Not pole dancing (Scotland Travel, Car rental?!)

Runemist34 started this discussion · 6/24/2016

Hey everyone! So, this is not about pole dancing... it's about my awesome elopement in Scotland! Yaaayyy! Specifically, I figured I would ask here as we have quite the international community, and thus far, my online searches on this topic haven't given me very much information. So, quick explanation: Boyfriend and I are going to Scotland next year to get married!! We're both super excited, and trying to save up lots of money (well, mostly HE is saving up money, since I'm poor as hell, but I'm working on that). However, I do very much love my basic math and budgeting (never in a million years did I think I would say that) and I love to have a specific goal in mind for the trip! I have most things, like hotel and food and our venue (it's getting REAL NOW OMG), and our little trips out (like all day horseback riding because apparently being saddlesore on my honeymoon is a thing I want), BUT... we need to rent a car! Our venue is WAY out in the booneys and we need a way to get there, as well as up to the Isle of Skye and such. So, I can find listings for car rentals out there, and they seem good... but all I've ever heard is horror stories about insurance and actually renting cars! I can't seem to find much information about it. So, Scottish people, travellers... help a girl out! How much should I be expecting for insurance? Is it included in the prices of car rental? Is it super crazy difficult to navigate all this stuff? Do I need to bring some kind of emotional suit of armor for this process? Thanks!

