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Looking online for car hire in Canada for the summer, 2.5 weeks, doing the well trodden Vancouver to Calgary route.
can anyone recommend a car hire company out there ?
Also understand there’s a fee for the different drop off location, but the hire costs are much higher than Europe and the states
Looked at Canadian affair - but that looks like a uk site, I may be wrong.
anyway thanks
I used enterprise. They are my go to. Not the cheapest but no quibble and cheap for one way hires.
Avis/ Budget are always my starting point, but really all the big names you'd see in Europe are there, and it's not massively worth using any more niche ones. Hire costs generally would be cheaper than Europe, but depends how far out you book and whether it's high season. They're fairly well used to people doing one-way hires; in theory I guess because you're going from BC to AB (and cars have plates by province) they might be more concerned about it being one-way, but in reality they're big enough, and have enough people doing that route either way, that it shouldn't be a problem. If you were going from, say, Newfoundland to PEI they'd have more of an issue
I went through Auto Europe which gave me a better rate on an Avis booking than going direct - it was still pricey but wasn't long after the lockdowns. All worked fine - that was from/to Vancouver rather than a different drop off.
We used Canadian Affair in summer 2023 - the arrangement was with Avis. It was a better deal than going straight to Avis, and everything went smoothly. They gave us a bigger car than we'd reqested, but same price.
North Americans often have rental car insurance coverage via their credit cards and it saves the extortionate add on costs for insurance.
So, it may be worth checking whether there's a (UK presumably) credit card which offers similar coverage.
Another reccomendation for Canadian Affair. Was AVIS from Vancouver. Easily the best rate with a 'known' brand. You can also try through your airline as an add on to the flights, sometimes they get great deals...i.e. BA if you book AVIS through them you get second driver free. Finally take out a seperate CDW cover rather than take the one on offer at the counter.
IIRC, book through a UK site as UK require all rentals to include 3rd party liability and most include CDW also. Canadian cars don't come with CDW included and only minimum 3rd party.
Canadian rentals aren't required to provide any level of insurance and you might get dinged for the upsell at the counter
Arriving in Vancouver and jumping on the SkyTrain to an off airport office may also save you more than enough to justify the hassle.
Also understand there’s a fee for the different drop off location, but the hire costs are much higher than Europe and the states
Really?
I'm booking cars in Italy, England and Canada this summer. UK is definitely the most expensive.
I'm just going through Skyscanner or Holidaycars.
We used holiday autos and booked the best value of the big car hire companies, Budget iirc but it was a few years back. I also seem to recall it was a real pig trying to find somewhere to top the car up at Calgary airport for return and Canadians stick religiously to the speed limit.
There are no filling stations near Calgary airport so definitely do the full to empty thing.
Want an adventure? Tesla truck is the way to go
Want an adventure? Tesla truck is the way to go
😄 absolutely, fires, falling off door panels, ridicule, gesiculations, verbal abuse, all the things you'd not expect from Canadians plus icing and coal rolling from the Albertans that you would expect...
Canadians also don't stick to the speed limit are are typically largely unaware and average drivers at best.
Mirror, signal, maneuver?.nope.not here.
And don’t be concerned by the tailgating.
the only place I’ve experienced worse driving in in rural NZ.
Want an adventure? Tesla truck is the way to go
for a laugh I’d have hired one, but surprising no one, the Tesla truck isn’t a hire option at any of the hire companies I’ve looked at. Can’t imagine why.
also no idea what the state of ev charging is like in Canada.
And thanks for all the suggestions and tips, esp about Calgary airport fill up. I’d forgotten to check avios points etc and look at BA.
will take another look at Canadian affair, so long as I don’t have to pay it all up front.
@reeksy I don’t hire cars in the uk, vans occasionally, but no cars 🙂 The hire charges in Canada are more expensive than comparable hires I’ve done over the last few years in Europe. It’s looking like 7-800 per week, incl the different drop off location fee.
I just checked the daily rate I'm paying and Canada is nearly twice as expensive as Italy!
