Frequently asked questions

Because a price that is real depends on the dates. Season Car Rental quotes each car against the specific days you want it, so what comes back is one inclusive figure rather than a from-price with conditions underneath. VAT, a daily mileage allowance, comprehensive insurance and delivery anywhere in London are already inside that figure, and nothing is added afterwards unless a charge on the rental agreement has genuinely been incurred.

No. You give us the dates, what the hire is for and how to reach you, pick a car, and we come back with a figure for that vehicle on those days. Nothing is charged and no card is asked for at that stage. If you would rather talk it through than type it in, ring 0207 046 0048.

A deposit places a reservation request against a specific car and specific dates, and the balance is due at delivery, before the keys change hands. The deposit is not an extra charge — it comes off the total. Card payments are handled by our payment provider on their own hosted page, so card details never reach our servers, and a reservation request is confirmed by a person before it becomes a booking.

Yes, and for anything happening in the next day or two it is the better option. Ring 0207 046 0048 — Monday to Saturday, 06:00 to 23:00, with Sunday by appointment — and whoever answers can see what is free rather than emailing you back about it.

A specific car. You pick the vehicle, we price that vehicle for your dates, and that is the one that arrives. Where a booking is made a long way ahead we confirm the exact car nearer the date. Viewings are by appointment at Battersea if you would rather see it before you decide.

You are offered an equivalent or better vehicle at no extra cost, or refunded in full. We hold a fleet rather than one of each, which is the practical reason a replacement is usually the same class rather than a step down — but if the substitute is not acceptable to you, the money comes back rather than the argument starting.

Yes, and it is one booking rather than several. A wedding party, a film unit move, a delegation arriving on the same flight — all of them are coordinated by one person holding the whole timetable, so you have one number to ring rather than four. Wedding car hire in London is the version of this we do most often.

Yes. Alongside the saloons and the 4x4s there are seven-seaters and people carriers: the Mercedes V-Class takes eight, the EQV is the same shape and electric, and the Vito takes nine — which is often the number that decides whether a group travels in one vehicle or two. Tell us how many people and how many cases, because seats and luggage are two different numbers.

Anywhere in London, at no charge — delivery sits inside the quoted figure rather than on top of it. A house, an office, a hotel forecourt or an airport terminal are all the same booking. Outside London it is quoted per journey inside the same total, so there is still only one number to look at.

Yes, from Battersea or Heathrow. Those are the two pickup points, and one is chosen when you book rather than on the day. Everywhere else in London is delivery and costs nothing extra, so collecting in person is worth doing only if it genuinely suits you better.

Between 06:00 and 23:00, Monday to Saturday. Sunday is by appointment. Those are the hours the phone is answered and the hours the diary runs to, so anything outside them is arranged in advance rather than assumed. The hour matters as much as the date when we are scheduling, so give us both.

We collect it, from wherever in London the hire finished — it does not have to go back where it started. If you collected in person you can return it to Battersea or Heathrow instead. The time and the address are agreed when you book, and the collection is inside the quoted price the same way the delivery was.

It depends on the car. For most of the fleet the driver must be aged 25 to 70 with a full licence held three years; for supercars and premium luxury vehicles it is 30 to 70 with a licence held five years. There is no single number, because two tiers sit behind two different insurance policies. Which one applies to the car you are looking at is confirmed when you enquire, and the licence is checked at handover rather than taken on trust. Self-drive prestige car hire goes into it in more detail.

Hire the same car chauffeured — there is no age or licence requirement when somebody else is driving. That is the answer for a driver under 25, for a newly qualified driver, for anyone over 70, and for a visitor whose licence is not straightforward. The car is still the one you wanted; the only difference is who is sitting in the front.

Yes, named at booking and insured on the same basis as you. They bring the same three documents to the handover — a full licence, a proof of address and a payment card, all three in their own name — and they have to meet the tier for that car. Anybody who has not been named and checked is not insured, and driving on that basis voids the cover entirely.

Comprehensive insurance is included in every hire, chauffeured or self-drive, and it is inside the quoted figure rather than sold on top of it. What varies by car is the excess — what you are liable for if something happens — which is set per vehicle, written on the rental agreement you sign before collection, and reducible if you would rather it were lower. It is worth reading at the door rather than afterwards.

The car arrives fuelled, and the fuel policy for that vehicle is written on the rental agreement before you sign it — there is no surcharge invented at the end. The congestion charge and ULEZ are a separate matter: the vehicle is registered to Season Car Rental, so Transport for London bills us, and how that is passed on is set out in the same document. Ask when you book, because it varies with the car you take.

Chauffeured if the day is a list of appointments, if there is drinking involved, or if parking where you are going is the actual problem — which in central London it usually is. Self-drive if the driving is the point: a weekend out of the city, a Defender pointed at Scotland, an empty A-road on a Sunday morning. The same cars go out both ways, so it is a question about the day rather than about the fleet.

Yes, and most corporate bookings are made that way — by an assistant or an office manager, and by hotels and private offices for their guests. We need to know who is travelling and, for self-drive, who is actually driving, because the licence check is against the driver rather than the person who paid. Say so at the enquiry and the paperwork is built around it.

Usually, and the sooner the better — the constraint is drivers rather than cars. Ring 0207 046 0048 rather than emailing, because whoever answers can see the rota. The driver is added as its own line on top of the vehicle, so you see the two figures separately before anything is agreed.

Usually, if the car is free on the new ones. Tell us as early as you can: while the vehicle is still uncommitted it is a phone call, and once it is not it becomes a conversation about a different car. Ring 0207 046 0048 — a date change is not something to leave sitting in an inbox.

You can cancel, and what comes back depends on how close to the hire you are. The terms are set out in the Terms and Conditions you accept when you book and are confirmed in writing with your quote — read that rather than a summary of it, because that is the document that governs it. The principle underneath is simple enough: close to the date, the car has been held out of service for you and cannot be re-let.

Ring us. An extension depends on whether the car is booked after you, and it is often possible if you ask before the last day rather than on it. A shortened hire is handled against the agreement you signed. Either way the change goes in writing rather than being settled at the roadside.

You are offered an equivalent or better vehicle at no extra cost, or refunded in full. That is the practical argument for hiring from a company that holds a fleet rather than one car of each type — a mechanical problem the week of a wedding becomes a different car of the same class, rather than a phone call you can do nothing with.