Corfu Airport Auto Rental: 10 Mistakes to Avoid When Booking
Corfu rewards the traveler who can move on their personal agenda. The island appears small on a map however once you get off the most important roads, distances consider longer, buses thin out, and taxis upload up speedy. That is why such a lot of company go with up a car the moment they land at Corfu International Airport Ioannis Kapodistrias.
I even have rented cars at Corfu airport for paintings and holidays, in prime season and in past due October drizzle. The pattern is at all times the identical. The folks who did a few homework are on the street in 20 mins. The ones who rushed the booking stand in queues, argue over insurance on the table and come across shock costs on their card a week later.
If you need a smooth Corfu airport car rental expertise, the top-rated lesson is to know where others pass incorrect. The following ten error are those I see more often than not at Corfu airport, together with what to do rather.
1. Assuming “airport vehicle condominium” necessarily skill on-site
Many traffic search for “Corfu airport auto condominium” or “hire vehicle Corfu airport” and anticipate every outcomes is in the terminal. It isn't very that user-friendly.
At Corfu, a few brands have desks within the arrivals corridor and their automobiles in the airport parking simply throughout the line. Others function “meet and greet” or travel facilities. You go out arrivals, look for anyone holding a small signal, and experience a minibus to an off web site lot a few minutes away.
That seriously isn't always unhealthy. Off web site corporations can also be less expensive and extra bendy on matters which includes mileage or added drivers. The difficulty appears to be like for those who are expecting to stroll on your motor vehicle in five minutes and in its place lose 40 mins tracking down a travel in 30 stage warm after a three hour flight from London.
If you desire a if truth be told on website Corfu airport employ a car or truck selection, inspect cautiously. Look for transparent wording resembling “desk within terminal” or “on airport”. If the affirmation mentions a commute, meeting point or “place of business 400 m from terminal”, build that into your timings. It concerns on arrival, and it in actuality topics if in case you have an early morning departure and desire to drop the auto and nonetheless payment in on time.
2. Booking in simple terms on value and ignoring the insurance structure
I nevertheless see people brag that they located the “just right auto apartment Corfu airport” for 12 euros a day in August. That base value is incomprehensible devoid of working out the insurance plan.
In Greece, usual insurance aas a rule entails 1/3 occasion liability and some type of collision smash waiver (CDW) with a top excess. I have noticed excesses from seven hundred to 1,800 euros for an economic system car or truck. If there may be spoil, you pay up to that quantity except you have further canopy.
The prevalent error are two. First, folks pass any more cowl and cross their hands, then spend their holiday being worried approximately narrow streets in Corfu Town. Second, they purchase an “extra refund” policy from a broking service site and do no longer realize that the condominium provider will nevertheless block the complete excess on their card at collection.
A intelligent strategy at Corfu airport vehicle condominium counters is to determine upfront how you wish to handle risk. Some visitors are cozy with a sizeable deposit when you consider that they have got a sturdy credit score card and ride with rental claims. Others sleep more effective with a “0 extra” bundle that expenditures more in step with day yet shrinks the safety block and economic publicity.
Read the coverage part before you click on “Book”. Compare the charge of adding complete canopy from the condominium institution with a standalone extra policy from a credible insurer. There isn't any unmarried good answer, but jogging as much as the desk with out a plan is the fastest route to tension and expensive upsells.
three. Not checking gas policy and mileage prior to confirming
Corfu airport condo autos almost at all times use the equal couple of fuel insurance policies. The problem is they seem to be related at a look, but fee very diverse quantities over per week.
“Full to full” means you elect up the car with a full tank, go back it full, and purely pay for what you use. This is quite often the fairest choice, noticeably should you plan to pressure round the island.
“Pre purchase” or “full to empty” method you pay for a tank of fuel at sequence and will go back it on fumes. It sounds convenient but not often works for your favour except you may sincerely use most of the tank and the business expenses gas at with reference to pump quotes plus a small rate. Many do not.
Mileage is another quiet capture. Most Corfu car or truck condo enterprises provide unlimited kilometres, which is good for exploring Paleokastritsa, Kassiopi, the south coast and inland villages devoid of brooding about distance. A few low payment deals hide a per kilometre charge above a modest daily restrict.
If your confirmation electronic mail is imprecise or uses phrases you do now not comprehend, e mail or message the firm and ask for readability. You would like written affirmation of both gas policy and mileage. Verbal factors at a busy airport table are mild to misunderstand and masses more durable to dispute later.
4. Overlooking driving realities on Corfu when deciding on car or truck size
Looking at modern footage, it truly is tempting to improve to a larger car. More area for bags, more beneficial air conditioning, perchance even an automated for relief. On Corfu, the larger the car, the greater you desire to reflect onconsideration on wherein you plan to pressure.
