Thrifty Anmeldelser 

Thrifty scammed us out of over £200 when picking up our car at Malaga Airport by claiming g that booking through Ryanair left our family insufficiently covered in case of accident. They claimed UK companies 'do this a lot' by offering poor coverage and are 'just an agent, your money was just their fees not proper insurance'. As it was midnight, with family and an hour to drive, my husband signed so we could get the car. We realised only later that this is a common scam. We have made a formal complaint to Thrifty Spain who said as we signed the form to say we understood the terms and agreed the costs, they are not liable. As this was obtained by deception, I am posting here to say DO NOT use them! Effectively we paid twice for car hire. Ryanair car booking team has not yet responded. Someone is lying, it's not us, so who is?!

Beware!!!
Thrifty Malaga Airport
I brought the car back with full petrol tank and no damage as reviewed by the guy who took it in
We paid in full for the car before we arrived in Spain
When we returned to the UK they put a charge of €509 through on my credit card, no receipt, no explanation
This is a scam BEWARE
There is numerous complaints online from people with a similar experience
The number you are given to contact their office at Malaga airport just cuts off or if get you through they put the phone down
My bank are now looking into this but my advise is avoid dealing with Thrifty at Malaga Airport they are thieves!

Stay away at all costs.. car returned perfectly on time with full fuel tank.. held 1200 on my credit card although said it woukd accept visa on ts and cs. Got home charged 235 next day.. Have rang sent messages looked for breakdown of charges 2 days 10 emails and 2 phone calls later no help customer service doesn’t exist… stay away

Miss sold premium insurance cover and thrifty wont accept responsibility or refund my £140!!
When collecting the car from alicante airport we told them we had our own insurance and didnt require any extra. They assured us the charge on the credit card was if we didnt return the car full of petrol,which we did, with this we signed and agreed to return full as we have many times before with other companies.
However this was not the case the charge was for insurance as we signed they are refusing to return the money we actually never agreed to pay as the person miss sold to us.
I have emailed multiple times and they just send back the same email. They are now completely ignoring my emails.
Absolutely disgusting customer service!!
Which is a shame as the car we rented from them was a great car and made our holiday journeys lovely and comfortable.

Ja haben wir viele andere hier das Auto über CHECK24 gebucht. Bei der Abholung in Alicante wurde ich schon von einem einheimischen gewarnt, dass man extrem aufpassen muss was das Thema Schäden angeht. Unser Auto wurde von der Mitarbeiterin schlecht geredet und wir sollten ein größeres für 30 € pro Tag dazu buchen. Zusätzlich hat man uns unter Druck gesetzt bezüglich einer Versicherung, die wir dann am Ende des Tages noch zusätzlich abgeschlossen haben. Ich habe noch nie so schlechte Erfahrung mit einer Autovermietung gemacht. Am Samstag geben wir das Fahrzeug zurück, ich bin gespannt, ob es reibungslos klappt oder ob uns wie auch in anderen Bewertung hier dargestellt noch Gelder vorenthalten werden. Ich verstehe nicht, warum CHECK24 mit solchen Autovermietung zusammenarbeitet. Viele versteckte Kosten

When returning the car, the staffmember instantly, like literally, immediately walked towards the left mirror and pointed out a scratch on the top of it.
After that she walked one quick round and didn't thoroughly check anything else. She literally didn't check at all.
We know ourselves well as drivers. We would have remembered scratching this mirror. Sadly we made a video of the entire car, except for on top of the mirror.
All in all, it seemed to us that this was a clear set up. We have heard this before about carrentals, including thrifty. We are convinced that this is how they make an extra buck, as their cars are super cheap to rent. It's just super shady.
But of course, we can't prove anything.
Hopefully we can just warn others and urge to make a good video video of everything!

Scammers.

Do not choose thrifty through a third party site.

Steal money from your card without authorisation or explanation.

Staff are horrible, rude and deceitful

Dropped car back. Then we were billed €200 + vat for a deep cleaning fee after we had left bougainvillea petals in the boot.
Absolute rip off and an unauthorised charge that I will be contesting.
Don’t be fooled by the cheap prices, they are a scam.

