A shortage of rental cars in Easter Week is expected

A shortage of rental cars for the Easter holidays is expected again as a consequence of important companies's closedown of the sector because of the crisis.

Days pass fast, and by leaps and bounds approach one more year the first holidays of this year 2012, the Easter Halidays Week, beginning this year on Thursday the 5th of April. Because this is a very short vacation, a lot of visitors, most of them foreign people, prefer to come by plane or train and once arrived in destination, would like to rent a car.


Up to date we could see really low prices for car hire. As a tradition, many of the foreign customers have reserved their cars with a few months in advance, in order to be sure that will have a confirmed reservation and at the same time to get the best prices available. For example until only 2 weeks ago we could book a car hire at Alicante airport for less than 100 euros per week.

However, as dates are closer to the Easter Week prices begin to increase. For example now we can hire a car in Murcia from 130 euros and everything points that prices will increase as Easter holidays aproches.
But why do the prices increase?
As we already know the big majority of car hire companies renew the cars of the fleet constantly and as soon as the low season arrives they sell most of the vehicles, keeping the right number of cars for the winter season.
This year the economic situation is very dificult and finding finansation it is now a real challange for most of the companies. Beeing in this situation the companies can not renovate their fleet of vehicles. This way the big majority of car hire companies will have to resign with buying a lot less vehicles that the normally acquire buy this time.

As well is very important to point that important companies of the sector have suspended its activity as a consequence of the financial crisis in which Spain is immersed.

Conclusively, there are less car hire companies and the ones that support the pressure will a minor availability of cars for hire. This situation involves a shortage of fleet in curcial seasons like Easter Week and summer, besides a predictable rise of prices by this time.

How does this affects the travelers?
When the number of vehicles is very low, the companies have no other choice but to increase prices and many times the ones that makes last minute reservations will have to pay very high prices. This is all the way round than in a normal situation, when the last minute bookings haves special discounts.

The ones that have decided to rent their car until today, can say that they have paid a really low price for the Easter holidays. The ones that want to rent a car, it will be advisable to make theis booking now, and so will be sure they will pay a moderate price and at the same time being sure that they will have a car hire for those dates.

What about you? Are you going to risk and not hire a car until the last moment?

The Fallas of Valencia are up to begin!

From the 9th to the 19th of March is when they delebrate the famous Fallas of Valencia. The Levantine capital will be invaded by thousands of visitors searching for the smell of gunpowder, the impressive monuments, the music and the  festivities around the streets during these days.

Once again, Valencia´s streets are filled with happyness, entertainment, concerts and people looking for fun.

We´re talking about the Fallas of Valencia.

Huge cardboard monuments are erected in the middle of the streets anywhere around the city and its towns. Each year with more daring designs, always trying to satirize all kinds of topics related to politics, famous artists...

The Fallas, also known as the "Fiestas Josefinas" are held in honor of Saint Joseph, the patron saint of the carpenters. These festivities were born as a result of burning old stuff as a way of celebrating the end of the winter season and entrance of the spring season. In Valencia, the fallera capital, they last for about 1 month and they are a genuine show of color, smell of gunpowder and noise by the millions of firecrackers which are explode at all hours.

This year, despite of a budget reduction, the celebrations haven´t lowered down their level and do keep attrackting tourist from all over the world. There will be held variuos activities and music bands to entertain all visitors along the city.

This year their will be performances of many soloists and groups such as Colti, Celtas Cortos, Ariel Rot, etc. Apart from them, many other lesser-known groups will be performing as well with their own songs and with wordlwides greatest hits to encourage the atmosphere.

Of course during these days we also will be enojying of the typical Fallera music. The more than 300 bands will start touring around the streets every morning at 8 o´clock waking up everyone, forming a true spectacle all over the city.

All the Fallas are part of a competition. On the 18th of March is when a specially elected jury will decide which Falla is the best of all. Not only the Fallas will get rewarded, there will also be a reward for the best Ninot of the normal Fallas and for the infants one, which saves itself to be burned on the 19th.

During the las three days of this festivity, are taking place the Flowers offering to the Virgin. Thousands of Faller@s from all the districts give honor to The Virgin with a bouquet of flowers, and bunch to bunch they make an intense colourful mantle at the monument.

