Do you want rent a car in Athens visit Greece at your own pace? Can we rent a car at the Athens airport and return it to the center of Athens? Rent a car in Athens with efficient French customer service. Here are my comments.
Depending on the destination, the car is really a great advantage for your travels, I have often been asked to write an article to give you advice on car rental in Athens and its airport, and here it is!
summary:
- Rent a car at Athens airport
- How to rent a car in Athens
- Athens car rental insurance
- Where to pick up the rental car at the Athens airport
- Rent at Théssaloniki airport and return to Athens?
- Where to pick up your rental car in Thessaloniki
- What flight number should I fill in on the car rental form in Athens or Thessaloniki?
- Advice on car rental in Athens - Deposit, credit or debit cards, civil liability, documents to print ...
For my part, I always use the Carigami site, I have used it in Italy, Portugal and Spain. Here are my comments during my 3 week stay in Greece.
1) Rent a car at Athens airport
Many of you rent cars at the Athens airport to visit the Peloponnese, and you are right because it is the only solution to discover this incredible region. Also, if you want to visit Delphi or Meteora, it is better to rent a car in Athens to be able to move more comfortably.
If you want to visit Meteora and Delphi without a car, you can book this 2-day tour (Delphi + Meteora with night in Meteora) with a guide from Athens and contact the French organizer. Transportation is by bus.
- I want to rent a car at Athens airport, where should I go?
For my part, I always go through the Carigami site, the French customer service is impeccable and I have never had a problem during my previous reservations:
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I always take a comprehensive insurance, and you will see that it does not cost that much. It is better to avoid taking out insurance at the car rental agency on the day of collecting the vehicle, why? Because you don't speak their language and the prices are inflated. You risk doubling the rental price (count € 20 / day more).
- What are the car rental prices at Athens airport?
Well it all depends on when you make the reservation, if you book in August it will be more expensive than in April. And yes, it is the supply and demand market.
The same if you take a small Fiat the price will be much cheaper than if you take a Mercedes.
And also if you want to return the vehicle to another place, for example, you collect the vehicle at the Athens airport and take it back to the city center of Athens. This comes at a cost because it is an additional service.
Here are the prices per day on average and per month with all-inclusive insurance, unlimited kilometers and the option "collection and return with a full tank of gasoline", in short the prices per day with the parameters that I use to be sure:
- In January it counts € 32 per day, February 28, March 27, April 38, May 43, June 45, July 46, August 34, September 21, October 20, November 21, December 24 €.
2) How to rent a car online in Athens
To do this, go to the Carigami website, enter your vehicle's pickup and return information with the date and time it was picked up.
If you arrive at 14pm (French time) at the Athens airport, please note that it will be 15pm in Greece, so it is time to collect your luggage and go to the car rental parking lot at the Athens airport. it will take you almost 45 minutes. So put 16h.
Please note that the lessor reserves the right to rent the vehicle to someone else if he or she is not on time, so you should not be late (it is rare but you have the right to do so). If it can take 1h30 to be 100% sure, do not hesitate, in fact, planes tend to be late ...
For the return, if you plan to return the vehicle at 10 am, feel free to see more by putting 13 pm or 15 pm for example, this will not change the total price and you will have margin in case ...
- Can I return the rental car from Athens airport to the center of Athens?
Yes, you can, but it will have an increase as you can see in the image below (the red box corresponds to a pick up and drop off of the vehicle at the Athens airport and the purple box to a Pick up from the Athens airport and return to the center of the city of Athens.
To filter, select on the Carigami site in the left sidebar "Agencies in the city or station".
- Below is an example of 2 car days in November. You can see the price per day in the small red boxes (€ 11,25 / day) and purple (€ 14,72 / day).
/! If you had rented the vehicle in Athens in May (one of the most expensive months) the price would be € 22 / day for pick-up and drop-off at the Athens airport and € 38 / day for a Pick-up and drop-off to the airport at the central Athens.
