This post is inspired by an article I discovered on the The Times website regarding ‘speedy boarding’ on Easy Jet flights. The title gives more than a hint at the content “My easy-jet speedy boarding hell”! For those of you who have not had the pleasure of flying Easy Jet since Speedy Boarding was launched, it works like this. When you book you select the option to be a ‘Speedy Boarder’ and pay a surcharge of around £5. For this princely sum you get the privilege of being asked to board the bus and the plane before non-speedy boarders thereby heightening your chance of getting a reasonable seat. However, and here’s the tricky bit, non-speedy boarders are constantly on your heels and sometimes manage to pip you to the post despite the £5 you invested to jump the queue.

The article is funny but also serves to make you think, so often these days what looks like a good deal is not necessarily so. Low cost promises are rarely honoured by the time you reach the end of the check-out process. From taxes, fuel surcharges and excess baggage fees, without mentioning drinks and snacks on board, I’ve found that so called low-cost flights often work out to be a very similar price to an all-inclusive flight with a traditional airline. You can experience the same phenomenon in other sectors of travel including car hire.

Here at Auto Europe we strive to be price competitive without compromising on service. We believe in making insurance as comprehensive as possible and displaying the actual price you will pay from the word go. What’s more, we know it’s an ever changing market and so also provide our Best Rate Guarantee so you can rest assured we will match any like-for-like quote in the unlikely event you do find a better price elsewhere. The concept of like-for-like is important here as non-experienced renters may not appreciate car hire variables which can push the price up. We recommend you double check the size of the vehicle, whether it has air-con, what level of insurance is included and any local charges (such as for extra drivers, car seats or ski rack hire) routinely as part of the price comparison process.

What’s more, keep things in perspective! After all no-one is making you be a ‘speedy boarder’ or similar and a little advance research can get you a great deal with comprehensive service. Just don’t take ‘too-good-to-be-true’ prices at face value. If you do feel your patience is running thin, try this video for a good fun perspective on the not-so-low price phenomenon!

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Hello and welcome to the Auto Europe UK blog. I’ve been following its growth during March and April and am thrilled with the increasing number of articles and comments being posted. I will make a monthly post reflecting on what’s happening in our business and the car hire industry as a whole and will include a useful tip on how to get the best out of your car hire experience.

As you’ve probably already read, May 2008 destination of the month is USA at Auto Europe. We’ve chosen the USA as our featured destination as it’s currently a great time to visit especially with the weakness of the dollar, a fact not lost on our customers. Bookings are strong across the States giving us increased buying power to ensure we can offer you the best possible car hire rates. We have also seen good growth in car hire within the emerging holiday destinations in Eastern Europe, such as Croatia. We feel sure we are not alone in this after seeing many articles promoting Eastern European destinations to avoid losing the value of your pound against the strong Euro.

The other noticeable change in this year’s bookings is the growing number of people choosing to book a car including our refundable excess product. This is pleasing to see as it reflects increasing consumer car hire knowledge. It enables you to recover the excess charge on the damage cover for the hire. Our product is very competitively priced, so if you haven’t tried it yet, look out for the cars marked with a red ‘refundable excess included’ statement next time you book on our website. Don’t forget to check the full terms and conditions, just as you would with any insurance policy, and do let us know what you think.

Last but not least, I promised you a tip for your next rental. Quite straightforward, identify where the nearest petrol station is to the car drop off point for when you return your car! Ask the staff at the rental desk, it will save you taking pot luck on which filling station to use as you near the rental station. Don’t forget to check on their petrol policy too – how much petrol is in the car now and how much do they expect when it’s returned! Happy travelling!

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If you picked up any newspaper today, you cannot miss the current furore over road tax and fuel duty. If current proposals go ahead then many families will face heavy car tax increases up to £245 per annum if their car was bought before March 2001 and emits more than 225g of carbon dioxide per kilometere. The steep increase in car tax will hit next April and payments could total upto £430 by 2010. That’s an increase of more than 100% compared to the £200 most people pay today. Newer cars are also affected but it is the retrospective nature of the tax which is particularly unfair. After all, anyone buying a car years ago could not know these tax hikes were around the corner. What’s more, the second hand car market is seriously affected with many vehicles plummeting in value creating a vicious negative equity trap, where a car is worth less than the outstanding loan against it, is developing.