The highway from the airport into Corfu Town is broad ample, but as soon as you wander into older districts, roads slim to at least one lane with stone partitions on either sides and tight corners round buildings. Some coastal villages and hilltop settlements are even tighter, with parking that barely matches a compact hatchback.
If you are staying at a inn on the primary east coast avenue, a larger car or truck would possibly not be a subject. If your villa is up a steep lane in the north of the island, a small to medium automotive with decent energy and excellent turning circle is a miles stronger decision than a cumbersome SUV. I have watched laborers spend 15 minutes maneuvering a sizable car or truck out of a lane that become virtually designed for scooters and donkeys.
For such a lot site visitors, the candy spot for Corfu airport motor vehicle apartment is a small or compact automobile, guide or computerized based on your alleviation. Enough boot space for bags, but small sufficient to slip into tight parking areas and meet oncoming traffic with room to respire.
five. Ignoring critiques of explicit Corfu airport branches
Many visitors do a quickly determine of the brand name and give up there. They see a significant worldwide company they understand from abode, imagine a familiar revel in, and reserve. In prepare, department best can range generally.
Search exceptionally for the agency title plus “Corfu airport” and read the fresh opinions for that situation. Patterns rely greater than personal proceedings. If one consumer mentions an extended wait time, which could just be a busy Saturday in August. If 20 worker's throughout three months file competitive hurt claims or unexplained expenditures, pay interest.
This suggestions applies both to local vendors. Some small Corfu hire a vehicle businesses close the airport are exceptional, with friendly provider and versatile regulations. Others reduce corners or rely on technicalities to raise profits. Reviews basically make the change clear.
A 15 euro distinction on every week’s rental isn't really well worth an uncongenial argument over “pre existing” scratches you had been not ever allowed time to document.
6. Not making ready your information and card correctly
One of the dullest problems, yet I nevertheless watch it spread in line on the airport each summer time. The forms for hiring a car in Greece is straightforward, yet there are a couple of predominant important points.
You usually want:
- A legitimate using licence which you have held for as a minimum one year, often two, relying on the business enterprise and automotive organization.
- For non EU / EEA drivers from detailed international locations, an International Driving Permit along your house licence. Check this in advance, considering you is not going to receive an IDP once you are already in Greece.
- A credit score card within the most important motive force’s name with sufficient attainable decrease to cover the deposit or excess block.
- Passport or country wide ID card for identity.
Where people get caught is with the cardboard. Many Corfu airport automotive rental desks do not accept debit playing cards for the security Corfu Airport Car Rentals deposit, most effective for cost. Others take delivery of them yet only with pricey more insurance. Prepaid cards are as a rule refused outright.
If your confirmation does no longer evidently kingdom that debit cards are approved for the deposit, count on you need a widespread credit score card with embossed title and numbers. Also make certain the cardboard restriction is excessive enough. I watched a couple from Germany grew to become away considering their modest restriction couldn't accommodate a 1,500 euro block for the extra plus their inn’s pre authorisation.
Print or keep your affirmation electronic mail as a PDF, consisting of the voucher whenever you booked by a broking. Mobile information superhighway at Corfu airport is typically positive, yet a lifeless battery or roaming factor ought to now not stand between you and your auto.
7. Chasing “no deposit” can provide devoid of reading the small print
The word “Corfu airport car condominium no deposit” is appealing, especially once you dislike the inspiration of loads of euros blocked on your card. Genuine low deposit or no deposit techniques do exist, but the devil sits inside the element.
Usually, when a corporation advertises no deposit, it way certainly one of two matters. Either they've constructed the threat into a greater on a daily basis charge with necessary complete assurance, or they can nonetheless hang a smaller amount as a fuel or site visitors fine warranty. Sometimes the two.
There is nothing incorrect with paying a touch extra for the peace of brain that comes from now not having 1,000 euros frozen for your card. Just remember what you're procuring. Check:
The targeted quantity they may hold on your card, if any.
Whether the no deposit be offering is tied to a specific assurance package deal. How they tackle minor hurt, along with small scratches or chips.Compare this to a everyday package deal from a further enterprise that makes use of a deposit yet deals decrease fees. Over a week’s excursion, the whole money can swing either way. The worst mistake is to e book on the electricity of “no deposit” on my own and then observe an extended record of exclusions and additional expenses for those who succeed in the table.
8. Skipping the inspection and graphic activities at pickup
You are worn-out, the queue has been sluggish, and the coastline is looking. The agent features to the car, you signal the model, throw your luggage inside the boot and power off. That five minute shortcut can settlement dearly if there is current harm that by no means made it onto the report.
At Corfu airport, in which dozens of cars rotate between renters each week in summer season, small bumps and scrapes are ordinary. Most corporations are truthful about this and mark the entirety they realize. Some aren't thorough, surprisingly at height times.
