jerseyfinn
TUG Member
Those of you traveling to Spain this year should be aware that Auriga Crown Car Hire is presently in possible bankruptcy proceedings. Seems that the Spanish economy has been hard on them. As of June 2009, they have 4 months to straighten out their financials or they will be forced into BK.
It's very unfortunate as we've used Auriga before and always had good experiences ( booking via Carjet ). I'm not trying to dissuade folks from using Auriga, but I would suggest a back up plan just in case. We ourselves just used Auriga in July at Malaga with no problems and we had another booking with Auriga (brokered again by Carjet ) for a Fall return visit. Carjet contacts us and advises us that we might want to rebook that itinerary.
The situation in Malaga is that car bookings for the Fall are very tight. Prices have risen 100 Euros from what we originally book for. That said, Carjet could still offer us a new booking for only 15 Euros more than our original Auriga booking, but at an off-site vendor. For most folks traveling via Malaga, this would not be an issue as the off-site rentals are very close to the main airport garage ( actually walking distance ). Our own problem was that we depart in the wee hours of the morning on a Sunday, and there may or may not be people to shuttle us to the terminal. I could actually drop my wife and bags off and return the car and walk back, but we do not want the hassle as our return is a long day as it is without extra steps at the airport ( & it is always pitch black whenever we depart Malaga ). So we took an in-airport booking for the extra 100 euro and kept our Auriga booking which may or may not be there waiting for us.
Once again, we hope that Auriga survives their financial ordeal, but have alternative plans availible. If you are considering a Spain visit this Fall you might be wise to get those car rentals booked now as supply may be tight in certain markets. As to Carjet. We feel that Carjet does a great job of notifying us of this situation and trying to get us rebooked as a precaution. My opinion of Carjet remains rock solid after this experience.
Barry
It's very unfortunate as we've used Auriga before and always had good experiences ( booking via Carjet ). I'm not trying to dissuade folks from using Auriga, but I would suggest a back up plan just in case. We ourselves just used Auriga in July at Malaga with no problems and we had another booking with Auriga (brokered again by Carjet ) for a Fall return visit. Carjet contacts us and advises us that we might want to rebook that itinerary.
The situation in Malaga is that car bookings for the Fall are very tight. Prices have risen 100 Euros from what we originally book for. That said, Carjet could still offer us a new booking for only 15 Euros more than our original Auriga booking, but at an off-site vendor. For most folks traveling via Malaga, this would not be an issue as the off-site rentals are very close to the main airport garage ( actually walking distance ). Our own problem was that we depart in the wee hours of the morning on a Sunday, and there may or may not be people to shuttle us to the terminal. I could actually drop my wife and bags off and return the car and walk back, but we do not want the hassle as our return is a long day as it is without extra steps at the airport ( & it is always pitch black whenever we depart Malaga ). So we took an in-airport booking for the extra 100 euro and kept our Auriga booking which may or may not be there waiting for us.
Once again, we hope that Auriga survives their financial ordeal, but have alternative plans availible. If you are considering a Spain visit this Fall you might be wise to get those car rentals booked now as supply may be tight in certain markets. As to Carjet. We feel that Carjet does a great job of notifying us of this situation and trying to get us rebooked as a precaution. My opinion of Carjet remains rock solid after this experience.
Barry
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