problem started when we arrived .. After purchasing insurance online we were told at counter that the insurance we purchased was no good and that qe would have to purchase an extra 600 euros or leave a 4000 euro down payment incase there was an issue when we returned the car we were told we were an hour late and would have to pay an extra 100€. Alamo would of cost me 900€ all in and they are at airpprt unlike this Drive on Holidays. My advise stay away from them . Car was good but it cost you more in the lo grun. read more

drive on holidays Madeira... Turns out the worst rent a car company i have ever come across. The car broke down while it still had half the fuel in the tank. When i went to the office to collect another car, they told me that i need to pay for the half tank, that too at an inflated price (they asked for almost EUR100 whereas the market price was around EUR40). Worst service, the staff is there just to rip the customers off. The blocked EUR100 against my card for any fuel, which was to be returned if i successfully returned the car with a full tank. Turns out that money has just gone out and not returned, which i will now need to dispute with the bank. Can't dislike this company and the experience more. Please stay away from them read more

Wish I would have read the reviews before booking with "Booking.com". Horrible experience!!!!! Shady people telling you that you won't be charged until after returning getting all they can!!!! If you come to Portugal, do NOT rent from them. Our car had a check engine light on during the trip... " just drive with it" and my kids were scared driving in the car. When I returned the car early with the issue, they changed the price of the daily insurance by almost 20 euros a day!!!!! The customer service was even worse, no manager would talk to me and if I had any issues with that "email" and maybe they would respond. End of the day, they offered no recourse and still charged me at higher rates with no consequences!!! Worst company ever. Foreigners beware!!!! read more

Easily the WORST car renting experience I have ever experienced. Booked the car through booking.com. Took 2 hours and 30 minutes once arriving to just receive the car. A car that was already pre-paid for by the way! Once getting up the counter I was informed id have to take out another insurance policy dispute purchasing one through booking.com. I was so tired exhausted and beaten down by that point I just agreed to anything. And that was just the problems I encountered trying to get the car. Once I got the car the situation became even worse. The electric car the gave me had a horrible battery. Wouldn't even hold a full charge. Even paid extra for fast efficient charges at Pingo Doce and Lidi. Neither would charge this car above 56%. When I called to inform Drive on Holiday that the car they provided me with was malfunctioning and I couldn't get it back to lisbon but I did offer to take it to faro which was closer to where I was vacationing- I was informed it be an EXTRA $200 euro just to drop it off at faro. I was also told I'd be responsible for the cost of a new car! Are you KIDDING me! I had plans and reservations in Madrid and Seville both of which I missed and couldn't get my money back. Drive on holiday is a HORRIBLE company. One that cost me personally thousands of lost euros and hours of stress. read more

# Car Rental Advisory Notice Exercise extreme caution when renting vehicles. I rented a car for one day to avoid taxi expenses. At the counter, I was instructed to sign after seeing an unexplained €171 charge; when questioned, the agent suggested declining. For protection, I purchased a €31 insurance policy. The company blocked €1,500 as security deposit and charged €70 for supposed toll fees. I rent vehicles biannually in Portugal from other companies and find this operation completely fraudulent. Despite promises, I never received rental contracts via email. When returning the vehicle, my request for rental documentation and closure contracts was denied. They released the security deposit but claimed the €70 would be refunded after 15 days--unlike other companies that merely block funds and release all amounts upon vehicle return. Had I reviewed their evaluations beforehand, I would never have utilized their services. I strongly advise all travelers who unfortunately encounter this company to thoroughly examine all contracts and request printed copies both before vehicle collection and after return. I am confident the alleged toll fees will not be refunded, but during my next visit, I will file a formal complaint with the regulatory authority. If possible, avoid this company entirely. read more