The last day of the Fallas is when they celebrate the well known Nit del Foc. Its when they celebrate the greatest pyrotechnical spectacle of Valencia. This year they expect over than 600.000 visitors to join this event. Just when finishing is when they burn all the statues, a whole year work. Many of its visitors cannot hold back their tears.

This is the moment when they start again working for the Fallas of the next year.

All the information about the Fallas for its visitors can be found at http://www.fallasfromvalencia.com/

Which is the best way to go to the Fallas?
To come and visit Valencia during these days, if you travell by plane to the capital of the Comunidad Valenciana, the best thing to do is hiring a service of car hire in Valencia to be able to move around comfortably to all the strategic points of the city during these days.

If you prefer to spend a journey through the different towns where they celebrate this festivity, its advisable to travel by plane up to Alicante Airport and hire a service of car hire in Alicante. Many villages between Alicante and Valencia are also celebrating these festivities, particularly Denia, Oliva, Gandia, Sueca...

Where about are you going to celebrate this festivity?

Tips for parking your car at Valencia airport.

How to solve the problem about where to park your car if you are planning to travel by plane from Valencia airport.

Valencia airport, not so long ago, has carried out a major renovation and expansion of its facilities. Nowadays it is becoming a very important airport, increasing its air traffic for both national and international public.


Going on holiday by plane, for a weekend or simply go out on a business trip, the easiest and most practical way to get to the airport is by taking your own car. This ensures you to get on time to check in and also you don´t depend of the public transport and its timetable.

But first and foremost, there always comes up to your mind where to leave your car during our time out.
What options do we have about parking the car at Valencia airport?
First option is parking your car in the neighbourhood of the airport. In this case you can park in any of the industrial zones that are near to the airport. You have to be aware that there is no public transport to go from there to the airport, but you can take a taxi or go walking.

What disadvantages does it has?
Having your car parked on the street in an area with much traffic activity, you never know what might happen. It might happen that they rob your car, damage it or scratch, etc. On the other hand, taking a taxi to the airport and back to your car on your way back might cost you even more than parking your car in a private parking area.

And the option about returning by foot to your car from the airport we can discard it directly, because everyone of us who travells always take with them some luggage that might weight considerably.

So....shall I park my car than at the airport parking?
Another option is parking your car directly at the parking of the airport.

One of the things to keep in mind of parking there is that our car will also be parked in a free access area. We must be aware that these parking areas are very busy areas, cars are parking there constantly, driving in and out all day, with the risk that they possibly scratch or even damage our car.

Also, you have to be aware that the price for parking there is quiet expensive. In many cases the parking at the airport of Valencia might cost you even more than what your flight ticket costs.

Regarding these options the best way to get to the airport is not driving your car, right?
No, there is a third option which is hiring a parking place through a private company near the airport.

Generally these companies offer parking in Valencia airport at a very affordable price and with delivery/collection service to the airport, which usually free of charge.

You also have to bear in mind that yo be able to leav your car parked with one of these companies, you previously must have received a confirmed your reservation. On the same confirmation voucher there will be indicated where too you have to go with your vehicle and also detailed instructions of it.

Once you get there, an employee of the company will guide you to the place where you will have to park your car and afterwards with one of the companys courtesy vehicles he will take you to the airport departure terminal.

By giving them our arrival flight number, the company will also be waiting for us at the arrival terminal with its courtesy vehicle and take us back to our car, it doesn´t matter with how many peoply we arrive and luggage bags that we have with us,

In case you want them to give your car a more special treatment, you have the possibility to hire several extras for a minimal cost, such as hiring an indoor parking place, full cleaning, etc.

And you, have you ever tried a parking place with one of these features?

Useful driving applications on your mobile telephone.

Thanks to smartphones, nowadays, can be much easier and less stressful.
For a few years now, smartphones market hasn´t stopped growing. Nowadays it is one of the most practical tools that we can have, even it´s only for pleasure or for work as well.

