubt designed for scooters and donkeys.
For such a lot company, the sweet spot for Corfu airport car or truck rental is a small or compact motor vehicle, manual or computerized relying to your relief. Enough boot space for baggage, yet small satisfactory to slip into tight parking areas and meet oncoming visitors with room to breathe.
5. Ignoring stories of distinct Corfu airport branches
Many guests do a Corfu Airport Car Rentals rapid check of the model title and forestall there. They see a substantial worldwide employer they comprehend from dwelling house, count on a widely used knowledge, and reserve. In perform, branch high-quality can differ commonly.
Search certainly for the corporation call plus “Corfu airport” and learn the up to date comments for that region. Patterns count greater than someone lawsuits. If one particular person mentions an extended wait time, which could just be a hectic Saturday in August. If 20 folks across 3 months report aggressive damage claims or unexplained bills, pay consideration.
This suggestions applies equally to native prone. Some small Corfu employ a automobile establishments close the airport are surprising, with friendly service and versatile rules. Others minimize corners or depend on technicalities to spice up profit. Reviews quite often make the distinction clean.
A 15 euro big difference on a week’s apartment seriously is not price an uncongenial argument over “pre current” scratches you had been not ever allowed time to document.
6. Not making ready your paperwork and card correctly
One of the dullest trouble, but I still watch it spread in line at the airport each summer. The documents for hiring a car or truck in Greece is straightforward, but there are a few fantastic facts.
You in many instances want:
- A legitimate riding licence that you just have held for as a minimum twelve months, repeatedly two, depending on the provider and auto staff.
- For non EU / EEA drivers from targeted countries, an International Driving Permit alongside your place licence. Check this beforehand, because you won't gain an IDP if you are already in Greece.
- A credit card in the major driver’s name with sufficient to be had decrease to duvet the deposit or excess block.
- Passport or nationwide ID card for id.
Where other people get caught is with the card. Many Corfu airport car or truck condo desks do not receive debit playing cards for the safety deposit, simplest for check. Others take delivery of them but purely with expensive excess insurance plan. Prepaid playing cards are normally refused outright.
If your confirmation does not in reality nation that debit playing cards are well-known for the deposit, expect you want a well-liked credit score card with embossed call and numbers. Also make certain the cardboard restriction is excessive satisfactory. I watched a couple from Germany became away in view that their modest decrease couldn't accommodate a 1,500 euro block for the excess plus their inn’s pre authorisation.
Print or keep your confirmation email as a PDF, along with the voucher while you booked due to a broking. Mobile web at Corfu airport is in many instances best, yet a useless battery or roaming issue may still no longer stand among you and your car.
7. Chasing “no deposit” can provide without reading the small print
The phrase “Corfu airport car or truck rental no deposit” is sexy, extraordinarily once you dislike the inspiration of loads of euros blocked for your card. Genuine low deposit or no deposit ideas do exist, however the devil sits inside the aspect.
Usually, when a institution advertises no deposit, it capacity one in every of two issues. Either they've got constructed the hazard right into a better on a daily basis cost with vital complete insurance, or they're going to still keep a smaller volume as a gas or traffic quality warranty. Sometimes equally.
There is not anything flawed with paying just a little greater for the peace of intellect that comes from now not having 1,000 euros frozen in your card. Just consider what you're paying for. Check:
The right quantity they'll hold to your card, if any.
Whether the no deposit be offering is tied to a particular coverage bundle. How they cope with minor ruin, including small scratches or chips.Compare this to a basic package from every other business that makes use of a deposit but deals cut down costs. Over every week’s excursion, the total value can swing either way. The worst mistake is to guide on the potential of “no deposit” on my own after which locate a long checklist of exclusions and additional rates if you attain the desk.
eight. Skipping the inspection and snapshot habitual at pickup
You are tired, the queue has been slow, and the seashore is looking. The agent aspects to the automobile, you signal the type, throw your bags within the boot and pressure off. That 5 minute shortcut can payment dearly if there's current wreck that never made it onto the file.
At Corfu airport, the place dozens of motors rotate among renters every week in summer season, small bumps and scrapes are regimen. Most vendors are sincere about this and mark the whole lot they be aware of. Some don't seem to be thorough, distinctly at peak occasions.
Treat your inspection as part of the rental, no longer a nuisance. Walk around the automobile, test every panel, the wheels, and the the front and rear bumpers particularly. Pay attention to:
Small scratches and dents.