/! Attention, once you select the vehicle, make sure that you can select the address to pick up the vehicle in Athens airport and select the return of the vehicle in the center of Athens:
- The site does not offer me to return the rental vehicle in the city center of Athens.
Well if so, go back and select another vehicle until the site gives you a choice. If the site does not offer it, it is becausecar rental agency in Athens Whoever offers this vehicle does not offer this service and therefore it will be necessary to return the vehicle to the same place that you picked it up.
- I cannot find any vehicle that allows me to return it in the center of Athens.
Well feel free to call the Carigami site for help, they speak French and their customer service is really excellent. When you call them, they will ask you to provide the service code at the top of the page:
Yes, do not hesitate to contact Dimitri who will be happy to pick you up at the airport with a sign with your name and surname or at your hotel.
- What flight number should I fill in on the Athens car rental form?
If you have a stopover flight, for example Paris -> Amsterdam -> Athens, you will need to enter the flight number Amsterdam -> Athens. This flight number is important because if the flight is canceled or delayed, it will prove the fault of the airline.
This flight number should only be entered if you plan to pick up the rental vehicle directly after your landing.
- Pick up the rental vehicle in Athens with or without a full tank of fuel?
Personally, I always drive the vehicle with a full tank of gas. On the other hand, remember to return the vehicle with a full tank of gasoline if you have recovered the vehicle with a full tank.
In fact, when reserving the vehicle on Carigami.fr, you will see in the section "Service" - "With full", this means that the car will be full when the keys are handed over, in this case bring the vehicle with just full.
If you forget (like me), you should know that I used about 30% or 40% of the total. They charged me € 35 so remember to refuel because they add service charges in addition to the normal gasoline.
3) Athens car rental insurance
Do you have to take out comprehensive insurance with Carigami? Yes, take it to the site, take the premium protection package elsewhere.
Select “Insurance without excess, tire / glass breakage, underbody” and “liability”. Remember to select these options, it is very inexpensive and could save you a lot of trouble.
Also, I invite you to see the price change with or without these options, you will see that the total amount of the reservation does not change much, so do not deprive yourself!
Price example for a 3-day rental from Athens airport with return to Athens airport WITH all-inclusive insurance:
Also select "Pickup and Return with Full Gas" and "Unlimited Kilometers".
In short, with this package you are insured in case of breakdown, that is: scratches, collision, damage to the bodywork (even if it is your fault), anti-theft protection, tire insurance, ice debris.
- Can I take out the insurance directly at the Athens airport car rental agency?
I don't recommend it, you don't speak the same language and the world of insurance is really complicated. Do not bother with all this and know that it is cheaper to take out all-inclusive insurance on the Carigami.fr site because they have signed agreements and as it is a well-known site they manage to lower prices. ...
So on the day of picking up the vehicle you just have to show your voucher and your insurance contract that you will receive by email between 24 and 48 hours after the reservation. Again, don't hesitate to call them, they are easily accessible and speak French.
4) Where to pick up the rental vehicle at the Athens airport
Once you arrive at the Athens airport, just follow the "Car Rental" signs inside the arrivals hall.
Make sure to print the documents sent by email by Carigami, that is, the Voucher and the insurance papers, and of course do not forget your identity documents and driving license.
Once you have delivered all the papers to the car agency (Sixt, Rental, Hertz ... this will be shown on your voucher) they will tell you where to go to pick up the vehicle.
- Where to leave your rental car at Athens airport
When returning the vehicle to Athens airport, follow the signs. Drive slowly, because the exit comes very fast.
5) Can we rent a rental car at Théssaloniki airport and return it to the center of Athens?
For my part, I rented a car at Théssaloniki airport and returned it at Athens airport (and not in the center of Athens). I rented the car for 10 days (August 8-17) and it cost me € 476 with all-inclusive insurance:
Here are the prices for the month of August with a recovery of the vehicle in Théssaloniki and a return to the airport in Athens. This price of € 476 is the total of 9 days, that is, € 52 / day. Does it seem expensive? The expensive thing is the fact of returning the vehicle to Athens and that it is in the middle of August.