At the same time, developers are continues innovating and have brought ot the market many applications (apps), most of them with a very small cost and many other for free. Of course they haven´t left aside a very important group, drivers. They have created some very interesting applications that can help us, from having a more efficient driving up to find the best prices for different services.
Most interesting appliciations for a driver.

Petrol stations Spain (http://www.elandroidelibre.com/2010/04/gasolineras-de-espana-en-android-encuentra-el-mejor-precio.html)
For drivers, specially for those who do not know the road where they are going to drive to, to find a petrol station can be become sometimes something very challenging and hard to find. The application Petrol Station Spain gives you the solution. It helps you to find a petrol station and it also tells us the fuel price at all times. With this application, not only we won´t be left without fuel but also we will get the best price for it.
Find my car lite (http://es.androidzoom.com/android_applications/productivity/find-my-car-lite_gcqc.html)
We cannot leave this application out of our smartphone, when for example we are from Madrid and wish to spend some days in Murcia and we decide to hire a rental car  Murcia service or for example if we have to go on a business trip. We just have to take a picture and the applications GPS will geolocalize it. As result, the application returns a display where by following the arrows it will automatically lead us to our car.

RACE Road Safety (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/seguridad-vial-race/id417023027?mt=8&ls=1)
This application is one of the most complete ones. It offers information about fixed speed cams, speed limit across Europe, petrol stations, phone numbers of interes, parkings...
This application in addition relies on an option that, by means of videoes and instructions, in allows to mount the chains in our vehicle in case its necessary and also to denounce bad road conditions or its bad signposting.
POPGOM (http://itunes.apple.com/es/app/popgom-compra-tus-neumaticos/id372795843?mt=8)
This application can be very helpfuñ in case we need to change our tyres. We only need to introduce the measures, select the desired model between its offers and make an privious appointment with one of the concertated garages. We can do this all through the own application without having to call anyone, send e-mails or whatever.

iVia DGT (http://itunes.apple.com/es/app/ivia-dgt/id361393725?mt=8)
Traffic-jams are part of our day to day are oftently the consequence of getting late to an apointment, meeting or even lose our plane. This application will help us to pick the best route because it shows us the traffic incidents throughout Spain collected by the DGT. We just have to accept the warning that the app whishes to use our current location and we will get the current traffic information 24 hours a day.

Every day new applications are coming out on the market, more practicals and innovatives than its predecessors.

And you? what applications are you using in your day to day that makes driving easier to you?


VictoriaCars
Car hire Alicante Airport
http://www.victoriacars.com/
www.facebook.com/victoriarentacar

Where to park your car when you travel from Alicante airport?

When we go on holidays by air plane we always have the inconvenience that we don´t know where to leave our car during the period that we are out, because we normally use the car only to get to the airport and to go back home.

 

Always when we have to travel we have the same inconvenience. We arrive at the airport by car and we don´t know where to leave it.

  

In many of the Spanish airports, near their terminals, we can find industrial areas or a nearby town where we can park and leave our car. In these cases we can easely find a parking place in the street and leave it there until we return from our holiday. But near the Alicante airpoort we do not have this option, there is no nearby town or industrial area, so our options are greatly reduced.

 

The most common option is parking your vehicle on the airport´s public parking. The main advantage of this is that you can park your car for sure and you can go directly to the gate.

  

But, what inconveniences does it has?
Among its major drawbacks the fact is that this parking area is not completely closed and private and of course the price, which is quite high.

 

What problem does this parking has for not being a private area?
At Alicante airport parking, thousands of people are walking dayly through it, and likewise, hundreds of cars are parking at its facilities.

 

Most of these stayings are for less than one hour. Small damages to your car should be also taken into considerations because of the high number of cars that parks in the area. Beside, if the driver who ran into our car doesn´t leave any message or note, it will be very dificult to find out who did it, since the parking area is not monitored.

 

What about the airport parking price, is it a reasonable price
Another aspect to consider is the high price that they charge you. Parking at Alicante airport costs 18,30€/day and if we leave our car for longer than 5 days the dayly price reduces to 14,65€. Quit expensive.

 

Another option is to hire a parking place with any of the many companies specialized in offering this service.

