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Foxhound5366
Executive Member
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2014
- Messages
- 9,131
So this recent holiday I learned a few costly lessons I thought I would share with any upcoming travellers
Lesson 1: before going on holiday, check that your drivers licence hasn't expired
-> I'd planned everything down to the smallest detail. Roll up to car rental counter to collect my rental car: "sorry sir, your licence has expired. We can't give you a rental car at this time." Honest to god, who thinks to check that? Check yours now. Go renew it.
-> Quick fix: I had to pay R1 500 for a taxi ride to my destination two hours away, then apply for a temporary licence there, then rent a car there ... ouch.
Lesson 2: don't rent a private apartment from Booking.com no matter how secure it looks or how cheap it is
-> I've survived Gauteng for years without a single burglary. Lo and behold my holiday apartment in Cape Town (booked through Booking.com) gets specifically targeted, window removed, burglar bars inside smashed out, work laptop and iPad stolen. This was on the fourth floor of an apartment block with security gates but no roving security, and it seems thieves can get in simply by waiting at the parking or pedestrian gates.
-> Quick fix: No real quick fix here. Work had to issue me a new laptop, and luckily my iPad was insured (claims process through Discovery Insure was painless - although the R750 excess was still not fun).
Some general lessons:
1) [EDIT: RECOMMENDATION WITHDRAWN PENDING RESPONSE TO THIS POST - CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS] It turns out it is way cheaper to use a drop-off valet service at OR Tambo than their long-term parking (only R395 for six nights). You also get to drop off the car at departures, and it is returned vacuumed and washed. Win-win. I used these guys: https://dropzoneparking.co.za/
2) Although Thrifty is a bit cheaper for car rental, I had a much better booking experience with Europcar. Europcar gave me a detailed statement by e-mail the day after I'd dropped the rental car off, I'm still waiting for a statement on my Thrifty rental that I requested last week (apparently it's not even an automatic part of their process). Also I've discovered Europcar has a club you can join to immediately save 20%, simply register on their site (I only discovered that AFTER my rental lol).
3) There are some seriously cheap British Airways flights you can book leaving Cape Town to Johannesburg, late in the evening. I booked one through Kulula's website, which gave me an additional discount from Discovery Vitality ... and it worked out like half the price of the other discount carriers (I used FlySafair for all my other flights quite happily). The actual flight experience on BA was great: I've had bad experiences in the past on their short-hop planes, but this was a decent sized plane (3 seats on each size) and the cabin service was very professional.
Hope that helps somebody
Lesson 1: before going on holiday, check that your drivers licence hasn't expired
-> I'd planned everything down to the smallest detail. Roll up to car rental counter to collect my rental car: "sorry sir, your licence has expired. We can't give you a rental car at this time." Honest to god, who thinks to check that? Check yours now. Go renew it.
-> Quick fix: I had to pay R1 500 for a taxi ride to my destination two hours away, then apply for a temporary licence there, then rent a car there ... ouch.
Lesson 2: don't rent a private apartment from Booking.com no matter how secure it looks or how cheap it is
-> I've survived Gauteng for years without a single burglary. Lo and behold my holiday apartment in Cape Town (booked through Booking.com) gets specifically targeted, window removed, burglar bars inside smashed out, work laptop and iPad stolen. This was on the fourth floor of an apartment block with security gates but no roving security, and it seems thieves can get in simply by waiting at the parking or pedestrian gates.
-> Quick fix: No real quick fix here. Work had to issue me a new laptop, and luckily my iPad was insured (claims process through Discovery Insure was painless - although the R750 excess was still not fun).
Some general lessons:
1) [EDIT: RECOMMENDATION WITHDRAWN PENDING RESPONSE TO THIS POST - CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS] It turns out it is way cheaper to use a drop-off valet service at OR Tambo than their long-term parking (only R395 for six nights). You also get to drop off the car at departures, and it is returned vacuumed and washed. Win-win. I used these guys: https://dropzoneparking.co.za/
2) Although Thrifty is a bit cheaper for car rental, I had a much better booking experience with Europcar. Europcar gave me a detailed statement by e-mail the day after I'd dropped the rental car off, I'm still waiting for a statement on my Thrifty rental that I requested last week (apparently it's not even an automatic part of their process). Also I've discovered Europcar has a club you can join to immediately save 20%, simply register on their site (I only discovered that AFTER my rental lol).
3) There are some seriously cheap British Airways flights you can book leaving Cape Town to Johannesburg, late in the evening. I booked one through Kulula's website, which gave me an additional discount from Discovery Vitality ... and it worked out like half the price of the other discount carriers (I used FlySafair for all my other flights quite happily). The actual flight experience on BA was great: I've had bad experiences in the past on their short-hop planes, but this was a decent sized plane (3 seats on each size) and the cabin service was very professional.
Hope that helps somebody
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