- Ok, but I want to rent the rental car at Théssaloniki airport and return it to the center of Athens, is it possible?
So yes, it is possible, that is what I wanted to do since my road trip in Greece continued in the Cyclades, but to do it, you had to take out the insurance directly at the agency on the day of the recovery of the vehicle and not with the insurance of the carigami site.
But as you can see from the screenshot below, the red box shows that carigami insurance doesn't cover everything. So you will have to contract the insurance on the day of the recovery of the vehicle and for that it will be necessary to also count € 20 / day in addition to the price of € 612 (see image below) and it is also even more It is expensive to return the vehicle in the center of Athens instead of at the airport.
So yes, you can contract the insurance directly at the Théssaloniki airport rental agency, but it will also cost you about € 20 / day for the insurance (first pleasant surprise on the day of taking the vehicle) and two very lucky if you have any problem (feel free to call Carigami to confirm my comments).
That is why I do not advise you to do so, and that is why I returned the vehicle at the Athens airport.
The problem is that if you rent the car at the Théssaloniki airport with Carigami insurance you will not be able to return it in the center of Athens, you will have to return it to the Athens airport like me.
- So can we rent the car in the center of Théssaloniki and return it to the center of Athens?
Yes you can, even with Carigami insurance. On the other hand, it is very expensive! That is why I made the decision to take the rental car once again in Théssaloniki and took it back to the Athens airport. Then I returned to Athens by bus on the X95.
For information, to get to the city center of Athens from Athens airport by taxi costs around € 40, and € 8 by bus, in addition, if you want a French-speaking taxi, do not hesitate to Contact Dimitri, who they will be happy to pick you up at the airport with a sign with your first and last name or at your hotel.
The transfer takes about 45 minutes.
6) Where to pick up the rental car in Théssaloniki
- Where is the transfer point between Théssaloniki airport and the car rental parking?
So it is very simple. Once in the arrivals hall at Théssaloniki Airport, follow the signs for "rental car" or "rental car" and you will meet them.
You will give your voucher with the assurance that you will receive it by email once you have booked in Carigami, and they will contact the transfers that will pick you up.
The meeting point is on the first floor of the airport, at the airport exit.
7) What flight number should I fill in on the car rental form in Athens or Thessaloniki?
If for example you have a stopover so that you have to take 2 flights to get to Théssaloniki or Athens and you will have to enter the last flight number. That is, the flight from city X to Théssaloniki or Athens. This will allow you to receive a refund just in case.
For example, my flight was supposed to arrive in Théssaloniki at 15:30 pm, so I set the pick-up time at 17:00 pm since we have to collect the luggage in the hold and then go to the agency in transport from the airport. (15 minutes). Therefore, it is always better to plan broadly.
I got an email from the airline to inform us that we would actually be arriving at 17:45 pm so I had to call the carigami site giving them the reservation number of my rental car and warn them that the plane would be late, they suddenly changed the reservation by putting a vehicle recovery time at 19:30.
/! Remember to make this change, the landlord will not wait for you if you are late. That's why I put the 19:30, it is better to plan wide.
Once this modification has been made exclusively by the French customer service of the carigami site, you will receive all the new documents again. As a result, all old documents received by email during your reservation can be thrown away (including insurance).
8) Advice on car rental in Athens - Deposit, credit or debit cards, civil liability, documents to print ...
For that, I highly recommend that you read my article "Car rental tips", because in Greece you can only rent a car with a credit card and not with a debit card. You should also remember to credit your account with the amount of the deposit. It's not much, but taking a look at the article will help.
Feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of the page to give me your impressions ...
See you soon!
Maxence
Other items not to be missed!
- Tips for finding a plane ticket.
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