 

These companies are in the vicinity of the airport. They tend to have very spacious plots devoted exclusively for short and long parking stayments

 

I am a user of a short or long period stayment?
Short stayments users are normally customers who must travel by plane from Alicante airport and only dispose about their own vehicle to get to the airport. That´s why they have to leave parked their car for a few days until they come back from their trip and be able to collect it at the airport when they return.

 

Long stayments users are normally customers who spend long periods of time in their country of origin as well as here in Spain, that´s why they prefer having their vehicle parked safely near the airport. It is also the perfect place to leave for example your caravan, trucks or buses which are not going to be used for a long period of time, without involving to a great expense for the owner.

 

Is it cheaper than parking at the airport?
Of course it is. For example parking your car near Alicante airport for one week can cost you meaby 25€ or a long period stayment for one year may cost you about 320€.

 

What services should a parking company include at the airport?

• Because of being located at some distance from the airport, we must pay attention when making the booking and make sure that the transport from and too the airport is included in the price. There are many companies who don´t inlcude this service in there rental parking price and offer it as an additional price.
• By leaving our flight number we will ensure that there will be a courtesy car from the company waiting for us to take us from and too the airport. This way our effor will be minimal and the displacement to the Terminal on foot will even be less than if we park our vehicle directly at the airport parking.
• Normally, the company does not move the customer´s vehicle, the customer is the one who parks the vehicle and take the keys with him. They do offer the service so that you can leave your keys there until you come back, in case there is a mishap and your car needs to be moved.
• The area is guarded 24 hours a day. It is not a busy parking area where hundreds of people or vehicles passes through every day.
• All vehicles entering the premises have a register, as well as they are guided up to his concerted parking place.
• Some companies do also offer free car cleaning service or for a very low cost, as well as car covers or closed enclosures to protect even more your vehicle at an additional price.

 

Can you think of any better idea where to leave your car when you go on holidays by plane?

Google maps launches a new service of traffic information and forecast.

Google launches in Spain and in other 12 European countries a traffic information and forecasting service which can help us to avoid traffic jams.

"I have an emergency and I have to get urgently to the airport, which route shall I take? I take my cell phone and call to the Traffic Information Centre and ask them for the shortest route that has no traffic jam. Let me know once you have the information, or "I´ve just arrived at the airport, I´ve hired a car in Madrid and I need to go to the centre of the city, will there be any traffic jams? will I get on time to my meeting?"

From now on this want be necessary anymore. Goolge Maps launched in Spain and in other 12 European countries a traffic information service almost in real time. Just need to make a small query and we will know exactly which is our best route.

At the moment this service is not yet "in real-time", but the information that you receive is updated every 5 or 10 minutes, so you can alomost consider it as a "real time information".

Another interesting option is when we are planning our trip we can make a traffic forecast. This option is based on collected and filtered past information at the same date and time, so it can gives you this way a similar prediction.

Information can be viewed through our personal computer or through any mobile device that supports Google Maps, only by selecting the Traffic option. Immediatly there will apear on the motorway different colour marks like green, orange red and dark red meaning the flow of the traffic in that particular area.

Every day that passes by, the software giant is more familiar to us and it provides us more and more aplications that makes our daily lives more easier.

VictoriaCars
Car Hire Alicante Airport

http://www.victoriacars.com/
http://www.facebook.com/victoriarentacar

Victoria Parking will soon present its new web reservation site

Victoria Parking presents its new booking web site for parking service in the main spanish airports such as Barcelona, Valencia and Alicante.



Once we have decided where to spend our hollidays, we have our plane tickets and when almost everything is organized, there comes up one of the most important questions before leaving: "Once at the airport, where can I leave my car while I´m gone? will it be safe leaving it in a public parking area? Victoria Parking is the perfect answer to this question, with over 8 years since they opened for the first time in Alicante Airport, with its own private parking area next to the airport.

You park your car in a secure and always supervised area. But not only that, also our 24 hour a day transfer to and from the airport are included in the service.

After several years of providing this service of parking at the Alicante Airport - El Altet and due to a great success, the company decides to open new parking facilities. First, opening a new parking at Valencia Airport and Parking at Barcelona airport after only one year. Currently, bookings are made either by telephone or online with immediate confirmation.

