My son, his partner and their son going to Algarve end of Feb, questions❓

Will he need a credit card once there as “collateral” or anything for the car hire?

Why are they hiring a car if they are only there for 4 nights/ just explore the local town/resort - do they even know where they will be staying?

I terms of money, I'd take a bit of cash (euros) and a pre paid credit card or simmilar.

They are there for 4 nights. What’s the deal with a visa these days? Need at least 6 months left on passport I’m guessing?

Should be fine unless they have spent more than 90 days in the EU withing the last 180 dy period

They have EU health cards or whatever it’s called but his partner is pregnant with my second grandson(!) so will obviously need additional healthcare insurance?

The new version of that (EHIC) is GHIC, it's basically the same thing but only for medical emergencies really... I'd do some extra homework if there's pregnancy involved and your expecting any kind of complications.

Yes, likely to need a credit card. It’ll be there somewhere in the small print for the car hire. Worth getting excess insurance for piece of mind, either direct with the hire company or separately if it is extortionate (see recent car hire threads for why).

No visa required assuming British passports. But yes your son should check the countries rules on how much time is required remaining on passports 

I'd always recommend travel insurance. 

Thanks guys, I'm directing him to this thread. 👍

Definitely need a credit card for car hire 

I have used my normal debit cards all over europe with no issues even for car hire.  Some credit cards are not accepted usually - Amex IIRC?

NO visa needed - you just get an entry stamp in your passport and an exit one.  6 months on your passport is a good idea and IIRC needed in some places

Global health card should be enough but does not cover repatriation if needed.  either you wait there until you can get home normally or you have to pay for repatriation or you pay for insurance

Thanks again guys. Hugely appreciated!

OT: @tjagain You tempted to do another epic recovery ride tj? I was reading about your adventures whilst I was stuck in hospital and it really helped me. Really inspirational.

poopscoop

Intended to last summer but had a bad attack of couldn't be arsed.  I'm off to Canada in a few weeks but that will not have much cycling but I hope to ride a bike on the frozen Yukon river so that will get a post or two but next summer hopefully another couple of months on the bike.  Fat bike on the uists and then a big loop around france for a month or two

I found it really funny how folk were following my meanderings

watch this space

I paid for car hire with cash from the hotel I was staying at on the island of Rhodes last summer. €35 for the day. They just took my license details. 

Once hired a car with my credit card and they took €800 from the card then returned the €800 when I dropped the car back. Both transactions cost me a credit card fee which was around £10 🤔, for 'nothing'.

If you do hire a car, video it on your mobile phone before taking it, paying particular attention to any damage, rim scuffs, broken trim etc. all of it.

And do it again when you drop the car off so you can proove you've not caused any damage... for the sake of 5 mins effort we don't want another 'enterprise ripped me off' thread!

I know the area relatively well, albeit it's been a few years since I was there and not at this time of year - my Dad had timeshare a bit along the coast from there.

For 4 days, I'm not sure if i'd bother with car hire. It'll be convenient for transfers but that's perfectly do-able with buses or even train, and even though journey time is longer by the time they've done car hire (pretty much all off airport so they need a shuttle bus to the rental place, then all the hassles of car check out, etc.)......  Once they're in Portimao itself, the hotel is quite close (10 mins walk) from the centre or a short taxi ride if needed. And if post-Brexit reports are to be believed, for 4 days by the time they've made it through passports, got a bus to the rental, done all the paperwork and checking, it'll be time to drive it back to the front and drop it off ready to head to departures 😉

https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Faro/Portim%C3%A3o

Depends then what they want to do. Here's where I'd say 'pinch of salt' because my experience is September......There is plenty in Portimao and the beach resort of Portimao (Praia de Rocha) although not sure that it's beach weather in Feb - sunny but 16C is the weather app I looked at. I know it's a year round location but that weather means it's golf heavy rather than beachgoing families. If it is open the Marina area is quite nice - plenty of food places, from basic pasta plus sauce italian style through to higher end seafood, and in summer worth paying for the private areas and loungers if you want to feel like you've made it.

In Portimao (pron. like Chinese leader, not the sauce with frites) there are many good places to eat tucked down side streets, lots of fish and seafood - might be off limits if pregnant though - as well as others. I believe many are open year round because of the golf trade. Portimao itself is quite 'functional' rather than beautiful - it is/was a fishing port on the river and there are some big canneries the other side of the river. On the plus side means you can get freshly landed sardines, off the boat and straight onto the charcoal grill on the quayside which I always loved doing (and king prawns, and lambchops, etc.)

The other place worth a visit is Lagos (La-gosh, not Lay-goss) which is a bit further west - if Portimao is functional Lagos is definitely more Moor-ish influenced, and is a bit of a surfer vibe IYKWIM. More wandering time with little shops full of knick knacks and bead jewellery and the like. I far prefer Lagos to Portimao if I'm honest.

If they do get a car ..... a trip up into the mountains is quite fun. Again may be weather dependant, but a trip up to Caldas de Monchique, the thermal spa town about 3/4 of the way up, even if they decide not to partake of the 'farty water' (c) my daughter, and Piri Piri in one of the roadside shacks is a diverting half day. Be warned though, it'll ruin Nandos for them. Not sure going all the way to the radar station at the top is really worth it, other than to say they did once they're most of the way. And maybe a trip to Albufeira to see the superyachts in the Marina and wonder which one(s) have been paid for with bent drug, oil, or PPE money.

HTH

https://www.totheseastories.com/post/the-algarve-in-februari

https://wanderlog.com/geoInMonth/9831/2/lagos-in-february

If your son isn't very financially literate then a good site to visit is Martin Lewis Money Saving Expert.

Most importantly they need travel insurance. Don't rely on the GHIC.