Don't use Drive on Holidays. Dishonest and Bad! We rented a car from them and, upon returning it, were accused of taking the luggage cover and slapped with a hefty EUR800 charge. To make matters worse, they failed to provide any evidence showing that the luggage cover was given to us in the first place. The photo they produced as proof was taken in February, while we rented the car on 15 March. This inconsistency is completely absurd and has left us feeling cheated and deeply frustrated. Don't take the risk and ruin your holiday. read more

They charge you $4000 dollars for incidentals if you deny their insurance. They refunded it at the end but that stress of having to max out a credit card unknowing if we'd ever see it again. And terrified of anything that might happen to the car gave us such anxiety on our vacation. Customer service was great but the "hidden charges" caught us off guard. And I've never heard of anything like this before with other rental places. read more

I am in complete agreement with low reviews (1 star) reviews of this facility. I had a first hand experience last week when I rented the car from 27th Dec - 31st Dec. The car I rented displayed several warning lights which you do not want to see when driving in foreign country. The customer service of USA rental companies are much more professional and courteous. These guys you cannot trust them, cannot trust their vehicle, rude customer service, take it or leave it or get lost kind of attitude. I complained in their red book and will also submit complaint at below site. https://www.consumidoronline.pt/en/submit-complaint/ Just do not rent from this company. It's not worth saving a few dollars. read more

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I wish I would've read these reviews before I rented a car here. When we got to the rental station, they told us we had to buy insurance through them even though we already bought additional insurance through Expedia. They said we must buy from them and Expedia policy wouldn't cover them. They told us we had to pay €350 nonrefundable or €2100 refundable if we didn't have any car issues. This was not made clear at all when we rented online. they said the refund would kick in immediately upon return of the car. Still haven't received our money back. Don't rent from this company total rip off. read more

Very bad experience with this rental agency from the beginning. My flight was late couple of hours, and there was no one waiting for us at the airport at the said meeting point - as they do not have an office at the airport, you have to meet them and they drive you to their office outside of airport (Lisbon) - and no one was answering the phone. So we had to get taxi to our hotel far from town, I came back few days later to get the car and there was a long line (waiting about 2h) - they still charged me for all these days even the days that I didn't have the car. I had to pay for transpodner (like EZ pass) and also insurance (for theft and vandalism). I took photos of the car, it had scratches on the wheels, and some other dents when I got the car. When I returned the car they noticed the scratches and dents and said they don't have that reported, when I showed photos they didn't approve the photos, for whatever reason, I need a video or whatever. I didn't make scratches as I barely drove the car. So they tried to charge me 600 euros, even tho I had insurance for those "scratches" (vandalism) , so after I refused to pay, they let me go "without" paying. Few days later I see they charged me 600 euros and didn't return back my full deposit. Such a scam of rental agency. read more

STAY AWAY FROM THIS BUSINESS. Very untrustworthy. Makes you "choose" deposit amounts and insists that you will get money back as soon a you return cars. I have not seen any money put back on my card and their cars were a disaster. They are looking for way to get your money and so don't make the same mistake I made. I rented from Madeira read more

If I could give this horrible place a negative 5 star rating, I would. Trust me when I say DON'T EVEN THINK OF RENTING FROM THIS PLACE! You will definitely regret it. It will probably end up costing you horrible stress and thousands of dollars. Renting from this place leaves you with a feeling that there is something really really fishy going on here and that their business model appears to be based on graft. read more

If you have to rent from this company, make sure you check over EVERY INCH OF THE CAR before driving off. If ANYTHING seems amiss, REFUSE TO TAKE THE CAR until it is absolutely resolved. This includes a tire low in pressure. Our car had a tire that was low, and the staff claimed to have topped it up with air. Turns out the tire had a slow leak, and THEY MADE US PAY TO REPLACE THE TIRE. AVOID!!!!!!!!! read more

Rua Fernando Namora 10 2685-368 Prior Velho Portugal This particular car rental is shady. We rented a car from this place , it was very pushy and we were forced to buy insurance. The person walked us out to evaluate the car for damages. He marked down a lot of scratches and scuffs. All seemed fine as we took off and got on highway we noticed a small chip in windshield didn't think much of it. We returned car and man immediately went to small crack and said we owe $500 we told him it was there and said it wasn't we will have to pay. We had no choice we needed to get to airport. It was very suspicious how this whole incident went. I would STAY AWAY FROM THIS BUSINESS!! People were very rude and have you captive read more