To provide a better service to the customer, the company decides to release a new web site, making it much easier when browsing, booking and expanding the information on each destination. With the new web site they expect to increase the number of bookings and to increase the average of occupancy in less than 3 months.
"The number of parking places will soon be increased as they are now carrying out extension work at all airports" says Antonio Pons communications manager at Victoria Parking.

"Within our business strategy and according to our expansion plans, soon we will open new facilities at the airport of Madrid, offering the same personalized service", reafirms Antonio Pons

Victoria Parking belongs to VictoriaCars, car rental company with more than 25 years of experience, being a car rental supplier in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Alicante and Murcia and from their web site and through its partners anywhere over the world.

Visit our web site http://www.victoria-parking.com/ for more information about Parking at Alicante airport, Valencia and Barcelona.

Tell us where you want to go and VictoriaCars will find you a car.

VictoriaCars launched their new campaign to promote the expansion of its online reservation system to all national and international destinations.



From March, VictoriaCars can reserve you a hire car anywhere in the world.

VictoriaCars has undertaken a major change in their booking system including the possibility of offering a car hire Alicante service, car hire in Mallorca, Ibiza, Canaries ... and in all possible destinations within the nation.

But in addition, it is also possible to search for the cheapest car through its reservation system, anywhere in Europe: car hire in Paris, Car rental in London, Rome or Berlin…

And if the client requires, Victoria can also find a rental car overseas, its service offering car hire in the USA, car hire in Cuba, Mexico, Santo Domingo or any destination in South America.

"And it doesn’t stop at these destinations. The company has reached important agreements with suppliers across the globe in order to provide a car service and quality affordable car rentals anywhere in the world", said Teresa Martínez, Communications Manager at Victoria Rent-A-Car.
"We go where the customer wants, including recent growth destinations like Egypt, Tunisia ... We are looking for a rental car in Thailand, India and China ... in short, our new range of destinations is so broad that really we draw the line where the customer draws it."

Changes in the booking tool

To support all these new destinations, the company has had to redesign its booking tool. Using the latest methods, within the tourism sector, they have launched a system capable of connecting VictoriaCars with suppliers spread throughout the world, with the ultimate aim of seeking the most economical car in the destination selected by the customer.

"All the user has to do is type the name of the destination they want to go. The booking tool will show all the destinations that match the text they have entered. You select the correct destination, dates of collection and delivery and, from then on, the search engine is programmed to show the customer all the potential offers sorted by price, from most to least economical. ", Teresa Martínez said.

For more information please visit www.victoriacars.com

For one more year, Valencia have started setting up the Fallas of Valencia

Las Fallas are to be celebrated for another year in the majority of the cities within the Comunitat Valenciana. The ‘falleros’ have already started preparations; setting up the statues that will be burned on the night of March 19th.

Life and colour in the street, the sound of rockets and firecrackers everywhere, "mascletás" (firework displays), parades ... are the traditional Valencian Fallas that will shortly be celebrated for another year during the week of March 19th.

Celebrating San José, the patron saint of carpenters, Las Fallas result from the simple burning of the carpenters waste; but the inventiveness of Valencia has managed to turn it into a celebration and a very important tourist attraction.

It can be considered as a Valencian carnival, with the caricatures that become cadafals (monuments) and burned the night of March 19th. Each committee (Fallero) places a monument in a street and enters a contest whereby "the best Falla" will be rewarded with the benefit of being the last to burn during the night of the “Cremá”.

This year, the Falleros have already begun to assemble their giant statues to assure that everything will be ready for this weekend.

Although there are still days left, the events and celebrations have already begun. More than 2,000 children have participated in the Children's Parade - “Ninot” where the princesses of old, magic and traditional Valencian clothing were the protagonists.

For anyone who has a week off and want to visit Valencia in Fallas, here we offer you the program of events:

Monday March 14, 2011
Mascletá; The Portuguese at 14:00 pm in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento.
Closure of the Children’s Exhibition of Ninot at 15:00 pm.

Tuesday March 15, 2011
Setting up of all the Children's Fallas at 8:00 pm.
Mascletá; Firework display of Valencia at 14:00 in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento.
Ninot Exhibition Closes at 18 hours.
At 0:00 pm, Castle Firework display by Turis.

