Collecting your car at the airport means setting off as soon as you land, with your luggage, without hunting for a taxi. You still need to know where to find the agency, what it expects from you and how to return the car without missing your flight. Here is what to sort out before you travel, and what to check on the spot.
Where does the agency hand you the car?
Depending on the agency, there are two options:
- a terminal counter: you meet the agency at the airport itself;
- a shuttle: the agency takes you from the terminal to the car, and tells you how long that trip takes.
Neither is better in itself. The shuttle simply adds a trip you need to allow for, especially if you arrive late, with young children or with a lot of luggage. Check which one the agency uses before accepting its offer, then ask these questions:
- where exactly do you meet at the exit, and at which meeting point?
- which number do you call on arrival?
- what do you do if nobody is there at the planned time?
From the car rental at Tunisian airports page, choose the airport where you land, not the city where you are staying: that is where the car must be waiting for you.
Why give your flight number to the agency?
You can give your flight number to the agency. It uses it to time the pick-up to your arrival. That is more reliable than an approximate time copied from memory.
A few precautions:
- give the exact number, including the airline's letters, as it appears on your flight booking;
- check the date: a flight that lands after midnight arrives the day after it departs, and it is the arrival that counts for the pick-up;
- if you change flights after accepting the offer, send the new number to the agency straight away.
What should you do if your flight is delayed?
Tell the agency as soon as you know about the delay, before boarding if possible, then again on landing. Even if it has your flight number, a message from you confirms that you are on board and what time you will arrive.
Before you travel, ask the agency:
- how late it can wait for you;
- what happens if you arrive outside its opening hours;
- whether a delay changes anything about the planned return time or date.
Save the agency's number in your phone and also write it down on paper, with the meeting address. After a long flight, your battery is sometimes flat.
What should you check before leaving the airport?
Travel fatigue makes you want to sign quickly and drive off. Take the time for these checks all the same, in this order.
- Documents: your identity document, identity card or passport, and your driving licence, both still valid. The agency checks them when it hands over the keys. Keep them in your cabin bag, not in checked luggage.
- Payment: the rental price is paid in full to the agency, in Tunisian dinars, when the keys are handed over. Nothing is charged online and KiraCars collects nothing. The payment method, cash or card, depends on the agency: confirm it before you travel. If it is cash, plan how you will have the dinars you need as soon as you arrive.
- Deposit: its amount is shown, and it takes one of two forms depending on the agency, a pre-authorisation on your bank card made on the agency's card terminal, or a cash deposit, in dinars. Check that the amount asked for on the spot is the one in the offer.
- Fuel: look at the gauge, and ask the agency what level it expects on return.
- The car's condition: walk all the way round it, photograph each side, the rims, the windscreen, the interior, the odometer and the gauge. The condition report photos, at pick-up and at return, are timestamped and kept by KiraCars.
How do you return the car without missing your flight?
Plan the return at the same time as the arrival. Ask the agency:
- where to return the car: at the same counter, or at a point from which the shuttle takes you back to the terminal;
- how much time to allow between handing back the keys and arriving at the terminal;
- whether it can see you early in the morning or late in the evening, depending on your flight time.
Then count backwards from the check-in deadline given by your airline. Add up the drive to the airport, with a margin for traffic, any stop to fill up, the return condition report, then the shuttle if there is one.
Returning at the agreed time is one of the conditions for getting your full deposit back, along with no damage and not going over the mileage allowance. Even in a hurry, do not skip the return condition report: photograph the car, the odometer and the gauge. If a disagreement arises afterwards, report it from your booking, in your customer area, or to contact@kiracars.com: KiraCars then steps in as a mediator.
What if your travel plans change before you set off?
A rescheduled flight, a shortened stay: it happens. Cancellation or changes are free of charge up to 48 hours before pick-up. After that, the agency may refuse. As nothing is paid online, there is nothing to refund.
If you have not yet accepted an offer, look at the validity date shown on each one: an offer is only valid until that date. For other questions, see the frequently asked questions about renting with KiraCars.
Flight booked? Request a quote from the page for your arrival airport: car rental at Tunis-Carthage airport, car rental at Enfidha-Hammamet airport or car rental at Djerba-Zarzis airport. Give your flight number, and ask the agency whether it will meet you at the counter or with a shuttle.