Be careful! The low rates review is TRUE!!! They rip off customers. I booked a reservation, and they said didn't have it on their system. Later, magically after charging back the credit card, they changed their story saying the reservation existed. Poor 6 employees at the counter don't know how to use their system. Please report them to the Portugal authorities (Direção-Geral do Consumidor e Deco Proteste), not only a bad review. read more

The problem started when we arrived at the station. First we were forced to buy an additional insurance in addition to the one we already paid through Booking.com. Second, one of the employees who was supposed to show us the car had a really nasty and aggressive attitude, which sharply contrasted with most of our interactions with friendly Portuguese people. Second, the car we requested (and paid for) was unavailable. Third the car we got (Opel Corsa) had a non-functioning GPS (even though we especially requested a car with a working GPS) and, more egregiously, had a steering wheel that would lock randomly, and often smack in the middle of the freeway (at 120 mph). Needless to say, driving in those conditions was incredibly stressful and incredibly dangerous as the inability to turn the steering wheel in any direction could have caused fatal accidents. Of course, Drive On Holidays refuses to acknowledge those problems or reimburse us, even though we returned the defective car 3 days ahead of schedule. You have many options for renting cars and I strongly recommend avoiding this company. WHen it comes to renting vehicles, go with the pros. It might be a bit more expensive, but the peace of mind is well worth it. read more

Booking.com reserved the car for us here. We understood that you need a credit card to provide insurance. The rental went without a hitch for us. The place was surprisingly clean and bright. The cars were new looking and clean. Our rental had 10,000 miles but looked brand new. Booking.com reserved a SUV for a week for $75. What a deal! Family convinced me to get an automatic so it cost $205. The car worked like a charm. We were very pleased when we saw no unexpected charges on our bill. It was scary when they put a $3000 charge for potential damage on the original bill. That went away at the end. Highly recommend them. read more

Absolutely the worst rental company. We have booked Drive on Holidays (via Discover Cars) couple times in the last couple of years. This year October 2023 was the last time. Drive on Holidays provided us with a Hyundai Bayon, we waited almost an hour at checkin counter for them to retrieve the car. By day 3 of our rental, we noticed front passenger side floor mats where soaked (it had been raining), upon driving the front passenger side under the glove compartment started dripping water, then massive water flow from same area. Unable to drive car without passengers feet getting wet. Returned the car to Drive on Holidays and explained (with video taken of water flow in car) and they gave us a Renault Captur. At no point did we receive an apology for the inconvenience of having to return the vehicle. They seemed almost annoyed that we wanted a new car. When we dropped off the car at the end of our vacation, we paid for the Electric Toll Service and paid for tolls used (minus last 2 days of rental). When I questioned the 70 euro deposit, the representative informed me that they would refund the 70 euros after getting the last 2 days toll amounts. That they would charge my visa with the toll cost and reimburse the 70 euro deposit we made. November 2023 I called Drive on Holidays and asked for full amount of the Via Verde (tolls) and when my 70 euro would be reimbursed. They told me I should be receiving the 70 euros in December and that I still owed 17 euros for the tolls from the last 2 days of my rental. That they would charge my VISA with 17 euros and refund me the 70 euros. January 2024 I called, sent emails, left messages and regarding my refund and the 17 euros I owed them. Kept getting different information, finally January 24 spoke to representative and gave him my VISA # for him to charge the 17 euros (I owed for tolls) and for him to refund me the 70 euros (drive on holidays owed me). January 24th the 17 euros was processed on my visa, but not the refund of 70 euros. Today, January 29th I called again Drive on Holidays asking for my 70 euro refund, got an apology and was informed that the refund will be completed today or tomorrow. I'm sure I will be contacting Drive on Holidays again tomorrow and probably next couple of days, hopefully not weeks! I would NOT recommend DRIVE ON HOLIDAYS (Porto location) to anyone. read more

