 Poster: A snowHead
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We are hiring a car from Salzburg for half term.
Given hiring prices are coming back much more than we were expecting we are trying to not hire more than we need but we have skis and luggage and family of 4. Now (partly due it is TARDIS like design) I know I can fit it all into my Seat Toledo making use of the 2/3 split.
None of the vehicles offered are a Toledo and even if they were given as an example when hiring I don’t thinks we have ever been given the example vehicle. Also whether you have a 2/3 rear seat split is not a feature described on any of the sites I am looking at.
So one car that looks like it MIGHT give me the space is the Ford Focus Kombi. Does anybody know if this model has the split seats?
Any other recommendations?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@NickyJ, You will almost certainly not get the example car. I have never had a car from Salzburg that didn't have split seats. Go for the "type of vehicle" you need
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@holidayloverxx, that is at least encouraging what type of vehicles have you hired?
I am nervous as I know that we couldn’t fit all our holiday luggage into the boot of my parents Laguna despite it being a much larger class vehicle than ours...
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@NickyJ, everything from a Ka to a Touran! Worst case scenario you would have to do a round trip with luggage to Radstadt and come back for people!
Last edited by You need to Login to know who's really who. on Tue 26-06-18 11:58; edited 1 time in total
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Although they advertise specific cars, in reality, you’re only buying a classification:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACRISS_Car_Classification_Code
I suggest you look for an “intermediate wagon” which will be something like a Mondeo estate - bags of room and not too expensive.
We’d often book one when travelling with five people and ski gear - bags in the back and skis on a Handirack on the roof. Only time we had a problem was when they “upgraded” us to a Tiguan when it was all a bit of a squeeze.
Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Tue 26-06-18 10:17; edited 1 time in total
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I usually go for a stationwagon or minivan for 4 people.
of you are hiring through Buchbinder/Megadrive/Global (they are fine and usually come in cheapest) don't pay for an upgrade for a bigger car. If they offer one ask to see the docket first - they try to sell you an upgrade to the car that you were getting anyway. The staff know are told they have to do it.
Who are you booking through?
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@altis, that is what we booked last time but I am not finding that in the descriptions on searchigns via Expedia, GloBal, autoeurope etc which are getting me better prices.
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@holidayloverxx, yes they are ones I am looking at, though through other intermediary’s as well...thanks for the heads up!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@NickyJ, I've hired plenty of cars from Salzburg airport. I only ever pay for the minimum size (which has been a Suzuki Swift in the past) but on most occasions I have been upgraded for free as that is all they have available. I have had a Seat Leon, Skoda Rapid Spaceback twice, Skoda Yeti, amongst many others. Be aware that the majority of fleet rental cars are VAG-Group because the rental companies get good fleet deals from my employers... 
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@queenie pretty please, that’s encouraging- the Skoda Rapid is the same car as the Seat Toledo. If only I could book that I know we will be fine.....
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Most of the time when I rent I get offered a choice of different cars, so if the first car you’re offered won’t work for you just ask what else they have in the same group.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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@Valkyrie, half term though - they will not have spares kicking around
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@NickyJ, I use autoeurope
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You know it makes sense.
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@NickyJ, Buchbinder/Megadrive have tons of them. It's pretty roomy for a mid-sized car, has split rear seats and very frugal on fuel. If you make a booking with them through one of the aggregators such as Auto Europe, send them an email requesting a Rapid Spaceback.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| holidayloverxx wrote: |
| @NickyJ, You will almost certainly not get the example car. I have never had a car from Salzburg that didn't have split seats. Go for the "type of vehicle" you need |
This . If you really want to plan for all eventualities than you need to book the biggest vehicle you can find. Otherwise book what you think suits and accept that while it will probably be fine there is a non zero chance it won't be perfect for your luggage.
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Poster: A snowHead
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I rarely get the make/model shown. Even had the response at rhe desk saying they didnt even have the aforementioned "booked" model to give.
Go for an estate / station wagon. That usually does the trick. (Although I had them them try to tell me an SUV is the same as an estate. I said I wasnt leaving if my skis didnt fit. Amazingly they then found an estate.)
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@ster, I booked an "insignia estate" knowing I could get all my Ikea bathroom purchases in it. After the attempted upselling to a Touran, which was on the docket anyway, I said I would only have it if I could get everything in...to be told "madam you could get the insignia in it!"
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| holidayloverxx wrote: |
| @ster, I booked an "insignia estate" knowing I could get all my Ikea bathroom purchases in it. After the attempted upselling to a Touran, which was on the docket anyway, I said I would only have it if I could get everything in...to be told "madam you could get the insignia in it!" |
Nice one. At least the person sounded like they knew a bit about it. Some times you do wonder. But I do hate that "for a bit more you could have.....". If I wanted that and/or wanted to pay more I would have booked it.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| ster wrote: |
| Nice one. At least the person sounded like they knew a bit about it. Some times you do wonder. But I do hate that "for a bit more you could have.....". If I wanted that and/or wanted to pay more I would have booked it. |
I don't mind that, as i find some of the agencies at GVA (Hertz in particular) are quite happy to bargain and sometimes the price uplift for a bigger car is much less than I'd have paid at booking time, so I take it. The closing price is usually about a third of their opening offer - e.g. "the list price of the X upgrade is 60CHF a day" turns into 20CHF/day by the end. Roughly speaking I think I get upgraded about 50% of the time for free, pay for it another 10-20%, and take what I've rented the rest of the time.