England is a bit more than Canada but not hugely more.
Google maps shows a load of petrol stations around Calgary Airport.
I imagine you will be spending some time in Banff but a few miles towards Calgary is a lovely little place called Canmore which is the last decent place to stop before Calgary. This is a panoramic shot taken from the riverside walk loop which starts in Canmore centre.
I just checked the daily rate I'm paying and Canada is nearly twice as expensive as Italy!
England is a bit more than Canada but not hugely more.
@reeksy who did you go with ? Just compared Canadian affair and enterprise and enterprise is nearly a grand gbp more! Flipping hell.
@shinton great pic, checking to see if we have time to add that stop to the trip. Looks amazing.
Thrifty
I'm sure you've already decided but if you go the motorhome route, Cruise Canada are amazing, book campsites EARLY through the Parcs Canada website. If you want to see Lake Louise and/or Moraine, book the shuttle bus EARLY or you will not be seeing Lake Louise (unless you stay at the Fairmont). The bus hop between them is great. Moraine is far more lovely imo, but you have to see Louise to have seen it (it's still stunning)
All the stop off points between Jasper-Banff are worth stopping at. Add them to google maps so you don't miss any. Remember there's no signal in the rockies so have offline maps saved. Johnston Canyon is well worth it - allow 1 hour minimum but note that it's very popular and there's only 200 or so parking spaces. 3-4hrs if you want to hike the whole way to Ink Pots (you'll spend 30+ mins up there just gawping)
Sorry can't directly answer. Enterprise are always the default though anywhere in the world!
I've just rented using enterprise in Vancouver for this summer.
I'm struggling to make sense of what insurance or cdw is actually included. Especially in light of the content above about only including minimum 3rd party insurance in the rental.
Almost certainly further cover will be cheaper if I need something extra, so any advice on who to use?
I'm sure you've already decided but if you go the motorhome route, Cruise Canada are amazing, book campsites EARLY through the Parcs Canada website. If you want to see Lake Louise and/or Moraine, book the shuttle bus EARLY or you will not be seeing Lake Louise (unless you stay at the Fairmont). The bus hop between them is great. Moraine is far more lovely imo, but you have to see Louise to have seen it (it's still stunning)
All the stop off points between Jasper-Banff are worth stopping at. Add them to google maps so you don't miss any. Remember there's no signal in the rockies so have offline maps saved. Johnston Canyon is well worth it - allow 1 hour minimum but note that it's very popular and there's only 200 or so parking spaces. 3-4hrs if you want to hike the whole way to Ink Pots (you'll spend 30+ mins up there just gawping)
Sorry can't directly answer. Enterprise are always the default though anywhere in the world!
We got the shuttle tickets to Moraine Lake last week... SIL queued online with 37000 people apparently.
Canmore is great, i’d happily live there. We used to fly into calgary and then head for Canmore for our first stop for a few days. When we stayed last we managed to book a session on the biathlon range, great fun.
Banff, on the other hand, was quite disappointing and very crowded.
Auto Europe all the way.
Really good flexibility (can cancel if cheaper later on) and coverage is great.
Just a broker but always had great experiences.
Thanks for the recommendations for Canadian Affair above. Their cover is full LDW with zero excess included as a bolt on to the standard Avis rental, and at a cheaper price then my previous enterprise booking. Easy swap.
Thanks for all the replies
went with Canadian affair too. £1200 for 16 days hire in a large car to fit all of us and gear, good communication, easy to book. Have yet to go on holiday and get the car, but all the signs are super positive.
Crikey - we paid £291 picking up from the centre of Calgary and dropping off at Calgary airport last April. That was for 9 days rental for a large car through Avis.
I’m going Vancouver to Calgary and opted for full size suv. The one way fee added a chunk of cost.
everywhere else this combo was £1800+ and in some cases very expensive, I’d have loved it if I could have got it for 291 or thereabouts.
even for a large car, not suv, was way more than 291.