DO NOT BOOK with this company. All the reviews are true. Bad customer service, long waits for car pick up ( I rented in October and waited 3hrs) , aggressive selling etc etc. just an awful experience. read more

If I were not able to speak Portuguese, and I had to speak English with them, I would probably think that their English was poor. Given that I am a native speaker of Portuguese, I cannot use a language barrier as an excuse. They are just simply rude, disrespectful and lack any sense of professionalism. You are not allowed to ask a single question. They will answer all questions with hostility. They will use fear to get you to purchase all extras. The cars come all scratched and god forbid it rains, because they whippers are all dry. Once you return the car, they will find tiny damage and request you to pay to replace parts of the car, such as windshields. They act as kids, with no sense of politeness or customer service. Just a simple example: When I returned the car, the receptionist noticed a small damage on the windshield. Most likely it was there when I picked up the car, but I didn't notice. I said, I didn't notice. She started accusing me of lying, because "YOU SAW IT. EVERYONE CAN SEE IT." I was so dissatisfied with her, that I asked to call her manager. I explained that if I had seen it, I would have gone to a police station given that I need a police report for my credit card rental insurance. And I asked, Do you know where I can find the nearest police station? She replied, I don't know. I am not a policeman. read more

Do not come here, they are cheaters. When we got a pretty good car from the dealership with a few scratches, we asked the employee if this would be covered in the insurance. He assured us that it was. A week later, we returned the car but they told us to pay for the scratches. We asked for the employee that assured us that the insurance, but he wasn't there. The company is unreliable as the insurance is completely useless as they will still charge you for the scratches, even if you have insurance or not. read more

Avoid at all costs! We were mislead to take a "security deposit" of €500+ instead of the €2,500 deposit on our credit card. We of course went with the cheaper option. That turned out to be non renfundable "insurance" - only mentioned on the fine print. After returning from holidays and enquiring when we could expect the security deposit refund, we were told there was no refund! They disguise these unethical practices by imitating what other car rental companies do, but instead of a security deposit, they make you purchase this non refundable insurance. They cleary take advantage of visiting tourists and we are in the mist of reporting them to local authorities read more

This experience with this company has been a nightmare. They gave us a car with no fuel, so we had to fill it ourselves as soon as we left. They never even checked the oil levels, and after only 1 day, the oil check and wrench lights came on, on the dash!! After contacting them, they promised they would send a technician 2 separate times, and instead, they just sent a tow truck company twice. They want to just leave us stranded and take their car back. Then when we called again the following morning, they told us that we "ran out of chances," and that they're just going to leave us stranded. This is the absolute worst business and company to ever do business with. Run. Save yourselves! They ruined our plans, and our vacation. Now we need to come out of pocket and try to find a taxi who will take us from the middle of nowhere to the nearest city so we can get to our next destination. They're a fraud. read more

Slowest operation and most inconvenient on earth. Wait for the bus. Wait in line for an hour. Wait for your car for another half hour. Joke

This company has both great and bad things about it. We booked a flight through TAP to go to Portugal and added on a car rental for the days we would be there. The directions on the voucher tell you to look for someone with a sign that says "Drive on Holidays", where you then get on a shuttle to go get your car. After calling customer service due to the fact we didn't see anyone holding a sign, they gave us the wrong location to meet for the shuttle. After walking around aimlessly, I finally found the guy with a tiny paper he wasn't even holding up that says "Drive on Holidays". Once we finally found Waldo, we found out that the shuttle was full and that we would have to wait 20 minutes for the next one, after we had already waited an hour and a half! On a brighter note, once they actually get you on the shuttle (that can only bring 7-8 people at a time), the experience is then seamless. The employees all speak English and take the time to walk you through everything on how the car works, etc. Very friendly and informative. One more thing to expect, be ready to pay approx 20 euros a day additionally for insurance or a flat fee of over 1000 euros as a deposit in case you damage the car. We actually ended up paying almost as much for the insurance as we did for the car. I recommend taking the insurance because a lot can happen in Portugal and you're much better off. Also, get the EZ PASS! It's only 7 euros and will make your life so much easier. read more

