Indigo Car Hire > Blog > UK

Festival Season Is Here

June 5, 2014 Events, UK Comments Off on Festival Season Is Here

It´s that time of year when the days get longer and the weather gets better (fingers crossed!). Feeling the sun on your face gives you those butterflies in your tummy and that warm feeling that anything is possible and good times are just around the corner.

For live music lovers, summer also means Festival Season. Festivals are fun whatever the weather but if the sun is shining it is the best and purest way to enjoy live music.

Renting a car to go to a music festival can be the easiest and in some cases the only way to get to the venue. A lot of people don’t realise that cars can not only be rented from airports, they can be rented from local offices and even be delivered to your house. At Indigo we can help young drivers to rent a car, and we accept most debit cards so a credit card is not always necessary. So please contact our sales team and see what we can offer you to make your Festival experience the best possible.

Below is a list and details of the top 10 best UK Festivals this year, as provided by Varsity magazine, Cambridge. Enjoy!!

1. Reading and Leeds
Where: Richfield Avenue, Reading and Bramham Park, Leeds
When: 22-24 August
Cost: £99.50 (day-ticket), £213 (weekend-ticket)
Headlining: Queens of the Stone Age, Blink 182, Paramore, Arctic Monkeys
orting: Imagaine Dragons, Bombay Bicycle Club, You me At Six, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, The Courteeners, Disclosure, Jake Bugg, Vampire Weekend

2. Creamfields
Where: Daresbury, Halton, Cheshire
When: 22-24 August
Cost: £80-85 (day-ticket), £180 (weekend-ticket)
Headlining: DeadMau5, Pete Tong, Avicii, Afrojack, Eric Prydz, Hardwell, Armin van Buuren, Steve Angello
Supporting: Claude Vonstroke, Skream, Sasha, Annie Mac

3. Download
Where: Donington Park, Derby
When: 13-15 June
Cost: £180 (weekend-ticket)
Headlining: Linkin Park, Aerosmith, Avenged Sevenfold
Supporting: The Offspring, Status Quo, Trivium, Alter Bridge, Fall Out Boy

4. Glastonbury
Where: Worthy Farm, Pilton
When: 25-29 June
Cost: £210 (weekend-ticket)
Headlining: Kasabian, Arcade Fire (more TBC)
Supporting: Dolly Parton, Elbow, The Black Keys, Blondie, Disclosure, Jack White, James Blake, Lily Allen

5. Latitude
Where: Henham Park, Suffolk
When: 17-20 July
Cost: £84.50 (day-ticket), £195.50 (weekend-ticket)
Headlining: Damon Albarn, The Black Keys, Two Door Cinema Club
Supporting: Editors, Haim, Billy Bragg, Bombay Bicycle Club, Kelis, Mogwai, Royksopp

6. The Secret Garden Party
Where: Abbots Ripton, Huntingdon
When: 24-27 July
Cost: £180.50 (weekend-ticket)
Headlining: Little Dragon, Fat Freddy’s Drop, The Correspondents, Clean Bandit, Foxes, The Vandellas
Supporting: Denai Moore, Jagwar Ma, Wolf Alice Sub, Focus DJ Set + ID

7. Sonisphere
Where: Knebworth Park, Hertfordshire
When: 4-6 July
Cost: £63.25 (day-ticket), £159 (weekend-ticket)
Headlining: Iron Maiden, The Prodigy, Metallica, Dream Theatre, Limpbizkit
Supporting: Deftones, Alice In Chains, Slayer, Anthrax, Gary Numan

8. Bestival
Where: Robin Hill, Isle of Wight
When: 4-7 September
Cost: £180.50 (weekend-ticket)
Headlining: Outkast, Chic, Foals, Beck, Busta Rhymes, Annie Mac, Wilkinson
Supporting: London Grammar, Chvrches, Darkside, Wild Beasts, Glass Animals, Bonobo