7 replies

I polekat I · 6/27/2016
waaaaaahhhh exciting!!!! Scotland is such a stunning country I'm sure you will have the best time =) I have never hired a car in the UK, but went to Iceland on holiday last year and hired one there for the first time. So scary driving on the opposite side of the road!!!! But definitely one of the best experiences of my life, no regrets. One tip is to arrange separate insurance before you go to hire the car (i literally did it online hours before - cost me £8 for 3 days!!! https://www.worldwideinsure.com/international-travel-health-insurance.htm ) as this will be soooo much cheaper than getting insurance together with the hire. You can choose the cover of your policy and duration etc etc and it's nice to have some cover which is totally independent of the hire company. There are always several extra things the hire company offer like windscreen protection, sand-storm protection (maybe not in scotland though haaahaha) which increase the cost of hire cover so you can try to get a policy which covers all these anyway, so when I hired my iceland car I just took the bare minimum and didn't worry about all the extras. The car hire itself was a LOT more than I hoped to pay (£250 for 3 days), but it was worth it in the end. (Iceland is in general very expensive so hopefully Scotland hire would be cheaper) When we first checked online we were looking at the very cheapest cars because everything was so pricey , then we called into a travel tourism office to discuss in person there. The guy we spoke to advised against going with the cheap company we had been looking at (they were called SAD cars and the guy laughed and said yeah clue is in the name) - he said they had so many problems with that company that they no longer offered SAD cars.... yes he could have been bullshitting us but it didn't feel that way, he didn't pressure us at all and we knew we wanted to drive to the mountains so i knew i wanted something reliable... so we went with the cheapest one he recommended, got an amazing car, really comfortable and spacious, car was so smooth & reliable it felt brand new, and they picked me up from our apartment to take me to collect the car. So the moral is the cheapest car may not always be the best ... might be worth going just one step up from the bottom haaha especially if you will be out in the sticks, a breakdown is no fun at the best of times ;)
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I polekat I · 6/27/2016
extra point, this was the insurance i got : Car Hire Excess Reimbursement Insurance Schedule https://www.worldwideinsure.com/policy-wordings/ER15.pdf I think that is one of the main things they advise to cover - the 'excess' so you don't get hit with a big bill if any damage occurs to the car. And when you first collect the car, make a point of checking it carefully for any dings or scratches or ANYTHING and take photos if possible, so they can't try to say you inflicted any existing damage =)
Runemist34 · 6/27/2016
Thanks Polekat! I have actually been to Iceland, as well! we didn't rent a car, though. I went on a big tour for a day, while my boyfriend had fun being nerdy at the convention they hold there! I wanted around Reykjavik and had lots of fun. The only disappointing part was that we didn't get to go see the Museum of Magic and Witchcraft- I wanted to see the pants made of human skin! (Morbid, I know, but I had a lot of questions!) I'll check out the sites you linked! Basically, when I go to rent the car, are they just gonna be like "Oh gee you need insurance too!" and then I'll be dinged with a bunch of charges? Because that sorta sucks!
I polekat I · 6/28/2016
Iceland is such a crazy place isn't it?? I loved it there; the air felt so clean and pure =) We went at the start of June so we had the 24hr daylight which is so insane..... and now I want to go back in winter to see the Northern lights =) The car hire place will have a set fee for the hire itself, then you have the option to purchase additional add-ons - so they will offer cover for different things - CDW (collision damage waiver) LDW (loss damage waiver) covering the excess, stone chips (paintwork) windscreen protection etc and each will have a separate charge, so they want to get as much money out of you as possible. so it is up to you to take as many or as few extras as you want; you don't actually have to take any insurance at all, independent or otherwise, but then you are liable for damage costs. So rather than actually insuring the car, you are basically insuring yourself against being liable for these costs in the case of an accident or something. So chances are you will never use anything; but thats always the risk isnt it??! I'm pretty sure the independent insurance i got covered all the big things so i either did not take any additional insurance through the car hire place, or only very cheap extras. I think i kept my receipt so i will have a look when i get home =)
Runemist34 · 6/28/2016
Iceland was fantastic ;) We literally landed on the last day of winter (the next day was the first day of summer, and thus a holiday!) and everyone had taken their chains and stuff off their cars... and it snowed like heck when we were landing! Landed in the early morning around 7am, but we'd been flying a long time and had a LONG day before that, so we went for a nap once we got to the hotel. We woke up... no snow, anywhere! It was all gone! I think there are actually pictures on the internet of that day, haha ;) But I loved it. I loved seeing the Icelandic giant jeep drivers have fun in the dirt while we were going to the glacier, and finding out what the meaning of the longest word in Icelandic meant (I don't know the word, but the meaning is describing a door, on a house, in a place, in Iceland, LOL) and I loved hearing the Icelandic stories. And the music. And just... everything else! I didn't get to see some things I wanted (Puffins, Northern Lights, the Museum of Magic and Witchcraft, and the Penis museum, among other things!) but it was fantastic and I'll definitely be going back one day. Highly recommend the Blue Lagoon hotsprings, too! I had a 60 minute massage IN THE WATER and it was the best thing ever. Especially after a long night of celebration and dancing for like 8 hours! I have to say, though... coming home back to BC really made me appreciate how lovely my home is, and that I would never want to leave it for long ;) I'm very attached to it! Thank you SO much for the explanation! I finally understand this crazy insurance thing now. I thought it was going to be like, how you would insure an owned car? And I was so confused! But this makes much more sense. Maybe I'll be able to check out their prices on their website for that stuff! We could, feasibly, also take the bus... but one direction takes 14 hours because you have to stop for the night in this tiny little town that doesn't have any hotels (except for one castle) and two B&B's. I'm also worried about my boyfriend's stress level when driving out there. Here in Canada our roads are wider and fairly predictable, and in the UK... well, I have heard many things about craziness, business, and tininess of the roads!! I'd rather have a relaxing trip, haha ;) I'll also be pole dancing pretty hardcore for a year leading up... gotta get my shoulders and arms and back to look fantastic in my dress ;) haha! And also I really want to see what I can do when I challenge myself to pole dance all the time, and see what I'm made of!
Runemist34 · 6/28/2016
Oooh, I should ask you about this! How good is Avis? They apparently include CDW and Theft in their prices! I already budgeted the price, so I know I can afford it, but I do want to make sure I am not going to get some kind of horrible service or terrible car! They also have Wifi and that's super tempting, because I would love to have my phone with me (especially for directions when driving!) and that would help out in roaming charges a LOT! Haha "Oh I just gotta check something on the internet, I'll be at the car!" I could see that happening ;)
I polekat I · 7/12/2016
Wow I'm sorry I thought I had replied to this ages ago!! Yes I have heard of Avis, i haven't used them before but they are a very well known company so I think they should be OK. Yes wifi will be really handy especially for directions! Yeah I know what you mean I was quite nervous before I hired my car as it was the first time I had ever thought of doing that, couldn't stop thinking about everything that could go wrong, and it's quite scary when they tell you the amounts you could be liable for if the worst DOES happen! But it was the best decision I ever made, and I would now hire a car in every country I visit. It was so amazing having the freedom to drive out in the sticks for hours, go visit any places whatever time we liked, even just popping to the local pool so we could have a swim every morning, it would have taken hours of faffing to do that on the buses, and it's nice not having to do everything in a huge group of other tourists! Plus the challenge of driving on the other side of the road still feels like one of my biggest accomplishments to date, I was so glad I just took the plunge and did it =D