Wednesday March 16, 2011
Plant all the Fallas at 08:00 am.
Mascletá; By Turis at 14:00 pm in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento.
Awards ceremony for the Children’s Fallas and other related items at 16:30.
At 1:00 am, fireworks display by the Focs d'Artifice Europlá.

Thursday March 17, 2011
Awards ceremony for the Fallas and other related items 09:30 hours.
Mascletá; Focs d'Artifice Europlá at 14:00 pm in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento.
Offering of Flowers to the Virgin of the Helpless from 16:00.
At 1:00 am, Castle Firework display by Caballer.

Friday March 18, 2011
Tribute to the poet Maximilian Thouscon at 11:00 with Traca Valencian fireworks.
Tribute to the poet Maestro Serrano at 12:00 with Mascletá Valenciana fireworks.
Mascletá Caballer at 14:00 in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento.
Offering of Flowers to the Virgin of the Helpless from 16:00.
At 1:30 am, Castle Firework display by Ricardo Caballer.

Saturday March 19, 2011
Offering of Flowers at the Bridge of San Jose before the image of the Patriarch by the eldest of the Valencian Falleros and their Courts at 11:00.
Mass in honor of the Patriarch San Jose at 12:00 pm in the Cathedral of Valencia.
Mascaletá; Ricardo Caballer at 14:00 in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento.
Fire Parade at 19:00.
Cremá of the Children's Fallas at 22:00.
Cremá of the Children’s First Prize winning Falla at 22:30.
Cremá of the Children’s Falla at the Town Hall Square at 23:00.
Cremá of all Fallas at 00:00 hours.
Cremá of the first prize falla at 00:30.
Cremá of the Falla in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento at 01:00 hours with Aerial Fire Pyrotechnics by Rich.


To give it a different and authentic touch they could not miss out the fireworks, where many companies are riding in trucks full of fireworks that will shoot up before the Cremá, not counting the thousands operated by the hands of ordinary citizens.

Getting to Valencia



The most comfortable, and taking advantage of the ample supply at this time; is to travel to Valencia by plane. Once in Valencia, the best option in order not to miss a single Falla is to rent a car at the airport. An internet recruiting service for car hire in Valencia, car hire Madrid, etc is a simple and inexpensive process.

Another possibility is to drive to the city with your own vehicle and keep it in a parking Valencia service and get around the city by public transport.

For more information please visit www.victoriacars.com

Alicante Carnival, the most open and democratic carnival starts on the 3rd March.

Alicante’s carnivals are one of the most emblematic festivals of this city. From the 3rd to the 9th March, the city will be filled with colour and festive atmosphere in every corner.
The city of Alicante can already taste the approaching carnival air. As every year, Alicante is preparing for one of its most traditional and re-enacted festivals for decades.

The Alicante Carnival is one of the most attractive within the Spanish scene. This carnival has been mainly characterized by being one of the biggest, most open and participatory. Anyone can participate; you do not need to be part of any group or pay any fees. It is not a marketed carnival as it is not supported by any sponsorship or commercial firms.

In short, the carnival is original, created by the citizens and for the citizens.

Original elements of the Alicante Carnival

Urban Archaeology: fleeting costumes are worn from different areas of the city, initially as a form of protest. In some places this is known as urban interventions
School Archaeologies: Schools are transformed into a carnival theme.
Carnival Banners: Transient canvas paintings are located in the streets.
Carnival cars: Satires represented on the Carnival’s Friday by carnival groups and clubs in different areas.
Fat Thursday (Dijous Gras): Preheating the start of the ritual under fire, fat and wine.
Ramblero Saturday: La Rambla de Alicante, the cities avenue par excellence becomes a great masquerade.
Tuesday (Mardi Gras): Carnival summary trial by the authorities and a procession with drums and fire through the narrow streets of Casco Antiguo (Jui d'en Carnestoltes i Processó bubbler).
Burial of the Sardine: Ash Wednesday. The different penitential fraternities and sororities of the carnival form the procession of the beautiful fish in the Casco Antiguo to its incineration.
Piñata Sunday: A celebration for the children in the morning.
Veterans Dance: designated for the elderly.