Treat your inspection as a part of the condominium, now not a nuisance. Walk round the auto, check each and every panel, the wheels, and the entrance and rear bumpers especially. Pay interest to:
Small scratches and dents.
Alloy wheel scuffs and hubcap harm. Chips or cracks in the windscreen. Any hurt on the roof once you are tall adequate or can see from an angle.Photograph every part, even considerations which can be already marked. Capture the auto from each one nook, the odometer examining, and the gas gauge. Time stamped photos for your telephone create a document that is complicated to argue with later.
Encourage the team member to feature any missing marks to the form sooner than you signal. If they seem to be reluctant, keep polite but organization. A jiffy the following is well worth far greater than an irritated e-mail alternate after you come back domestic.
nine. Forgetting to plan parking and get admission to at your accommodation
Corfu airport automobile condo is the trouble-free piece. The tougher edge, specifically in height season, is dwelling with the automobile while you succeed in your accommodation.
Many previous villages and some portions of Corfu Town have very restricted parking. Some beachfront lodges have exclusive an awful lot, others be counted wholly on public areas that fill up speedily in July and August. Steep private driveways are widely used for villas, commonly with awkward angles and loose gravel.
Before you ebook, ask your lodging approximately parking in actual, simple phrases. Do no longer accept “parking feasible”. Ask no matter if it is personal or public, what number areas they've, how tight the get entry to is, and even if larger vehicles more healthy very easily.
This could impact not basically your preference of condominium motor vehicle dimension, as reported in the past, however additionally whether or not you even need a car on your complete live. For illustration, if you happen to are spending three nights in Corfu Town and then a week in a north coast village, you could possibly do enhanced to spend the primary element walking and taxis, then manage a Corfu airport automobile condo beginning at the day you depart metropolis.

Thinking in segments like this will store funds, parking headaches and the strain of threading a car or truck by way of the the town’s one way machine if you are nonetheless jet lagged.
10. Returning the car in a rush and neglecting the basics
I even have misplaced count number of what number disputes commence at drop off on the grounds that the renter is hurrying to capture a flight. When you are dashing, you omit gasoline, you park wherein you are not speculated to, or you hand over keys with no checking the closing office work.
Give yourself a properly buffer for go back. If your flight is at 13:00, do now not plan to roll into the automobile park at 11:45, in particular if you rented off web page and need a go back and forth experience returned to the terminal.
At return, purpose to:
- Refill the tank at a station as regards to the airport for those who are on a complete to complete policy. Keep the receipt. There are countless petrol stations within a short power, however some might possibly be busy.
- Remove all non-public products from the automobile, such as door pockets and less than seats.
- Walk round the auto with the agent where conceivable and ask them to ensure in writing that the car is again with out a new destroy and with a full tank if suited.
- Take remaining images, together with the fuel gauge and odometer.
If you need use a key drop field in view that you are returning outdoors administrative center hours, pics and a short video walkaround transform even more beneficial. Corfu airport employ a car suppliers veritably cope with those returns really, but a transparent visual listing protects you in case a brand new dent appears at the inspection sheet later.
A quickly pre booking checklist
Used good, a car turns Corfu into a bendy, mild island to explore. Used badly, it turns into a thread of hysteria strolling thru your excursion. Before you decide to any airport motor vehicle rent Corfu deal, run due to this short checklist.
- Verify if the friends is on airport or off web page with a commute, and the way that influences your timings.
- Read fresh experiences peculiarly for the Corfu airport department, not simply the logo.
- Compare complete fee, adding insurance plan, gasoline policy and any mileage limits, no longer just the base everyday rate.
- Check parking and get admission to at your lodging and pick car or truck dimension in this case.
- Confirm what playing cards and documents you need and whether any “no deposit” provide has restrictive prerequisites.
Handled with this degree of recognition, Corfu airport apartment motors believe less like a gamble and more like a smartly managed device for your travel.
Final recommendations from the queue at Corfu airport
If you spend 30 minutes inside the arrivals corridor on a busy afternoon, you could possibly basically are expecting who will breeze by way of and who will emerge as annoyed. The ones with printed confirmations, transparent judgements on insurance plan and sensible expectancies approximately the car and the island tend to go away smiling. The ones who booked on rate on my own and did now not examine a notice of the phrases are those arguing on the desk.
Corfu automotive apartment does Corfu airport rent a car now not ought to be challenging. It is with no trouble a subject of matching the certainty at the floor together with your very own tolerance for danger, finances and riding trust. Look past headline costs, know how assurance and deposits work, favor the suitable dimension of motor vehicle for Corfu’s roads, and give your self time at the two pickup and go back.
Do that, and your appoint a auto at Corfu airport turns into what it deserve to be: an mild gateway to mountain villages, quiet seashores and overdue dinners in small tavernas, on your very own clock rather then everybody else’s.