The cars are scratched up, but in decent working condition. The selling staff is very aggressive and provide you with doomsday scenarios regarding what could happen to your car without purchasing their insurance. My suggestion? Buy the external insurance, don't buy theirs - it is more expensive than the actual car rental! Honestly, this spot would get one star, BUT the car return staff are very fast, friendly and easy to work with. They made the return process effortless, so an extra star is being given. read more

I will never rent a vehicle from this company ever again! I had a covid 19 emergency and had to go back home to the USA 2 days early and they would not refund me for returning the vehicle early. It's disgusting how they are taking advantage of this pandemic and not giving any kind of alternate resolution like a credit for emergency situations. Horrible company and even worse customer service! read more

DO NOT BOOK A CAR HERE THEY ARE SCAMMERS. I booked a car and bought the 110 euro non-refundable insurance and was promised that if "anything happened we would be covered". We ended up getting a minor scratch on the car and when we returned it they charged us 1,500 euros and claimed that we needed a police report for the insurance. Earlier they had given no information about police reports or any documentation about this. The reasoning was an outright lie and an attempt to defraud us. Even when we went to the police to try to get a report after the gave the officer thought it was ridiculous. Avoid this business at all costs. read more

I arrived at 6:30am. 2 people were at work and told me they can't help me until their boss shows up at 7am because they open at 8am. At 7:30 the boss was still too busy to help me. In the meantime they had plenty of time to take cigarette breaks every 10 minutes. Other customers were waiting to. When asked if we can finally look at the car I reserved and paid for in advance (big mistake !) they were extremely aggressive and unpleasant as if they were making me a big favor and were offended I even brought up that I was waiting for 1.5h. DO NOT rent from them. Not worth the low price / head ache !! read more

If it was possible I would leave a -5 star. They are completely disorganized from the unhelpful and unhappy girl that met us at the m airport, to the chaos of returning the car. Stay clear. The line up for picking up a car when we returned ours was around the corner! There was no organization when returning our car and we almost missed our flight because they kept skipping our turn to check over the car. Honestly. I don't leave reviews often, but just felt compelled to warn others with this one. Beware. You have been warned. read more

Competitive prices until you return the car, with the cost of a scratch at €165 identified within 5 seconds of my arrival... that car had scratches everywhere I'm sure other also pay the scratches fee... GO WITH A MAJOR rental car company period. You are less likely to pay those arbitrary fees. As for the car... 65,876 Km physical and mechanical condition was cuestiones at the time of delivery and they told me you get what you pay for.... At the end of the rental end up paying more than average fees on a known company. Avoid !!! read more

Our experience with driving on holidays was absolutely horrific. Please do not book through Expedia if they choose this vendor. We were in Portugal with our two young children. After driving the car 10 minutes, it broke down at a traffic circle. We were stranded for over 2 1/2 hours in the center lane. It took them two hours to get a tow truck to us. They informed us that we must stay with the car or we would be liable for any damages. My husband had to put on a safety vest to direct traffic so the car would not be hit. In addition, we had to get all of our suitcases and the children out of the car, and wait with the children in the middle of the traffic circle in the hot sun with no water or a bathroom. We called drive on holidays multiple times to see if they could help, letting them know we were in a dangerous situation after the car broke down in a traffic circle. They said we must wait with a car although it took two hours. They said they would call as a cab to pick up after the tow truck arrive. We waited 45 minutes after the arrival of the tow truck and a cab never arrived. We called multiple times and they said it was on the way. We had to get a Uber to take us to our Airbnb. This whole process of getting the car and the issues that incurred took about five hours. We had to wait over one hour to get the car. Please do not use this company! thankfully, we had our fans on an international policy so we were able to call for help, however, there is no help available from the company! read more

terrible terrible terrible customer service & experience!! do yourself a favor and stay away from them to have peace of mind during your trip! read more

