Category Archives: Thrifty Van Rental

News and special offers from Thrifty van rental, one of the UK’s largest van hire companies.

Thrifty Car and Van Rental now offers hourly hire

Thrifty Car & Van RentalHourly van hire is a popular service in urban areas, where you may only need a van for a couple of hours in order to move a few pieces of furniture or collect a bulky item and deliver it locally.

Not all companies offer this service, but the good news is that Thrifty recently launched its own hourly hire service, which could lead to big potential savings for anyone needing a van for less than half a day.

You can book hourly hire rates on Thrifty’s website by simply setting the pick-up and drop-off dates to be the same, and then choosing collection and return times.

I tried a couple of quotes and found that the rates for smaller vans especially can be significantly cheaper — I found that a short wheelbase van like a Ford Transit SWB hired for a couple of hours could be around 35% cheaper than the same van hired for 24 hours.

For some reason, the hourly rate savings on larger vans were less, or sometimes non-existent — but availability and rates on different dates and locations are likely to vary, so I’d suggest trying a quote for yourself if you only need a van for a few hours and are close to a Thrifty branch (you can see a list of Thrifty branches here).

Other choices: It’s worth noting that Hertz and Europcar also offer hourly van hire and have done for a while. You can see full details on our hourly van hire page (click here), where I’ll also add details of the Thrifty hourly hire service shortly.

Luton Van Hire: Thrifty Opens New Luton Rental Branch

Thrifty Car & Van Rental logoThrifty Car & Van Rental has opened a new branch in Luton. The branch offers a full range of rental cars and vans, including manual and automatic models.

Thrifty Luton branch manager Mark Grant, said:

“With an anticipated increase of tourism this summer, it is very exciting to have the opportunity to develop such a prime location. We have a very experienced team here at Luton, so customers can expect a knowledgeable and friendly service with every rental.”

Full contact details for Thrifty’s new branch are below – or visit our Thrifty Luton branch information page for a map and GPS coordinates:

Address:

24 Crescent Road
Luton
LU2 0AH

Tel: 01582 343380
Email: thrifty.luton@thrifty.co.uk

You can find a full list of Thrifty UK van rental branches on our Thrifty branch page.

Thrifty Opens New Branch In Newport

Thrifty Car & Van Rental logoThrifty Car and Van Rental has opened a new van hire branch in Newport. The new branch offers a full range of vans:

  • Small vans (e.g. Peugeot Bipper, Ford Transit Connect)
  • Short, long and extra-long wheelbase panel vans (e.g. Ford Transit, Mercedes Sprinter)
  • Luton vans with tail lifts

The new branch is located on Queensway Meadows Industrial Estate in Newport — you can see full details of  Thrifty’s Newport branch here.

The full address of the new branch is:

Unit 2 Estuary Court, Estuary Road, Queensway Meadows Industrial Estate, Newport NP19 4SX.

Thrifty Removes Upper Age Limit For Van Hire

Thrifty Car & Van Rental logoThrifty Car and Van Rental has removed the upper age limit for its car and van hire customers.

Until recently, customers over the age of 75 were unable to hire vans and cars, but this restriction has now been removed.

Commenting on the change, Linda Maliff, Thrifty’s Director of Central Services, said:

“People are becoming increasingly active throughout their lives and as a result people are retiring later, travelling further, and more frequently, and are generally more mobile now than ever. Thrifty wants to support all mature drivers by providing the opportunity to fulfil their rental needs for the future.”

I’ve done a quick test quote on the Thrifty website and after pretending to be 80, I can confirm that older drivers can now hire vans online.

Older and younger drivers should note that Thrifty charges a daily surcharge of £12 +VAT for drivers over 70 and under 25 — this was in place before the upper age limit was removed and is included in online quotes. (Information correct as of 09/10/2012.)

Click here for a full list of all Thrifty’s UK van hire locations.

Thrifty Adds New London Richmond Van Hire Branch

Thrifty Car & Van Rental logoThrifty has added a new van and minibus hire branch in London Richmond to its UK network.

The branch is located at 110-116 Upper Richmond Road West, London, SW14 8DT and you can find full details of it (including a map) on our branch page.

Prices from this new branch are now included in our van hire price comparison system too, so you can find the cheapest van and minibus hire prices in Richmond.

With the Olympics about to start, now seems like a pretty good time to open a car and van hire branch in the London area — and the new branch offers a full range of cars, vans and minibuses.