Travel to Alicante Carnival

Victoria Rent a Car is a renowned company within the car rental industry at airports, as is confirmed by their services in Alicante; and at other major airports such as their car hire Madrid, Car Rental Barcelona ...

So to enjoy the carnival and move freely through the city, there’s nothing better than to book a rental car.

If travelling by plane from another Spanish city, it's best to leave your car in a parking facility at the airport. In this way, when you return, all you have to do is pick up your car and continue, without relying on taxis or family, etc.

The Dec. 16 Victoria opened a new parking in Barcelona, with the aim of offering a parking service for travellers taking a plane; a service, of course, cheaper than the airport itself.

Victoria also has parking at Alicante and Valencia airport service.

For more information please visit http://www.victoriacars.com

VictoriaCars now offers car hire services in Seville and Malaga

From January VictoriaCars have been offering their services of car hire at Seville airport, thus following his philosophy of national expansion.
VictoriaCars has opened its car rental service in Seville and expanded their services in Malaga. This new inauguration confirms the philosophy of this company whose objective is to offer a car hire service at low prices at major airports in Spain.

With an experience of over 25 years in the industry, VictoriaCars began its journey through the 80's. In a short space of time it spread along the Costa Blanca, settling in major tourist attractions such as Denia, Torrevieja, Moraira ...

VictoriaCars adapts to changes in the sector

The emergence of low cost airlines boosted the changes to forms of travel.

Soon, most tourists who had once travelled from their own countries of origin with their own vehicles changed their mode of transport to by plane. This promoted the need to provide airports with large fleets of rental vehicles so these tourists could reach their final destination and travel comfortably during their stay.

This change of situation was quickly detected by VictoriaCars. To achieve greater customer satisfaction, the company decided to expand their car rental service throughout major airports in the Spanish territory: Alicante, Valencia, Murcia, Barcelona, Madrid ...

And with that same objective they have recently opened an office at both Seville and Malaga airport

VictoriaCars is confident that the opening of this new office will meet the needs of every client that requires a car rental Malaga or Seville airport.

More services at airports

Victoria Rent a Car is renowned within the parking service industry at airports and this is confirmed by their valet parking at the airports in Alicante and Valencia.


On the 16th of December Victoria Parking opened their new parking in Barcelona, in order to provide parking service for travellers going to take a plane that is cheaper than the airport itself.

For more information please visit http://www.victoriacars.com

VictoriaCars gives a positive report from their attendance at Fitur 2011.

Fitur 2011 has closed its doors for another year. This international tourism fair held in Madrid, has served as a bridge for VictoriaCars to get in touch with the major players in the car rental sector in Spain.

All agents attending this meeting; the celebration of the 31st edition of Fitur in Madrid, agree that it has been a resounding success. All factors involved in the tourism sector are pushing for a major comeback in the sector for the coming season in 2011.

Operators and representatives of the tourism industry, nationally and internationally, came together at this fair. The objectives; to network, negotiate and conduct business.

With these same goals came VictoriaCars to Fitur 2011, as a participant on the Costa Blanca Stand, in particular the Calpe City Council Stand. Attendance at this event has enabled them to present to the sector its new car hire in Barcelona and car hire in Madrid airport services, two of the destinations with the biggest boom in the market today.

Internet and the tourism industry

If something has been really evident in this edition of Fitur, it was the importance of the role that the Internet plays in the tourism sector. The social networking revolution has dominated this sector impressively.


Among the tourists who use the Internet to prepare their holidays in Spain, 96.1% used it to search for information about the destination, while 67.2% consulted the Internet to make their reservation on line (survey of tourist movements in Spain).

VictoriaCars; aware from the beginning of the changes in this regard, have already been underway with a major presence within social networks, with their Facebook account (http://www.facebook.com/victoriarentacar), Twitter (http://twitter.com/VictoriaCars), their journalistic contributions to blogs (http://alquiler-coches-victoriacars.blogspot.com/) and multimedia forays through Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/victoriacar) not to mention their participation in forums and social networks from the tourism industry, in its eagerness to bring the company closer to its customers.