Second time I'm using this company from Lisbon Airport, and I'm really happy with it! Only down side is the fact that this Rental Car pickup location is outside the airport in a confusing industrial area if you don't have a GPS to drive out of that after! They provide you a shuttle that takes around 10 minutes. Apart from that, service is very good and conditions are straight forward without tricks or hidden costs! read more

Drive On Holidays - Office where you collect the car (10 minutes from the airport in a place called Prior Velho) - Car Rental Near Me - Prior Velho, 11

I have used them a few times and generally like them as they have very cheap offers. But this time somebody smashed the passenger window in my car when I had parked it overnight. As I had no insurance with them I had to pay for it, which is OK. But they charged me 650 Euros for it, which is a ridiculous overcharge. They completely rape you when they get the chance. It probably cost then 150-200 Euros to get the car repaired. Simply a rip-off read more

Rented a car for a week. The car we got had scratches and damage all around the exterior and some things inside as well. They totally scrutinize every scratch and smudge on the outside of the car and try to note it on the little cartoon on the contract. When we dropped it off, they were trying to question a small smudge (10 X 1mm) that was not clearly marked on the cartoon. They finally let it go but I had a bad feeling they were going to try something like that given the scrutiny they gave the car at pickup. The worst part was that two weeks after we returned the car and closed the paperwork, we received a charge on our credit card with no explanation and no communication. I have to admit, it didn't surprise me. Fortunately, we may have dodged a bullet getting away as easily as we did. Will not go back. If you rent from them, make sure to video the entire outside of the car before accepting it. That said, we witnessed a customer get admonished inside the rental office for taking pictures or video and was forced by the owner to remove them from his phone! Red flag? read more

This company is not even worth 1 star- Terrible experience! They let us pay EUR300 for damage on the car that was already there (two small scratches ) and mentioned on the paperwork when picking up the car. However we covered our a*s- there was no discussion available afterwards when handing in the car; even the manager of the rental car company was playing the game and told us we just needed to pay. Without our consent- they just took our 300EUR from our credit card which you need to hand in for authorization when picking up the car. They even tried to get 600EUR instead via their miserable trick (needed to pay 300EUR cash bc they told me the credit card is for authorization only..) Don't doubt but just choose another car rental company instead of these criminals. read more

Shuttle bus to depot... long wait for car, 1500 Euro deposit taken on card. Better companies available at airport. Didn't have the car I picked. read more

Renters be aware of terrible customer service, dirty cars, limited open hours and its location(not near airport)! It took us over one hour to get to the rental shop and to get a car. On returning the vehicle went more smoothly, but again I must comment on the lack of customer service. The business hours are 8am-8pm, and we arrived about 20 minutes earlier. They were open, and we pulled up to the bay only to be rudely told to go back out and park on the curb until 8am! It was extremely ridiculous! We will never rent from this company again! Not worth the headache and hassle when renting directly at the airport is more convenient. read more

I give Drive on Holidays one star to activate this review box - they don't deserve even one. Drive on Holidays - don't touch it. We were more or less threatened when we showed we had already insured the Excess elsewhere. The "Help" phone lines don't work. Awesome performance for the 21st century. My advice - book a reputable company at the airport. This depot is so out of the way that they have you completeley at their mercy - the member of staff (Thursday 24.11.2016) tried to charge us for an additional driver despite its inclusion in the agreement. He said the 1100 euro Excess would be withdrawn against our credit card - not just blocked. After a tiring flight, at the depot in the middle of nowhere, faced with threats we had no choice but to buy their insurance which had so many exclusions that it was far inferior to the Excess Insurance I had purchased from iCarhireinsurance.com read more