The good news is that more than 30 Labour back-benchers, presumably thinking of the recent 10p tax situation, have urged ministers to rethink proposals before the new taxes come into action. Spiralling petrol prices see further pressure on the government to also cancel the 2p fuel duty rise due to be implemented later this year. Yesterday’s lorry drivers’ protest shows no sign of abating as they fear going out of business without receiving an ‘essential user discount’ on fuel tax such as currently enjoyed by bus companies.

Alistair Darling introduced the new system of thirteen vehicle excise duty bands, from A to M, and it is due to come into force next April. The scheme is anticipated to raise an additional £1.2 billion for the treasury but it was not initially clear that a great portion of this will be paid by owners of older cars, who are often hard-pressed anyway.

What do you think about this new system? How will you be affected? Let us know.

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Ella Buchan, travel journalist, grabbed a car (from us here at Auto Europe), two mates and a load of luggage – and hit the road for a Californian adventure . . .

On the congested, beep-beep roads of London or any big city, taking a wrong turn in your car can leave you with a clenched jaw and your head pressed against the steering wheel in resignation. You probably aren’t particularly looking forward to your destination (work? Tesco?) but you have to get there, and fast. Getting lost on holiday, however, can be the start of an adventure, and the chance to see something you’d never have found if you’d followed the map correctly.

This happened to Helen, Clare and I – off on a two-week girlie road trip from LA to San Francisco. Winding our way through the latter’s baffling one-way system, a road closure and queue of angry local traffic forced us onto a bridge and back across the river. Taking the first left-hand turn (signposted ‘Treasure Island’), we were brought to an abrupt halt – by the twinkliest, most awe-inspiring view of San Francisco across the river.

For a moment, we believed no one else knew about this place… Until two coaches and three tourist limos turned up and the night lit up with flashbulbs and neon T-shirts. Apparently, Treasure Island isn’t a theme park. It’s an ex-military base now populated by students – and the site of the best nighttime view of San Francisco’s skyline. We couldn’t have had a better introduction to this fabulous, fun-seeped, hippy-dippy city.

This was my first time on a bona fide, freewheeling road trip – and I loved every minute. How can you be spontaneous when you’re travelling via a series of internal flights? In our Toyota Rav4, we braved the LA freeway, lunched at Jennifer Aniston’s favourite restaurant (well, she’s been there, anyway) in Malibu and papped Paris Hilton in Hollywood.

We gasped and braked our way along the legendary Highway 1 from LA to San Francisco, stopping along the way in Santa Barbara (like LA with a deeper personality), the adorably homely Deetjen’s Inn at Big Sur and the eerily quiet funfair at Santa Cruz. After leaving San Francisco, with a heavy heart, we hit the road again – this time for a bit of glamour and gambling in Las Vegas.

We spent one night in a Bates-esque motel in the town of Ridgecrest, Nevada – a must for the true road trip experience. Then Death Valley, that day the hottest place in America at nearly 100F, gave us the chance to pose in T-shirts and caps like 11-year-olds, trek across sand dunes and attempt to top up our tans.

By the time we hit Vegas it was nearing the end of our two-week adventure, and we already had the pre-post-holiday blues. Nothing a breakfast buffet at the Bellagio Hotel and a few hands of Blackjack couldn’t cure, however. We gave up one of our four nights in the giant theme park that is Vegas to see one of the world’s most spectacular natural sights – the Grand Canyon.

No matter how prepared you are to be stunned by the sheer size and majesty of this strange pit of rock formations, your first glimpse of red rock through the trees can’t fail to take your breath away. We even managed to drag ourselves out of bed at 4.30am and, cold and decidedly pasty-faced, to watch the sunrise – breaking through the shroud of mist and bathing the Canyon in red and gold light.

On the way back to Vegas we took another wrong turn, this time into the town of Kingman, Arizona. Suddenly a sign loomed before us: ‘Welcome to Kingman, heart of the historic Route 66.’ Another trip, perhaps?

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According to the BBC Website drivers are thinking twice about using their cars due to ridiculously high petrol prices. A survey by the AA across 17,500 of its members found that 27% had cut back on other areas of spending, 16% had cut back on using their car and 21% had done both. However, government figures show that traffic has only reduced by 2% in the face of skyrocketing petrol prices meaning change is not yet noticeable nationally.

Over the bank holiday weekend experts are predicting that we could see petrol prices going up by as much as 5p. It doesn’t seem much, but all petrol and diesel is way over 100p per litre already. In fact, the average price for unleaded petrol is 113.01p and diesel is 124.87p. Could this mean that drivers will think twice about using their cars? As we live in a country where everything is ridiculously over-priced there is a possibility that things will not change.