9. The Isle of Wight Festival
Where: Isle of Wight
When: 12-15 June
Cost: £75 (day-ticket), £190 (weekend-ticket)
Headlining: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kings of Leon, Biffy Clyro, Calvin Harris
Supporting: Boy George, John Newman, Suede, Swim Deep, Katy B, Rudimental, The Horrors

10. V-Festival
Where: Hylands Park, Chelmsford and Weston Park, Staffordshire
When: 16-17 August
Cost: £89 (day-ticket), £189 (weekend-ticket)
Headlining: Justin Timberlake, The Killers
Supporting: Kaiser Chiefs, Manic Street Preachers, Ed Sheeran, Lily Allen, Paolo Nutini

Read more

Holidays In South West England

May 29, 2014 Travel News, UK Comments Off on Holidays In South West England

Superb beaches, charming coast resorts, pretty fishing villages, excellent family attractions and the mildest weather in the UK make the West Country a top UK holiday choice.

The countryside of South West England is among the most picturesque in the UK. Away from the coast you will find the dramatic national parks of Dartmoor and Exmoor and top UK holiday cottages in picture-postcard villages.

For relaxing UK short break head for the Cotswolds: a quintessentially English region of gorgeous honey-coloured limestone villages, charming market towns and rolling farmland.

Diverse scenery and varied attractions make Somerset a deservedly popular UK holiday destination. Unspoilt Somerset countryside is complemented by the charming seaside resorts like Minehead and Watchett and the many attractions of Wells and Glastonbury.

Dorset boasts a glorious rolling coastline, the lively resort of Bournemouth, and elegant seaside towns like Swanage and Lyme Regis. The entire West Country holiday region is a delight for walkers, with splendid coast paths in Cornwall and Devon and superb routes like the Two Moors Way and the Coleridge Way.

Last but not least there are the top UK weekend break destinations of Bath, Exeter and Bristol.

We offer fantastic deals on car hire in the south west of England which will enable you to see more of this beautiful part of the world. Speak to us about the available deals, including:

You can call us on +44 (0)113 880 0748, chat with our experts online or email us on sales@thealternativeagency.co.uk, we look forward to hearing from you.

Read more

Low Cost Family Fun In The UK

May 22, 2014 UK Comments Off on Low Cost Family Fun In The UK
Low Cost Family Fun In The UK

After recently publishing an article about family days out it was brought to our attention that our suggestions were all a little bit on the pricey side for the average family with 2.4 and a dog…

So, this got our juices flowing and we decided to dig out the best venues for Low Cost Family Fun In The UK. Here are the top 5 we could find.

5: Wilderness Wood, East Sussex

A unique family-run working woodland park in the beautiful hills of the Sussex High Weald. Explore a network of trails around their 62 acres of award-winning continuous cover ancient woodland. Follow a 1.25km self-guided trail to see some of the woods most interesting features, or a shorter easy-access trail more suitable for buggies and pushchairs. Or simply follow your nose and ramble wherever the mood takes you! There is a lot to see and do here and all for around £15 for a family ticket.

4: Spitalfields City Farm, London

A great destination for a family day out. A registered charity, the farm provides something for all the family. In the farmyard, you can meet a whole range of animals, children can learn where eggs and milk come from, and you can participate in workshops on dairying, healthy eating and sustainability. The farm is free to visit although they do rely on donations to stay open, so if you do decide to visit and you have a great time then why not make a donation.

3: Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham

The park is an ideal venue for families, with children’s play areas and boats for hire on the lake in the summer. There are plenty of picnic areas and refreshments are available at the Garden Tea Rooms. For the active family there are tennis courts, mini golf and a Tree Walk which starts at Information Point in the The Garden Tea Room. The park is free but some activities do come at a small cost.