Nooo, don't use a debit card for car hire. They often place a pre-authorisation on a card which on a credit card will just reduce the credit limit, but on your debit card will remove the money from your account. At the end of the hire, it can take 10 days to get it back, and if you've seen the car hire thread here this isn't guaranteed anyway. At least with a credit card you have leverage.

They would be insane to go with just the GHIC. It's not travel insurance, it's emergency treatment only and doesn't cover repatriation.

Most importantly they need travel insurance. Don’t rely on the GHIC.

Why

As Flaperon said complicated by partner being pregnant 

Passport needs to be under 10 years old at date of leaving Europe. Caught a bunch of people out that one

personally I see the risk of needing repatriation so low I am prepared to self insure and the global card covers all your other healthcare needs.  I have never taken out health insurance for Europe.  Its simply not needed IMO

Quite honestly you will probably get better healthcare there than in the UK anyway

I rarely get travel insurance. Money wise, I just use my debit card, usually worked across the globe. May be worth letting your bank know that you'll be travelling abroad, my card got blocked in France last year when paying for something! Having a couple of different cards/accounts can be handy I guess in case one just isn't playing ball for some reason. I'd probably recommend travel insurance given I've just seen that partner is pregnant. We're usually in our motorhome these days, so obviously no need for car hire. It depends exactly what they want from car hire, if it's the ability to travel shorter distances conveniently, might be less hassle to just get a few taxis. Be wary mobile data depending on network these days. Another Brexit win that one 🤦

They need to understand they aren't booking a package, just flights, hotel and maybe car hire separately.

Agree they might not need a car. If they decide to get one they just need to read the T&C very carefully and read reviews before booking. They need to understand what insurance is provided, what the excess deductable is, and how much the rental company charge for the excess cover. Buying zero excess with the rental company means he won't have to worry about them trying to charge him for damage he didn't do. If it's too expensive he should buy excess cover from the UK and know they will take a sum off a card, usually a credit card. As said on a credit card it's a hold. On a debit card they take your money plus forex fees. At the end they should hand it back (plus forex fees) but as said thee are shysters who will try it on. Yes video and photo the entire car before signing for pick up.

For healthcare the GHIC covers emergency care and then routine care that would be covered in Portugal, but reading the Gov pages as visitors wouldn't be able to register for the routine care:  https://www.gov.uk/guidance/healthcare-in-portugal-including-madeira

It comes down to how much cash / asset your som has and his risk tolerance. While pregnant I would be taking out insurance, for that just-in-case. But then I am risk averse and take out insurance anyway for all the other cover and means you don't have to try to arrange healthcare and battle with companies when things go wrong.

Has been said passport must be less than 10 years old for stay.

We always insure when abroad. Annual cover, although with limit of the length of each trip, is under £40

I hadn’t realised that we still got emergency cover. But I’m still happier with repatriation insurance. A car crash could mean months abroad or the huge cost of an air ambulance. It’s not likely but that’s why it doesn’t cost much.

Are we are aware that most flights won’t take people late in pregnancy

personally I see the risk of needing repatriation so low I am prepared to self insure and the global card covers all your other healthcare needs. I have never taken out health insurance for Europe. Its simply not needed IMO

But then your not pregnant to say it's simply not needed is rather ignorant.

Anyone that's experienced treatment after a non fault incident on an ehic might have a very different opinion on it's need also.

As a grown adult traveling alone I rarely took it. As a family with 2 young kids or previously when pregnant. We were/are insured.

A car crash could mean months abroad or the huge cost of an air ambulance.

This. My old man was hit head on by a French van driver who in the Go pro video appears to have been looking for something on the floor as no driver can be seen veering across the road directly into my old man

He was on a motorbike.

His insurance played silly buggers and we had to self fund till they sorted it out. (Only speaking to the policy holder to authorize treatment ...... He was in coma)

Ehic covered stabilizing him and very little more.

This was France - I'm considerably less risk adverse when it comes to insurance believing the ehic is much good.

One thing I always insist on is that my adult kids take out decent travel insurance and check the terms & conditions against what they plan to do as well. It's a bit different for a single older gent with no dependents.

Definitely get travel insurance - my sis in law had a miscarriage in Spain some years ago (pre Brexit), it would have been even worse experience without insurance.

Relying on GHIC or self ensuring is fine for minor issues, but it won't get you home if you are properly injured.

Also having known 2 people who have died on holiday, recovering a body is a horrible, messy, expensive experience in the worst possible circumstances. For £40ish a year, why wouldn't you.

Plus 1 for hire car being weird.

4 days... Just stuff piri piri, sardines, octopus and pastel de Natas down your neck on your way to a from the beach.

Several things I've learnt over the years when hiring a car overseas.

1. Never pre-book through the UK hire websites. It will cost more. If you have access to a VPM go the country you are travelling to and book through that site and collect from the airport. You can save yourself half the price over booking from the UK. Otherwise, use your phone when you have arrived and book using hotel wifi. Pick up from the airport is cheaper than in resort.

2. Always take the collision waiver. This will cover you for things as mundane as a door knocks or scratching etc.

3. If offered take the option of not filling up the tank before return. Finding a filling station close enough to the airport/drop off point can be quite stressful, even more so if running late.

4. When you pick it up go around the car with the representative, point out all of the flaws and photograph them with the representative in the picture. Same when you drop it off.

5. Use a pre-pay card, otherwise sometime in the future the hire place may automatically charge you for things like speeding/parking fines etc. without telling you.

On a general note, if they are going for only 4 days why bother with a hire car? This is Europe and they generally have a much better pubic transport system and cheap too!

Someone has already mentioned travel insurance.

Anyway I hope they have a nice time.