It used to cost me £20 to fill up my tank and now it costs me over £50. However, I need my car to get to work and it’s no cheaper to use public transport. Would I rather sit in my car comfortably, or be squashed up in a carriage with miserable Londoners? Way back in 2006 More Than looked at the rising petrol prices and showed that a rise of up to 150p per litre would make at least 42% of drivers use their cars less. As we near that figure with continually rising petrol prices we wait to see if people will cut back on road trips, if they will change their behaviour as predicted.

Maybe a solution is using Hybrid cars? These greener cars may help road users cut down 61% of fuel costs and also reduce carbon emissons as much as 39%. Before anyone thinks “Where am I going to get the money to change my car?!” there could be a solution on the way. According to Auto Express we may soon be able to purchase a kit to install into our cars for around £2000. This would be a very good solution for people who use their cars for short distance driving.

Out of interest, a good place to check petrol prices in your local area is Petrol Prices. Whilst if you are travelling with a hire car abroad then you can check the prices of petrol in USA and Canada, Australia and Europe by following the links. Happily not everywhere has quite such heavy fuel taxes as the UK meaning the rising price of oil will not necessarily making road-trips abroad cost-prohibitive.

Back in the UK, we’d like to know what you think about the increase in petrol prices? How often do you use your car and how does this affect you? What about Hybrid cars? Are these a good solution to our problems, or will it just increase traffic as everybody will be on the road again? Let us know your thoughts.

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I’m sure we all keep a little black book of the people we’ve dated, rating them on a scale of 1 – 10, now there is a little black box enabling you and your family to rate your driving. Bad habits may be a thing of the past according to the BBC website, in which this little device, which has been known to determine the few moments before a plane crash, will help determine whether you take a corner to fast or brake too late.

The scheme being tested in Staffordshire, where drivers aged under 25 are involved in 40% of accidents but make up just 10% of the motorists, is set to help young drivers be safe and confident on the road. Personally, I feel this is a wonderful idea not only for new drivers but also for drivers who have been on the road for years. Everyone has bad habits when they are driving, including myself, and this is a good way to analyse and clearly see what is being done wrong. I can understand why some people may be against the idea, yet another Big Brother style device to keep an eye on us, but is it just the fear of seeing that you may actually be a bad driver?

Parents worry about their children on the road, increasingly more as in this day and age the congestion and impatience in the UK is growing, so if there is an accident and the worst should happen, it may be easier to tell whom was in the wrong and have the courts settle the situation faster.

This is also a very good idea for car hire companies as I am sure they will find analysing how the car was used by the previous customer useful in order to settle any damages made. You can’t argue with cold hard facts after all.

Overall I feel this is a very good idea for all cars and all situations around, after all, anything to reduce accidents is surely a good thing. How would you feel having a little black box in your car?

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As its USA month on our parent site http://www.auto-europe.co.uk/ we thought we’d bring you a selection of news and ideas from stateside this week.

Firstly, from Travel Rants comes news of how Southwest Airlines is using Twitter to encourage customers to let them know what they think of the company. High praise is proffered by the site’s editor Darren Cronian due to the fact that negative comments are responded to in full rather than edited out. He writes “It is a shame that many travel companies do not trust their own brand and services enough to allow consumers to communicate with them publicly”. We agree! This blog is 100% open to customer feedback on your experiences with Auto Europe. In fact, we hope to hear from you soon.

Secondly, may I recommend you check out the ‘Walk of the Town’ article on the Guardian’s travel website? The ‘annual great saunter’ is run by the Shorewalkers, since 1982, and promises to let you see Manhattan at 3mph. It’s a 32 mile walk around the entire island and hiking boots and gaiters are apparently a-plenty. Don’t let that put you off though, it’s only $15 dollars for non-members of the Shorewalkers organisation and will be happening again around the same time in 2009.

And thirdly, here is an insider tip for anyone planning to visit Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle or Washington DC in the future. Get logged onto Daily Candy now! It’s an institution across the pond delivering daily updates from “the frontlines of fashion, food and fun”! Beautifully illustrated and well researched it’s almost guaranteed to get you off the tourist tracks. You’ll be coming home with non-chain store finds and wonderful memories. By-the-by, if you want something closer to home a London edition is also available.

