Posted on June 21, 2010 by Fiona Hilliard

Hi Fiona,

We’re planning to rent a car in Alicante in July. There will be four of us in total, myself, my wife and our two children, aged 5 and 3. We’d prefer to share the driving during the trip – will this increase the cost much, we’re a bit restricted by budget? Colm, Co. Cork

Fiona says:

Thanks for your question Colm. If you’re adding a second driver, this will indeed increase the cost of your car rental. Depending on your car rental agent, adding an extra driver costs between €30 (£26) and €80 (£67). If it’s possible in terms of your itinerary and travel plans, you might want to stick with just one designated driver, especially if you’re worried about your budget. You could invest the money you save on other extras such as GPS and child seats. Depending on your supplier, GPS charges vary between €50 (£42) and €110 (£92). Child seats cost anything from €28 (£24) and €83 (£74). Meanwhile, baby seats range from €10 (£9) and €70 (£59).
Read your terms and conditions carefully to ensure you understand all that is involved in the rental, especially in relation to fuel policies. Some renters find ‘return empty’ policies to be more difficult to manage. The same goes for insurance. If you book by credit card in some cases, you might even be covered for insurance or depending on your own insurance, you might already be covered for rental vehicles.

Hope this helps answer you question, enjoy Alicante!

Fiona