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I'm looking to book a flight to Luxembourg and it gets in at 22:30. It's a BA booking, and I can add a hire car to the same booking for a good price, which is handy cos I could do with a hire car. Thing is, the Avis depot at the airport closes at 22:30, i.e. at the same time that the flight is due to land. If I've made a single booking through BA for the flight and the car, will they stay open whilst I get off the plane and get through Security (or if the flight is delayed)?
BA website says:
When making your booking, car availability will only be offered to you if the depot is open for your requested pick up and drop off times. In the event that you do not see any availability, this could mean that the depot is closed – try alternative pick up and drop off times. We are unable to organise collection/drop off outside the depot’s opening hours, but some depots offer a 'drop box' to enable you to return the car and keys out of hours. Check directly with the depot when collecting your car to see if they offer this service.
We recommend that you book your car and flights together in one transaction – this will ensure the depot receive your flight details. If you book your car separately, the depot will not know your flight information. Therefore, in the unlikely event of a delay, you will need to call the 24 hour number on your voucher so that we may advise the depot of your progress.
which gives me some comfort, but anyone done anything similar in the past? I don't really want to be stuck at Luxembourg airport for the night...
In my experience, I’d say highly unlikely.
Won’t stop them taking your money though...
Nothing there suggests to me that they'll be able to supply you a car after theyve closed, I would look at alternatives.
Ive landed well after desk closed in Nice before due to delayed flight and there was someone there to hand me the keys!
Phone the car hire place and ask them their policy on out of hours pickup.
What @LAT says is the only way to know.
I got stuck at Stansted a while ago after being delayed for a couple of hours, it was a bit of a hassle!
Had the same flying into Nashville, TN at midnight - as it was a US domestic flight I was able to come straight-off the plane to the car hire desk and go back to collect my bags. They were waiting for me with keys as I'd called earlier. It was when I got back out into the parking lot, a narrow multi-storey to find I'd been given a Chevvy Suburban - the biggest f-off 4x4 squeezed between 2 pillars - I had to climb in the passenger side.
In my expert opinion they will be happy to stay open all night for you .
Then again I would be emailing them not asking a load of random folk on the internet who know nothing about the people who work there
Phone them: both BA and the local car hire depot. BA are merely acting as a travel agent. They have no sway over the car hire place. I’ve suffered late arrival at Frankfurt before and have had both Avis and Buchbinder be closed despite me booking the flights together with the car hire. What was really annoying though was I went back the next day To pick up the car and learned that Avis had cancelled the booking completely.
We turned up at Antwerp airport many years ago to a shut Avis counter and ended up having to get a taxi-train-taxi instead to Ghent, as well as no car for the duration of the business trip.
We normally used Hertz whose desk was the bloke in the main shop, so had never had a problem before.
I'd call the hire car desk myself, to check.