Any suggestions for rental car starting at LHR and drop at Southampton?

[happy cruzer]

Hello,  We did this before but it was many years ago so need more current information.

 

We will arrive at LHR on a thursday  and then start our cruise on a sunday which seems to be the problem with offices closed.

 

Any suggestions on who to rent from when picking up at LHR and dropping to cruise in Southampton?  Any alternatives to consider based on that we would like to tour to the East of Southampton for two days including Arundel?

 

Thanks in advance.

[John Bull]

Most of the usual suspects have depots a short taxi ride from Southampton's cruise terminals, with the exception of Avis whose nearest depot is at Southampton airport, a £20 taxi ride away. They close at 1pm on a saturday but have a drop facility.

Europcar also closes at 1pm on a saturday, all the others are open til at least 6pm six days a week.

If you want to return the vehicle in person on a sunday Hertz is open til 1pm, and Alamo, National & Thrifty are open til 4pm.

I don't know whether any of the others permit dropping the car out-of-hours & leaving the key in a key-drop, but I'm always wary of not having a car signed-in.

 

JB 

[happy cruzer]

Thanks for the help.  I was able to find a rental through pr.c.line for Hertz.  They show Hertz open til 1 on Sunday.  However the Hertz site says closed on sunday.  I think that is why I was having to so much trouble booking.  Anyway I got a good rate, so good a rate that I wonder if they leave out some costs?    They list one way fee of 40, tax of 19.64 pounds and nothing else for a three day rental of 58.20 which make total 117.84.  We have insurance so did not add any.

 

I agree to drop the car in person.  For various reasons in Italy we could not and it was a major hassle later with the local people claiming damage  which never happened but took lots of trouble to resolve.

 

Again thanks for the help.

[John Bull]

Yes, that Hertz depot is open til 1pm on sundays.

 

But according to the Hertz 24/7 website they also have a depot at IKEA, less than 200 yards  from their West Quay depot,

The website says it's open 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. But it also says it's only open during shop hours  - and even IKEA ain't open 24/7 .

On Hertz's regular website, if you dial in IKEA Southampton it doesn't recognise that location.

One seriously-confused web-site. 

So I made a quick local phone call to the regular West Quay depot - they tell me that Hertz 24/7 is a separate business, and despite that website offering cars & vans the IKEA branch only offers panel vans. Which kinda makes sense. 

 

I mention it primarily because the address of both is West Quay Road, Southampton, and you don't want to take the car to the wrong one.

It's difficult to miss the hideous blue & yellow IKEA store, but the depot that you need is actually on a blind side-road, which confusingly is also called West Quay Road,

https://goo.gl/maps/7tZBi3z5uR8pooFx7

(might be worth printing-off that map)

 

On street-view 

https://www.google.com/maps/@50.9019482,-1.4106681,3a,75y,343.33h,92.36t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s6a5nk7NZWCFmGdSPY2U3kA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

you can see the IKEA store. 

Turn the camera 90degrees left, and walk it down the side road toward the NCL ship berthed at City Cruise Terminal. You'll see the Hertz depot at the end of that road.

To access it you have to take a service road alongside the main "West Quay Road", at traffic lights by the BSA Regal property & opposite Carnival's big UK office building.

(mebbe make a note of BSA REgal & Carnival on that printed-off map)

 

If you put the zip-code into your GPS instead the address it'll probably take you into the docks - close to Hertz, but the wrong side of a 12-ft fence.

 

All a mite complicated , but if you get lost you won't be more than a few hundred yards from the depot.

 

JB 

Edited April 18, 2019 by John Bull

[happy cruzer]

Wow, thank you so much.  I have bookmarked and printed your post and map.

 

Your posts with your travel knowledge has helped me many times.  Thank you.

[John Bull]

No worries 

 

But do check that the map that I linked is the same as the one you've printed  - I edited my post to change the map a little to make it more relevant, & you may have printed off pre-edit.

 

If you did, print off the edited version and bill me for the 12 cents of wasted ink.  

 

JB