How to book a hire car in Spain when you’re younger than 25 years old.

The vast majority of Car hire companies limit their services to only drivers who are older than 25 years of age. What are the motives behind this restriction?

You get to 18 years old and finally you can start to travel without the need to be accompanied by your parents.

You start to prepare what will be your first holiday as an adult; where to go, accommodation, how to get there and in most cases how to get around and get the most out of your stay once you get to your destination… but alas, the last part isn’t an option.

Being an adult does not imply that you have the experience and responsibility necessary for a car hire company to confide in your skills as a new driver, in fact, booking a car with most car hire companies is only available to those who are older than 24; but why is this restriction in place?

Is it legal to prohibit hiring a car to under 25’s?

According to the consumer associations, it is illegal for a company to not want to hire somebody a car due to the age of the driver, yet these hire car companies feel they need to have this restriction in place, why?

It’s very simple; the car hire companies are not directly responsible for this restriction. In the majority of cases it is the insurance companies that don’t offer cover for cars driven by under 25’s.

The same occurs when insuring your own vehicle, the age and experience of the driver are the basic factors that affect the cover of the insurance. Most insurance companies don’t want to run the risk of covering new drivers, even less when the car isn’t their own, and thus, not their responsibility.

So for these motives, the majority of services of car hire in Murcia, Madrid, Alicante etc. will not let you book if the drivers age is not over 24 years old.

Some companies offer the solution

Conscious of the problem imposed on an important area of their potential customers, some car hire companies have decided to offer an intermediate solution.

After arriving to an agreement with their insurance companies, they will now accept reservations for new drivers but only by contracting an additional insurance for under 25’s or for those who have had their driving licence less than 2 years.

VictoriaCars has assumed this initiative.

The national Spanish car hire company Victoria Cars has put into motion this new feature for their services of car hire in Madrid, Murcia, Alicante… with the aim of not leaving any customer without a hire car.

More information at http://www.victoriacars.com

VictoriaCars, pioneers in the launch of the OTA-XML technology for its car hire services in Alicante Airport, Murcia...

With this new system, the pursued objective by VictoriaCars is to speed up their car hire Alicante Airport, Murcia services when a reservation is made through an agency.

This technology enables the computer servers at Victoria Rent a Car and at the agency’s to communicate with out the need of any human interaction and always in real-time, eliminating any waiting times that would be caused if the reservations where made under human management.

What is the OTA-XML standard?

XML is a language used to distribute information and OTA is the standard of communication for booking tourism accommodation, allowing businesses to perform bookings through electronic transaction for hotels, airlines, car hire, loyalty marketing, etc. with other tourism businesses, automatically and unattended.

OTA is the standard for sharing information between reservation systems, and the Open Travel Alliance (OTA) association is the one who defines these standards.

It is a non-profit and self-financing organisation that includes large air lines, hotels, car hire companies, leisure providers, travel agents, GDS, technology providers and others that work to create and put into service e-business specifications for the entire tourism industry.

These specifications form a common language aimed at encouraging e-business system development to create new services that can better attend the demand and expectations of travellers and the travel industry.

How does this benefit the customer?

At present you can solicit, for example, services for a car hire Murcia from VictoriaCars website or also from the website of any of the agencies that collaborate with them.

If the reservation were to be made through VictoriaCars website, the communication between the website and the server would be done in real-time, so that immediately after making the reservation, the customer receives an e-mail confirmation.

However, if the booking was made through the website of one of the agencies, this would have been remitted to VictoriaCars manually for its validation, and the confirmation process on VictoriaCars part was also done manually. Due to this, the time it took to receive an answer confirming the reservation to the customer sometimes surpassed 12 hours, with the consequent discomfort that this put upon the customer.

With the implantation of the new OTA-XML technology the problem disappears completely. Thanks to this technology the computer servers at VictoriaCars and those of the agents are able to interact directly, without any human intervention.

Thus, when a customer solicits a booking through an agencies website for, for example, car hire Alicante Airport services, the computer servers will contact each other through XML in order to confirm the reservation in real-time.

For more information please visit http://www.victoriacars.com