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I have had the privilege to drive a Porsche Cayman and was blown away not only by the beauty of the car, but by the way it drove. I felt like I was flying (very fast) and the roar of the engine sent tingles down my body.

The Porsche reaches 0 – 62mph in just 6.1 seconds and 0 – 100mph in just 14.2 seconds. The body of the car is 4341mm in Length, 1801mm in Width and 1305mm in Height. Fuel capacity is 64litres, and consumption is 13.8litres per 100km.

Design: At a first glance it is instantly recognisable as a Porsche. The beautiful craftsmanship will leave you standing in awe of this vehicle. It responds instantly with precision to every move you make. The standard 17-inch wheels give better performance in wet weather due to the brake callipers, whilst the body of the car is aerodynamically designed to help optimise the agility and driving dynamics. The interior of the car is stunningly smooth and has wonderful defined surfaces. Over all, the design of the Cayman is stylish, classy and fit for what it was designed for.

Safety: Safety in any car is very important. The Cayman’s suspension and steering give a generous reserve of safety, even at very high speeds. The lights use a Bi-Xenon lighting system, which keep the headlights clean. The Porsche Stability Management System is standard in the Cayman. If the system feels the car under or over steering it applies selective breaking to keep the car stable. The anti-theft system provides an immobiliser with in-key transponder. The alarm is activated and de-activated using the key remote when locking and unlocking the car. You are never short of safety in the Porsche and you are at total control when driving.

Comfort: If there is no comfort for you when you sit in your car, you wouldn’t be driving at all. Porsche have looked at interior materials and cockpit ergonomics to ensure the comfort is nothing less than perfect for your driving pleasure. The seats are designed to offer exceptional comfort when driving with leatherette finish and Alcantara facings. The Cayman also comes standard with Air Conditioning so in warmer temperatures, stay cool inside by adjusting the temperature to what you like.

Environment: The car meets the EU4 standards of emission and the four-value cylinder heads and VarioCam Plus ensure minimal emissions. The Cayman is also made of fully recyclable materials.

Overall, I really enjoyed driving the Porsche Cayman. I felt safe and secure, even at high speed, and would recommend anyone to give it a try. Here at Auto Europe we hire out sports and luxury vehicles for you to enjoy as a treat. So why not give us a try and drive the Porsche or any luxury car of your choice on your next holiday to France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy or the United Kingdom!

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Welcome to our second guest blogger – Louise Roddon! As a freelance travel writer for many national newspapers and magazines Louise has been to many corners of the globe. Here she tells us about her recent trip to Bordeaux:

A blog on Bordeaux seems an odd one to write, given this bit of flat French countryside is all about sipping, sniffing and slurping wine…and let’s face it, alcohol and driving don’t exactly mix! Still, you can ship the stuff back home, and besides, a true wine tasting connoisseur spits rather than swallows!

I was actually sent here to write up a family holiday – a four-night stay at Chateau Rigaud, just outside of St Emilion. It’s owned and run by an English couple, and OK, that may sound a bit “coals to Newcastle”, but actually what they provide is an authentic French experience, with all the tricky bits (language problems, snails, pigs trotters and tripe) removed.

What makes this place different from a luxury hotel (and it is incredibly luxurious) is its house party concept. You can either join one of Rigaud’s tailor-made family holidays, or an adults-only wine tasting break – described jokingly by the owner, Anna Barwell, as “tuition where you swallow rather than spit”.

Mind you, the boundaries blurred a bit during our stay. With children comfortably tucked up in bed, us parents gathered in the old chapel to hear a local wine expert talking about both Loire and Bordeaux wines. He let us into a few secrets too – that big names often mean unwarranted mark ups, so if you buy from a relatively unknown producer in St Emilion, you’ll probably be tasting a similar quality to an established producer, but for far less euros. After all – it’s more or less the same soil, isn’t it?

But don’t diss the biggies – they are great for gauging quality. There’s Chateau Franc Mayne just outside of St Emilion, where you can have a tour and a tasting of Grand Cru Classe wines (2005 was a brilliant year) for 6 euros – which saves the embarrassment of helping yourself to seconds from the 45 euro bottle they proffer!

And of course, St Emilion itself is a stunningly pretty hillside town – well worth parking up and exploring. The place is a jewel of handsome limestone houses, open-fronted wine shops, fpretty squares giving far-reaching views over the flat, vineyard studded countryside, and brilliant restaurants. How do these French stay so slim?

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