2: Brimham Rocks, North Yorkshire

An amazing collection of weird and wonderful rock formations which makes a great day out for families, climbers and those wanting to enjoy the simple pleasures of fresh air and magnificent views over Nidderdale. Let your imagaination run wild as you explore the labyrinth of paths through this unique landscape.

1: Sandy Lane Aqua Park, Cheshire

The Aqua Park includes around 10 pieces of water equipment operated by sensory, touch pads. These are in place in the summer months and are replaced by play equipment in the winter period. In the summer there is a small shop selling ice creams and drinks. Tie this in with a walk along the river Dee, a boat trip and a picnic and you have a great day out with the family. The bonus is the cost the water fun and activity park is free, the boat trips are £1pp return and if you take a picnic, there is no additional costs for refreshments.

There are many more attractions offering Low Cost Family Fun In The UK, some of which im sure we will write about soon. The costs mentioned above are for access to the attraction only and other costs that should be considered are travel costs, parking charges and refreshments. With all of these included we think the above attractions offer great value for a fun family day out.

Read more

Paying With A Business Debit Card

May 12, 2014 Car Hire Offers, Spain, UK Comments Off on Paying With A Business Debit Card
Paying With A Business Debit Card

There are many locations across the globe where we have managed to arrange a deal that will allow us to take a debit card given that it meets certain restrictions. We have announced this several times before but one of the major difficulties when it comes to debit card car hire the card typically has to be in your name which means the name that is printed on your card must match your identification when you produce it at the counter.

One problem presented by this is that travel is often for businesses purposes and many will want to use a business debit card to pay for their expenses. Usually you would be rejected straight away but we tried to look further into this as we felt there should be some form of exception when it comes to business travel.

This is also a similar issue to many Canadian and Malaysian bank accounts which occasionally don’t have a name on the card.

We have managed to arrange deal which means you are allowed to pay with a business debit card in some circumstances as long as you have proof that the card does in fact belong to you and you are authorised to use it, this can be proved by a letter from the bank.

Most of the locations that we can arrange this for are in Spain but its hit and miss, which is why we ask you to contact us well in advance so we can contact the specific branch you are looking to hire from and inform them of your situation to check whether your card will be accepted.

If you are looking to hire and only have business card or your card doesn’t have a name on it then please contact us on +44 (0)113 880 0748 or alternatively you can email us at sales@thealternativeagency.co.uk.

Read more

Overseas Visitors Looking To Hire A Minibus

May 9, 2014 Car Hire Offers, UK Comments Off on Overseas Visitors Looking To Hire A Minibus

Are you an overseas customer looking for 12, 15 or even 17 seater minibus within the United Kingdom? Then don’t worry because Indigo Car Hire can help you find the best available deal. We have managed to get one of our suppliers to offer our customers a few fantastic deals on Minibuses.

Minibuses are a great choice of rental when you are travelling with a large group of people. Instead of having to drive around in several cars and each pay the rental cost then why not just have one vehicle that can fit everyone? It makes your holiday so much easier to organise and getting from place to place is far quicker.

We can also happily announce that our minibuses can now be rented out without the use of a credit card needing to be involved. We can accept debit cards given that they meet the requirements that are in place. Also another thing we have managed for our customers is the fact that we can supply minibuses with a low deposit, which is significant as the larger the vehicle often the same can be said for the deposit, but not in this case as the deposit is only around £500!

Some of the popular locations that people opt to hire minibuses from that we can service include…

Heathrow Airport
Gatwick Airport
Edinburgh Airport
Manchester Airport

Along with this we have also managed to get two US locations on board which include..

Orlando Airport
Miami Airport

If you are interested in renting a minibus you first need to find out if your licence is eligible whether that be a UK, EU, US or any other licence. Our reservation agents are well versed in this and can answer any questions you may have and book you a minibus without an issue. To find out further information then please contact us on +44 (0)113 880 0748 or email us at sales@thealternativeagency.co.uk and we will be happy to help you find the best option.

