A few weeks ago, I spent some time visiting a friend in Barcelona. On a whim, I decided that I wanted to take a solo trip to Valencia. With no other reason than because my parents have a Valencia orange tree in their backyard. Those oranges are incredibly sweet and delicious! There are plenty of trains and buses that head to Valencia every day. But I thought that if I could find a cheap rental car then that would be even more of an experience. And I did! I found a rental that was cheaper than taking the bus or train from a third party car rental website. Some tips for renting a car in Spain…
Why should you read the fine print?The prime reason is so you don’t miss any contractual liabilities. Something they teach even children these days. The second most important reason is so you don’t look like an idiot when you arrive at the rental place and they start confirming information with you like this: Agent: According to the fine print, your rental is only good for 200 km per day, so a total of 400 km for your two-day rental. Me: Well my destination, Valencia, is 400 km away so that’ll be almost double the limit going roundtrip. That’s without the day trips I was planning. How much is it if I go over? Agent: With just going to and from Valencia (no day trips), at least over 100 €. 100 € extra was definitely not in my budget, especially when the rental itself was only 30 € for the two days. With the help of my friend, we did a quick brainstorm session of other cities I could visit and decided that Tarragona (less than 100 km away) would fit the bill. A glorious drive through the Spanish countrysideI had the most scenic drive through the hills and vineyards of Catalonia. I took the National Roads in order to avoid the heavily priced toll roads. While I spent a little more on fuel and time (still within my mileage constraints though!), it was well worth the scenery. On the drive, I thought about how worried my friend had been about me driving in Spain. Not to worry, I told him! I had grown up driving in very aggressive driving cities and states. Never had I been in an accident and I have had my license for longer than a lot of Spanish people my age. Everything would be fine! And I was until I arrived at my destination. Park wherever you like… or notMy AirBnB host had messaged me to park near the beach or near the department store in the city for free parking. Those were both quite far from the apartment, so I thought I’d park in a parking garage close to the apartment to unload my things quickly and then park again in the free zone. I entered the garage and reversed into a spot between two pillars. I thought I had done a fine job, but needed to straighten out a little. As I started to pull forward, two guys started yelling and motioning for me to stop. They kept pointing at my passenger side door…and the pillar next to it.I got out of my car, walked to the other side, and found the passenger side door wedged up against the pillar. There was no way for me to move the car forward or backward without continuing with my car running alongside the pillar. Eventually, I reversed and was able to create a small space between the car and pillar. Shaken, I called my Spanish friend dramatically crying about what I had just foolishly done. I had NEVER been in any sort of accident in 13 years of driving. In unlucky year 13, something was bound to happen. I had a million questions running through my mind.
Back in BarcelonaI got lucky. I’m lucky because when I returned the car, the attendant marked off my inspection with a big fat OK. Meaning, she didn’t see the scratches and I wouldn’t be liable for any damages. YAAAAAAY!!!!! My friend takes credit for distracting her in conversation. I think she might have thought the marks we made when we checked out the car were the scratches from my parking incident. It doesn’t matter. I’m keeping that piece of paper in a bank vault ready to release it in case the rental company comes back claiming damages. A nd I’m thankful that my friend was there to calm me down on the phone in the moment, that my AirBnB host was able to successfully move my car without any more scratches, and that I had great coverage with my Chase Sapphire credit card (they were going to cover the entire damages no matter whose fault it was). In the end, I had some of the best experiences of my time in Spain traveling solo through Tarragona and the villages of Siruana, Prades, and Montblanc. A few other things…If you are renting a car in Spain or anywhere outside the US make sure to double check some of the following:
10/18/2016 11:18:42 am
So how can we ensure that our new (or nearly-new) car is secure? Having your car broken into or stolen can be an extremely traumatic experience, so those of you who want to burglar-proof your wheels, read on. Comments are closed.
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