HIRE-FALUTIN

Not all hire cars are created equal. John Evans samples a higher class of rental 

- John Evans

Think rental car and ranks of mainstream hatchbacks spring to mind - vanilla vehicles for that quick business trip or short break and, when finished with, discarded like a spent coffee cup. Not all rental cars are the same, however. In addition to the Picantos, Qashqais and the rest, some of the major rental companies can supply more upmarket vehicles, although, as I found, availability can be touch and go and you may simply be offered 'something similar.

Fortunately, this is not the case with Avis Prestige, a specialist in supplying high-value rental cars at most of the major airports as well as from its central London base. At any time, its cars include Volvos, Mercedes, Audis, Land Rovers, Range Rovers and Jaguars, plus a tempting selection of Porsches. Some of the cars, typically Volvos and Audis, you're more likely to see among the bread-and-butter rentals at, for example, Avis's Heathrow depot where, away from the economy-class travellers being served at the regular booking terminals, Prestige customers enjoy their own reception area. Whether they choose to hire a Mercedes CLA Shooting Brake or a Porsche 911, they receive the same high level of service, including a personal 'meet and greet' on arrival.

The company's more upmarket vehicles tend to be delivered to where customers want them. For this reason, with only 350 cars available for the UK (to put that into context, on a typical day Avis Heathrow has around 500 regular rentals on site), spotting something such as an Avis Prestige 911 parked among the Corsas and Golfs at Heathrow, Manchester or Edinburgh airports is a job for a plane spotter.