Read more

Bank Account Number Not Shown On Debit Card

May 6, 2014 Car Hire News, UK Comments Off on Bank Account Number Not Shown On Debit Card
debit card car hire

Recently we got an extremely interesting question in regards to a Nat West debit card. As you may know in several of our locations we can allow debit cards as we have managed to arrange deals all over the world, typically with this however there are some restrictions. For example, the card must be in the name of the main driver. To check that your card meets all the requirements, please call or email us.

The enquiry we had however stated that their card met all of these requirements but there was no account number printed on the card, the worry for them was whether it would prevent them from being able to hire a vehicle.

After some research we found out that over the last few months many of the banks have been removing the account numbers from their new cards which includes both credit and debit cards, and it turns out that this was for security purposes.

Two of the main banks that we found out had been doing these was the Royal Bank of Scotland and like the person who had enquired Natwest. We checked with some of our suppliers to see if this was a card that they would still accept.

Many of them got back to us with the reply that as long as the drivers name is on the card and the 16 digits are across the front then this would be fine. There are however a few suppliers that will not be able to take these cards so you need to make sure that you call us in advance and notify us of your situation of not having your bank account number showing on your card.

If you are interested in hiring a car but see that there is no bank account number showing on any part of your card then please make sure you let us know and do not book online. If you want to contact one of our advisors for a quote where this can be accepted then call us on +44 (0)113 880 0748 or email us at sales@thealternativeagency.co.uk and we will get right back to you.

Read more

DVLA Opening Times

May 1, 2014 Car Hire Tips, Travel Advice, UK Comments Off on DVLA Opening Times

When you come to hiring a car you will be required to present the paper counter part of your licence, this second part is vital to being allowed to hire a vehicle in the UK. We realise that many people misplace or lose this counter part piece as it is only bit of paper; there is however something we can do so that you will still be able to get a vehicle.

The DVLA or Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency being its full name is the UK’s driving body who keep all the registers of vehicles and drivers on the roads in Britain. We can contact the DVLA on your behalf when you arrive at your location and check the details on your counterpart and still be able to give you a rental vehicle.

This call usually costs you an extra £10 as it is a premium rate phone line so please make sure that you know whether you have points or convictions on your licence as if you do you still won’t be able to hire a car. Typically you can only have up to 6 points on your licence and have no major convictions such as a DR10 or IN10 in the last five years.

The only issue when doing this is that you need to make sure the at the time you are arriving to pick up the vehicle the DVLA are open to answer the phone call and give your details to the rental company. The DVLA Opening Times for driver check service are…

DVLA Opening Times

Monday – Friday: 8:00am to 5:30pm
Saturday: 8am – 1pm
Sunday: Closed
Bank Holidays: Closed

If you are arriving when the DVLA is closed and do not have the counterpart section of your licence then we may still be able to help, but you will need to contact us before making a booking to ask about a Pre-DVLA Check.

If you are interested in hiring a car but don’t have your counter part of your licence then call us to find out all the options that you have available to you. You can reach our experienced and knowledgeable advisors on +44 (0)113 880 0748 or email us at sales@thealternativeagency.co.uk.

Read more

Guaranteed Car Hire Models

April 30, 2014 Car Hire Tips, UK Comments Off on Guaranteed Car Hire Models
guaranteed car hire model

When you come to hire a car a phrase you will often hear is “or similar” in reference to the type of cars you can hire. Most car hire companies can’t and won’t allow you to get a guaranteed vehicle as its very hard for them to be able to make sure you get that specific vehicle so for example they will say you can get a VW Golf or similar which means that you can get a model of a similar size.

This always presented a problem for us as we had several potential customers put off of hiring because we can’t guarantee a specific model, until now. We have managed to arrange deals with two separate suppliers within the United Kingdom in order to be able to widen the availability of being able to guarantee a certain vehicle, there locations include…

We are extremely happy with this arrangement as it is in some of the most popular locations within the UK. If you do want a guaranteed model however then you need to make sure that you book direct with one of our experts as we can put you in touch with a supplier that has the type of vehicle you want, we would usually advise you to book well in advance when reserving a car but in this case it could hinder the process as most suppliers refresh their fleet every 6 months to a year.