The new branch takes Thrifty’s UK total to 87 — you can find full details of all of them on our Thrifty locations page.

Thrifty Opens Belfast Branch In Return To Northern Ireland

Thrifty Car & Van Rental logoAfter an absence of nearly eight years, Thrifty Car & Van Rental is returning to Northern Ireland with the opening of a new branch in Belfast.

Located in the Days Hotel on Hope Street in the capital, the new branch offers a wide selection of cars, minibuses and vans, serving the needs of both residents and visitors to the area. The new branch is also hoping to attract business customers; its flexible short and long-term rental services allow businesses to adjust their fleet size without having to commit to finance or purchase on an additional vehicle.

Sean Curley, location manager, said:

“This new branch is ideally located in the centre of Belfast and easily accessible for businesses, holidaymakers and city dwellers looking to hire a vehicle. We have a very experienced team here at the new branch and customers can expect a knowledgeable and friendly service with every rental.”

Thrifty can also provide satellite navigation and full breakdown cover with its vehicles to ensure trouble free motoring. In addition, both business and leisure customers can receive special discounts and low cost rates when they book online at Thrifty.co.uk.

Linda Malliff, Director of Central Services at Thrifty Car & Van Rental commented:

“We are really excited to have added another location to our growing network, especially as this is the first branch we’ve opened in Northern Ireland in almost 8 years. Opening the outlet in Belfast is part our strategic plan to expand the business into new areas and the location was chosen to ensure a strong geographic spread.”

The new branch is located at, Dollar Thrifty Car Rental, Days Hotel, 40 Hope Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland BT12 5EE. You can see full details of the branch, including a map and vehicle listing, on our branch page (click here).

Thrifty Opens Watford Van Hire Branch

Thrifty Car & Van Rental logoLeading UK car and van rental provider Thrifty has opened a new branch in Watford.

The new branch offers Thrifty’s usual selection of cars and vans and is open six days a week (Mon-Fri 0830 – 1730 and Saturdays 0830 – 1230).

The branch is located on Colonial Way in Watford and Thrifty believe it will serve the holiday market as well as retail and business customers.

Finley Humphries, Watford branch manager, commented:

“With the current economic climate the way it is, more and more holidaymakers are choosing to stay in the UK so anyone looking to rent a vehicle for their trip should pop down to the branch. We boast a friendly team of staff and we pride ourselves on our experience and professionalism.”

Alison Chadwick, director of regional operations for Thrifty Car and Van Rental added:

“We are thrilled to add another location to our growing network, which will be further strengthened over the coming year. Our new branch in Watford is ideally located on Colonial Way, so it’s easily accessible for anyone looking to hire a vehicle and get away.”

 

Thrifty Car & Van Rental Is Rental Supplier Of The Year

Thrifty Car & Van Rental has been chosen as Rental Supplier of the Year at the Leaseplan Supplier Conference 2012. Thrifty was also given the award for Overall Supplier of the Year 2012.

Thrifty was Leaseplan’s largest rental supplier in 2011, supplying three times as many cars and vans as in 2010.

Commenting on the award, Caroline Gallagher, Director of Corporate Sales at Thrifty said:

“At Thrifty we pride ourselves on providing an exceptional level of customer service coupled with a flexible offering and we are delighted to have had our efforts recognised in such a prestigious manner.”

You can find all of Thrifty’s UK van hire branches on vanrental.co.uk, including branches in London, Birmingham, Manchester and other major UK cities.

Thrifty Locations Now Listed On VanRental.co.uk

Thrifty Car & Van Rental logo

I am very pleased to be able to announce that we have now added all 85 of Thrifty’s UK van rental locations to vanrental.co.uk. We know have more than 800 van rental branches listed in our database, providing great coverage of the whole of the UK.

Thrifty is one of the world’s best-known rental brands and offers a very comprehensive UK van hire service, including one-way van hire and European van hire. Thrifty also offers minibus hire, another popular service with our visitors.

Thrifty’s UK van fleet includes small vans, short, long and extra-long wheelbase vans and luton vans with tail lifts. Thrifty also offers double cab 4×4 pick-ups, an offering that’s bound to be popular if we have another bad winter.

For a complete list of all of Thrifty’s UK van hire branches, click here.

To search for van rental branches in your area from all the companies listed in our database, click here.

Finally, if you would like to advertise your van hire company on vanrental.co.uk, click here for advertising details or contact us direct.