Car Rental Review - Hertz Malta Airport (MLA) - Hyundai i20

Hertz Malta Airport (MLA)

Rating

3.0/5

Flyctory.com Pros

Good car
Friendly staff

Flyctory.com Cons

Extremely accurate damage analysis at return
Odd way from terminal to rental location

My wife and I spent the prolonged Easter weekend 2022 in Malta. To get around the small island, we went for a car rental with Hertz, my preferred rental company, at their airport office. Some explicit experience, which I will tell you about in this review.

Hertz Malta Airport (MLA) – The Rental

I booked a Hyundai i20 class car for four days at Hertz, Malta Airport (MLA) office. The prepaid rate (which you are still able to cancel) at Hertz for these four days, including basic insurance, was 119.68 EUR. Super Cover would have been 25.96 EUR per day, but my credit card is covering CDW.

Hertz Malta Airport (MLA) – Location & Office

The rental car offices at Malta Airport (MLA) are located in the parking garage next to the terminal. However, the signs to the offices are a bit of poor, you need to enter through a door at the corner of the garage and then take the elevator (once you found the right door, signs are fine again). There are quite a bunch of car rental companies at the same place. The cars are parked in the parking garage.

Hertz Malta Airport (MLA) – Receiving The Car

Despite being a Five Star member, there was no upgrade on the car. The Hyundai i20 had a low mileage, but despite that, some quite decent hits on the drivers side. Overall, the rental process was smooth. The customer manager was very friendly. I did check the car for additional damages, but could not spot any.

Hertz Malta Airport (MLA) – Returning The Car

Returning the car was a bit of a shocker. The Hertz staff checked the car in a way I have never seen before, using a torch and even looking underneath the car. They spotted a scratch on the driver’s door, similar to a typical parking lot door hit. You cannot see that without really putting light directly on it. They also wanted to claim another damage on that door, but I could proof that that this damage existed on the door already at rental. Nonetheless, they insisted on a damage of 250 Euro. As I haven’t seen the scratch when renting the car, I had no other option than to agree on the damage. The damage handling thereafter went quite smoothly.

The Car – Hyundai i20

Apart from that incident, I really loved driving around Malta with the i20. There are quite some narrow streets on the island, so that I would not recommend to go for a too large (especially: too wide) car. The car is just sufficient to hold two very large suitcases. I also liked that it came with automatic transmission, which I prefer when driving on the (for me: less familiar) left-hand side. The mileage of the car at rental was 3,300 km.

Hertz Malta Airport (MLA) – My View

Let’s first look at the facts: the rental handling worked smoothly, the car was good – the signing of the the rental car facility from the airport is a bit of odd and also requires a strange route, especially if you have luggage. Overall, it would be a good rental.

But then there is the damage on the door. I read a lot of similar reviews using words like “scam” or “fraud”. I cannot proof that, so I cannot state it. Hertz Malta has very competitive pricing. If you rent them, play their game. Have a very detailed check of the car when you receive it – and note every minor damage you see. Finally, the rules are the same everywhere: if there is a damage on the car at return which you did not claim at rental, its yours. It is only the exactness they do these checks with, especially at the end of rental. I would have not expected this highly detailed level of checking the car with a Hertz outlet. Thus, I would personally not want to be part of the game with Hertz Malta any more and go for another rental provider.