The very best thing you can do if you are looking to hire in any of these location and want to get a guaranteed model is to come straight to Indigo Car Hire and we can give you upto date information on what vehicles are available and will arrange everything for you. Our experienced advisors will guide you through the booking process step by step, if you have any questions or want to get a car booked then simply call us on +44 (0)113 880 0748 or alternatively you can email us at sales@thealternativeagency.co.uk and we will get right back to you on with all the information that you require.

Read more

Low Deposit Minibus Hire Cowdenbeath

April 24, 2014 Car Hire Offers, UK Comments Off on Low Deposit Minibus Hire Cowdenbeath

Deposits on MPV and minibus hire tend to be quite high no matter which supplier you go to, as you may know we have arranged several deals across the world in order to try and reduce this cost, one of the locations we have recently focused on thanks to an enquiry is Cowdenbeath in Scotland.

The minibuses that we can allow for our customers to hire consist of 15 and 17 seaters with models from manufacturers like Ford, Mercedes and Renault. The deposits for minibuses tend to be a major issue with people wanting to rent larger vehicles as the amount held on your card was extreme, the deal we have managed to arrange here means that the deposit for a minibus in Cowdenbeath is around £500 which is far cheaper than the standard minibus deposit with other suppliers of between £2,000-£3,000

Please also note that with minibus hire you must have a D1 category on your licence in order to be able to drive the vehicle legally on UK roads. You can find out if you have this by viewing the back of the picture part of your licence. If you passed your test prior to March 1997 then you will have this on your licence already, however if you passed after that date you would have needed to take an extra test in order to acquire this category, without it you will not be able to drive larger minibuses on the UK roads whether you are an overseas customer or a local customer.

If you are interested in getting a minibus in the Cowdenbeath area then just simply contact our reservation agents. They will guide you through every step of the rental and make the process easy whilst also finding you the best price, if you want more information then please call us on +44 (0)113 880 0748 or alternatively you can email us at sales@thealternativeagency.co.uk and we will get right back to you.

Read more

Young Driver Car Hire North West England

April 23, 2014 UK Comments Off on Young Driver Car Hire North West England

Are you a young driver and struggling to hire a vehicle due to the age restrictions that most companies have? Well, we have arranged a fantastic deal for you in north west England, specifically Carlisle, Dumfries and Windermere. If you are under 25 then the likelihood of you being allowed to hire a car is pretty low but if you do manage to find a location then often they charge you an extremely high additional fee which can be as much as £39/per day on top of the cost of your rental.

This doesn’t always have to be the case as the deal we have managed to arrange in these locations will save you a large amount of money and make car hire a more affordable option for your transport needs. This deal ranges to two age groups as it’s a different offer for each, both of the age groups however must have held their full UK driving licence for a year prior to hiring and have no major convictions or more than 6 points on their licence.

We can allow for drivers who are 21 – 22 to hire a car from us but they will still have to pay a surcharge per day, however we have managed to lower the age right down to 21.

The second deal we have managed to arrange is even better, for 23 and 24 year olds in Carlisle, Dumfries and Windermere we can allow you to hire without having to pay any surcharge!

If you are interested in getting a rental vehicle but are still considered a young driver then come straight to Indigo Car Hire and we will guide you through the process getting you the best possible price. You can reach our experienced and friendly reservation agents on +44 (0)113 880 0748 or emailing us at sales@thealternativeagency.co.uk and we will get right back to you.

Read more
Get a quote

An duo lorem altera gloriatur. No imperdiet adver sarium pro. No sit sumo lorem. Mei ea eius elitr consequ unturimperdiet.

Get Quote

Archives