Whether you're partaking in a holiday, staying
with mates or family or travelling on business,
these handy tips might help, and give you some
guidance when renting your car in the UK.
Language
English is spoken universally and non-speakers can
have a problematic time – a current review found
that only 9 percent of British employees spoke a
foreign language. Though, even if you only know a
little English, people will usually attempt to work
out what you mean.
Welsh is spoken in Wales (road signs are in Welsh
and English) and you may hear some people speaking
Gaelic in areas of Scotland.
Most of our uk rental car locations will have
multilingual staff who will be able to assist.
Weather
The British love to talk about the weather. The
temperature is changeable and it's always a good
idea to be prepared for some good old British rain.
Summers are not as hot as mainland Europe but
winters are milder. The typical temperature in
London is slightly above freezing in January and
climbs to the giddy heights of around 22C (71F) in
July – August.
Driving Your Rental
Car
Dont forget to use the left side of the road in
Britain, and manual gear change, also known as shift
stick is typical. if you're more used to driving on
the right, using an automatic shift car with be a
whole lot easier for you.
When renting your car, feel free to ask
questions about where things are. You may need to
know what side the filler cap for fuel is located.
Ask your about what to do if your rental car
breaks down. All our rental cars come with 24 hour
breakdown cover. Most
filling petrol / gas stations are self-service in
the UK – When you're hiring a car remember to check
whether it uses diesel or unleaded petrol, many
rental cars we provide use both fuel types.
Business Trips And Car
Rental
The British do value politeness when dealing with
each other, politeness and promptness, and you
should not undervalue the importance of comedy.
Shake hands when you meet someone for the first
time, and make good eye contact, and use a firm hand
shake. Exchanging of gifts is not overly common.
UK Car Rental Opening hours
Shops in UK towns and cities normally open six or
seven days a week. Monday to Saturday from 09:00 to
17:30 is the norm, and most shops open on Sundays,
from 10:00 to 16:00. Check details of shops for
public holidays opening hours.
Banking hours are usually from 09.00 to 16.00,
Monday to Friday, but some open until 20.00 and on
Saturday mornings. Most banks have cash dispensers
(ATMs).
Most of our airport rental locations are open 24
hours 7 days a week. So if your able to get a quote
this will mean the location is open at the time you
need your rental car.
Public holidays
Known as bank holidays in Britain
• January 1: New Year's Day
• January 2: Bank holiday in Scotland
• Friday before Easter Sunday: Good Friday
• Day after Easter Sunday: Easter Monday (England
and Wales)
• First Monday in May: May Day
• Last Monday in May: Spring Bank Holiday
• First Monday in August: Summer Bank Holiday
(Scotland)
• Last Monday in August: Summer Bank Holiday
(England and Wales)
• November 30: St Andrew's Day (Scotland)
• December 25: Christmas Day
• December 26: Boxing Day
Money
Britain's uses the pound (£), divided into 100 pence
(p) or pennies. Credit and debit cards are accepted
in almost all shops and restaurants.
The use of £50 notes is hard because of their
rarity and the risk of counterfeit notes.
Its worth noting you will not be able to rent
a car with cash, you will need your credit card, for
the security deposit.
Time zones
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), is the time zone for the
whole of the UK. Daylight saving time (British
Summer Time or BST) runs from the last Sunday in
March to the last Sunday in October, and is one hour
ahead of GMT. Rental car
days are worked out in 24 hours slots. So if you
collect your
Rental Car from Heathrow Airport at 10am on Monday it will need to be back
by 10am on the Tuesday. If you need to extend the
rental car once you have it, please contact us.
Distances
Distance is measured in miles (1.6km) made up of
1,760 yards. From northern tip to southern, the
British mainland measures just over 683 miles
(1,100km). By rental car, the distance would be 835
miles and take approximately 16 hours, according to
a leading UK thinktank.
Most car rental in the UK have unlimited miles, but
this will be shown when you get a car rental quote.
Measurement and sizes
Since the early 1970s Britain has been progressively
moving from imperial to metric dimensions, but both
schemes are used. Clothing
and shoe types and sizes vary from those used in the
USA and Continental Europe. There are amply of
charts and converters accessible online.
The speed limits are in mile per hour (MPH)
motor ways are normally 70MPH but check beforehand
that no speed restrictions are in place. When
renting your car it might be worth asking for a
navigation system, as these often show on screen the
correct speed limit on the road your driving on.
Food and drink
Britain is a diverse place, which is reflected in
the assortment of food offered – in major cities you
can find every world cuisine that you could want,
and restaurants are priced from budget to top class.
Celebrated British gastronomic traditions include
fish and chips (white fish normally cod or haddock,
battered, deep fried and served with fried potatoes
also known as chips) and the classic Sunday roast
(meat served with roast potatoes, vegetables, gravy
and Yorkshire pudding).
If you're wanting for something a little more
upmarket, then the Michelin guide has online
listings. Vegetarian and Vegan options are widely
available. The pub is
where most Brits tend to drink alcohol and socialize
in Britain. You place your order for drinks by going
up to the bar and it's usual to pay each time you
place an order.
Tipping isn't mandatory, though it may be valued by
your server.
In England and Wales, the alcohol limit for
drivers is 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100
millilitres of blood, 35 micrograms per 100
millilitres of breath or 107 milligrams per 100
millilitres of urine. In most other European
countries, the limit is less, usually 50 milligrams
per 100 millilitres of blood.
Some rental cars will allow you to add an
extra driver to the rental, so you can share the
driving.
Electricity
UK mains electricity is 230V, 50Hz AC, and plugs
have three square pins ('Type G').
Some of our bigger rental partners do offer
electric cars, there are charge points around the UK
but this technology is very much in its infancy.
Telephone
The UK's international dialling code is +44. To call
from abroad, dial the international dialling code
for your country (eg 011 for the USA), then 44, then
the phone number without the leading zero.
To make a call abroad from the UK, dial 00 followed
by the country code (eg 1 for the USA), then the
phone number dropping of the first zero.
Payphones are still located around the UK but
with the upcoming mobile revolution has seen these
numbers decline over the last 15 years.
For emergency calls only, dial 999 (or the
pan-European 112) for the police, fire service,
ambulance, coastguard, or mountain rescue – these
calls are free.
UK networks use the GSM standard 3G and 4G is
widespread, with good data speeds in most cities
around the UK.
Its worth noting that its now illegal in the UK to
drive whilst using a mobile phone. Police are
looking out for offenders so don’t be tempted, just
wait to until you can safely pull over turn off your
engine then return the call.