My understanding is that most hire car staff at the major firms are targeted/incentivised to upsell a certain volume of extras per day. That can be upgrades, satnav, fuel purchase option etc. - basically all the high margin stuff. I've used this in the US to bargain - e.g. taking out the enhanced breakdown cover (which I wanted anyway) for $7/day but getting a 2 class upgrade.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Are there any new cars without an asymmetrical split rear seat?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@altis, I don’t know and hence the question. It has always been something we have insisted on but don’t want to take for granted!
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@NickyJ,
You won't know exactly what car you are being offered till you get there. You can complain and get a different car but you might have to wait a while for a suitable one to become available. Hertz are very good with this at Munich, I usually reject the first 2 or 3 offered.
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@musher, Salzburg is much smaller than Munich. at busy times they struggle to get the cars needed into the available parking bays.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@NickyJ, almost every hatchback/estate I have ever had out of Salzburg ( quite a few ) has had a ski chute..........
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I faced a similar situation a few years ago. The solution I went for was to buy a used 'Handirack' off fleabay. It's an inflatable roof rack which packs down very small (rack, pump and straps pack into a bag about the same size as a loaf of bread) and easily fitted inside my ski bag. This put all our ski bags on the roof and freed up enough space for (I think there were 5 adults) luggage in the car. The rack now lives under my desk in work and is used/lent out to people regularly when they need to collect something from Ikea (other stores are available)! We made sure we put the rack on out of sight when we picked up the car - and took everything off out of sight too 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@morganski, why would you need to do it out of sight?
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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We thought the rental company might think that an inflatable roof rack would scratch the roof and spend time checking the car for damage (time we didn't have when we were rushing for the plane!) - there wasn't any damage BTW.
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If you don't pay the extra insurance (like me) then you definitely need to check the roof of any hire car in winter - I've had several with enough roof damage to swallow an excess. If you're paying their insurance presumably there's no reason why you should be too fussy. Not that I'm suggesting that roofracks damage cars: that would be the users.
It is generally impossible to specify which particular car you want, but you could I think reasonably complain if they try to give you something which is manifestly smaller / nastier than what you ordered. In Canada it's usually the other way around: they don't have any small cars at all, so once they realize I'm not going to pay more, I usually get a huge thing anyway. Not that I care.
They do try to scare you into upgrading though, so I think it would be a good idea to be confident in your choices so you can ignore commission chasing from the counter staff.
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You know it makes sense.
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@morganski, at Salzburg no-one checks the car in. you just dump it and hand the keys in
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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We’ve had pretty much the same experience as @holidayloverxx. We usually book an estate car. We’ve had S-max, Zafiras (many times) and BMW 2 series (gran tourer). They’ve all been big enough for three of us with luggage, and skis (sometimes 4-5 pairs) with the seats down.
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Poster: A snowHead
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We've regularly had a small car (including Micra, Polo or Punto) with 4 passengers, 4 pairs of skis (in 2 ski bags) & 4 lots of hand luggage (ie ski boots as hand luggage).
The trick is to put the 2 ski bags down the middle of the car - resting on the dash if necessary.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Looking at hire car prices from Turin for 5 people with skis, on the surface it appears cheaper to hire two superminis than one that would take all 5 then use one of the smaller cars like a van. I guess fuel & tolls might bring the costs up.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| mountainaddict wrote: |
| The trick is to put the 2 ski bags down the middle of the car - resting on the dash if necessary. |
....and hope you’re not involved in a crash.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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NickyJ,
But a Laguna has a massive boot! How much gear are 4 of you taking? 
Good luck with your trip!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Bergmeister, the issue was the shapes I seem to recall (this was before we had our own skis. As to how much we will have 3 big suitcases plus a 190cm length Dakine double ski bag which will have 3 sets of skis and then filled with stuff around them. Plus hand luggage. As we will also have 3 sets of boots spread amongst the gear, one of those will probably be in a hand luggage sized suitcase.
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Thanks, I presume this is the same thing morganski was referring to as well. Food for thought.
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@Bergmeister, we've had a Laguna hatch and an estate. I also can't believe things wouldn't fit. We did a holiday to France in ours with 2 kids, bikes and a dog and associated luggage. Our only issues with Lagunas was all the time it spent in the dealers workshop.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Quote: |
Thanks, I presume this is the same thing morganski was referring to as well. Food for thought.
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That's the one. Picked mine up for £25 and it has more than paid for itself
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I have a handirack. It's great... BUT... I'm not sure I'd want to drive a long way/at high speed with stuff on it. I know people do, and I've seen reviews, but it doesn't feel _that_ secure to me, and the straps looping through the inside of the car are sometimes in a potentially awkward and/or dangerous position.
I think the easiest option in a compact car is 3 people in the back seat, skis in the front passenger seat with seatbelt around to secure them, smaller bags in front passenger footwell, larger ones in the boot. Much safer than skis down the middle.
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