Alloy wheel scuffs and hubcap damage. Chips or cracks in the windscreen. Any injury on the roof in case you are tall sufficient or can see from an perspective.Photograph every little thing, even themes that are already marked. Capture the car from each and every nook, the odometer studying, and the fuel gauge. Time stamped snap shots for your mobilephone create a listing it truly is onerous to argue with later.
Encourage the workforce member so as to add any missing marks to the variety sooner than you signal. If they look reluctant, dwell polite yet corporation. A few minutes right here is really worth far more than an irritated e mail exchange after you return dwelling house.
9. Forgetting to devise parking and get entry to at your accommodation
Corfu airport automobile rental is the user-friendly piece. The harder side, specially in height season, is residing with the car whenever you achieve your accommodation.
Many old villages and a few ingredients of Corfu Town have very confined parking. Some beachfront inns have confidential tons, others remember absolutely on public areas that fill up without delay in July and August. Steep exclusive driveways are normal for villas, infrequently with awkward angles and loose gravel.
Before you e-book, ask your accommodation approximately parking in targeted, useful phrases. Do now not accept “parking conceivable”. Ask no matter if this is individual or public, what number spaces they've, how tight the get right of entry to is, and even if large cars healthy readily.
This may want to have an effect on now not in basic terms your resolution of apartment car size, as pointed out in the past, yet additionally whether or not you even desire a automobile on your entire live. For instance, when you are spending three nights in Corfu Town after which every week in a north coast village, it's possible you'll do more desirable to spend the primary half strolling and taxis, then prepare a Corfu airport vehicle rent a car Corfu airport apartment opening at the day you depart the town.
Thinking in segments like this can store cost, parking complications and the tension of threading a vehicle thru the town’s one approach equipment in the event you are still jet lagged.
10. Returning the automobile in a rush and neglecting the basics
I have misplaced rely of what percentage disputes jump at drop off for the reason that the renter is hurrying to seize a flight. When you might be rushing, you fail to remember gasoline, you park wherein you don't seem to be speculated to, or you surrender keys with out checking the closing paperwork.
Give yourself a desirable buffer for go back. If your flight is at thirteen:00, do now not plan to roll into the automobile park at 11:forty five, principally should you rented off site and need a commute journey to come back to the terminal.
At return, objective to:
- Refill the tank at a station practically the airport when you are on a full to complete policy. Keep the receipt. There are numerous petrol stations within a quick drive, yet some may also be busy.
- Remove all very own goods from the car, which includes door pockets and beneath seats.
- Walk round the auto with the agent in which doubtless and ask them to be sure in writing that the car is back with out a new injury and with a complete tank if desirable.
- Take final pics, together with the fuel gauge and odometer.
If it is advisable to use a key drop field considering that you're returning backyard office hours, pictures and a quickly video walkaround change into even greater essential. Corfu airport rent a motor vehicle suppliers almost always handle these returns pretty, however a clean visual document protects you in case a brand new dent looks at the inspection sheet later.
A brief pre reserving checklist
Used neatly, a car turns Corfu into a flexible, easy island to explore. Used badly, it becomes a thread of hysteria operating via your break. Before you commit to any airport automobile lease Corfu deal, run via this quick record.
- Verify if the issuer is on airport or off web page with a trip, and how that affects your timings.
- Read recent studies specially for the Corfu airport branch, no longer just the company.
- Compare whole can charge, along with insurance plan, fuel coverage and any mileage limits, no longer just the bottom day-after-day price.
- Check parking and access at your lodging and decide on automobile length therefore.
- Confirm what cards and files you need and regardless of whether any “no deposit” present has restrictive prerequisites.
Handled with this stage of concentration, Corfu airport apartment automobiles really feel less like of venture and extra like a smartly controlled device to your trip.
Final ideas from the queue at Corfu airport
If you spend 30 minutes inside the arrivals hall on a busy afternoon, you're able to practically are expecting who will breeze by means of and who will turn out to be frustrated. The ones with printed confirmations, clean decisions on insurance plan and life like expectations about the car and the island generally tend to go away smiling. The ones who booked on value alone and did now not learn a note of the terms are those arguing on the desk.
Corfu vehicle condominium does now not ought to be elaborate. It is without difficulty a count of matching the actuality at the flooring along with your own tolerance for probability, funds and riding trust. Look past headline rates, have an understanding of how insurance and deposits paintings, pick out the top length of car or truck for Corfu’s roads, and provide your self time at both pickup and go back.
Do that, and your appoint a automotive at Corfu airport will become what it ought to be: an basic gateway to mountain villages, quiet beaches and past due dinners in small tavernas, in your very own clock in place of everybody else’s.