⚠️ ESTAFA Y COACCIÓN AL TURISTA: El timo del seguro duplicado (Thrifty Barcelona T2 & DoYouSpain)Quiero advertir a todos los viajeros para que eviten a Thrifty Car Rental en el Aeropuerto de Barcelona (T2) y a su intermediario DoYouSpain. Utilizan prácticas comerciales agresivas, rozando la ilegalidad, para duplicarte los costes en el mostrador mediante coacción.El modus operandi de la estafa:Contraté y prepagué un alquiler completo con DoYouSpain por 315,06 €. El bono especificaba claramente que solo se requería un bloqueo de franquicia de 1.000 € en el mostrador.Al llegar a la oficina de Thrifty, presenté mi tarjeta con fondos más que suficientes. El agente se negó sistemáticamente a realizar la retención de la fianza, utilizando el miedo y alegando falsamente que el coche "no estaba cubierto" si no contrataba su propio seguro.Bajo una coacción absoluta (o firmaba o me dejaban tirado en el aeropuerto sin coche), me obligaron a firmar un contrato con cargos ocultos por un total de 549,40 €. Me han cobrado un seguro duplicado (ALL INCK), tasas de gestión inventadas y un prepago de combustible abusivo.Prácticas comerciales desleales:Es una vergüenza cómo se aprovechan de los pasajeros. Te obligan a pagar el doble de lo contratado mediante engaños. Además, DoYouSpain se lava las manos alegando cláusulas de exención de responsabilidad, siendo cómplices directos de los abusos que cometen sus proveedores en los mostradores.Ya se ha presentado la reclamación correspondiente y el caso va directo a la OMIC (Oficina Municipal de Información al Consumidor) y a la Agencia Catalana del Consumo para exigir una sanción administrativa por infracción grave de los derechos de los consumidores (Ley General para la Defensa de los Consumidores y Usuarios).

Die kommunizierte Kaution war eine Zusatzversicherung. Im Nachgang sehr schwer zu erkennen auf dem Vertrag und aktiv als Kaution beschrieben

Rental Agreement: 95328350-5

I rented a car from Thrifty at Alicante Airport and was told I was receiving a nearly new Ford Tourneo with only 2,000 km on the odometer. I was also assured that the vehicle had no damage.

However, when I inspected the car after collection, I found several areas of existing damage that had not been pointed out or recorded. I was told that if I discovered any damage, I should take photos and contact customer service immediately. Unfortunately, despite repeated attempts, nobody answered the phone.

This is a very frustrating experience. Customers should not have to discover undocumented damage themselves or struggle to reach customer service to report it. I have documented the damage with photos to protect myself from being held responsible for pre-existing damage.

Based on my experience, I cannot recommend Thrifty at Alicante Airport and would not rent from them again. thrifty.es

Hice una reserva con Volotea de un coche compacto con el seguro básico. Cuando fuimos a la oficina de Thrifty a recoger el vehículo al principio te lo pintan todo genial, en mi caso me daban un coche superior porque no tenían el que yo pedí. Vas con prisa y agobiado con maletas, niños, así que se aprovechan.
Me metieron sin decirme nada el seguro completo. Se aprovechan además de que no pagas en el momento sino que te hacen un bloqueo en la tarjeta. Por cierto, al ir a poner la tarjeta, ni siquiera te dejan ver el importe que teclean en el datáfono.
Te cobran una tasas de aeropuerto (del 16%) sin tampoco avisarte (no figuran en la reserva de Volotea) y te cobran una fianza de 150 € supuestamente por darte el coche con el combustible lleno.
Al final pagué más del doble de lo que había reservado. Te entregan un contrato para firmar allí, pero se encargan de que solo te fijes en los apartados que a ellos les conviene, marcándote con un bolígrafo secciones donde pone que el coste son 0 €, etc. La parte de los costes ocultos está escondida, desvían tu atención.
Después de ver todos los comentarios de otras personas, decidí no reclamar hasta que no me devolviesen la fianza de 150 € y quedarme con el seguro completo, porque viendo de qué calaña son fijo que se hubieran inventado algún daño en el coche para sacarme más dinero.
Esta empresa pertenece a Herzt, los considero a ambos timadores absolutos. Tácticas de venta agresiva en la oficina, aprovechando que vas apurado, cero transparencia y argumentos engañosos. No entiendo cómo Consumo permite estas prácticas. Aconsejo huir de este tipo de empresas de alquiler low cost, que están en connivencia con las aerolíneas.

We booked a car rental with Thrifty (pick up at Alicante airport) from 30th May to 27th June, we ordered at Peugeot 3008, on collection this was not available so we were offered either a Peugeot 5008 or a Compass jeep, we chose the latter, even though we really wanted the Peugeot 3008 as husband is used to driving this car.
We were assured it was the same price as originally quoted.. how wrong were we. We dropped the car off as requested and have recently received the final invoice which has billed us an additional £466 for an upgrade! My husband Brian has tried to email the company several times to no response. We will escalate this further!

Booked a car through booking.com at Alicante airport and Thrifty was advised. All paid upfront. On arrival, the usual staff counter up-sell of insurance, upgrade etc. All declined by me as I was fully comp via Zurich Insurance. Checked my credit card on arrival back in the UK and 82 euros had been added without my knowledge. 20 euros to put the keys in the overnight box as we were dropping the car during their closed hours (the first scam) and another 62 euros for PREM ROAD (2nd scam) and no clue what this was for?

Perfect zowel ophalen als inleveren auto gehuurd via easy terra geen gezeur over extra verzekering gewoon TOP!

I had good experience renting from Thrifty, the car was nice and better than expected. no problems at pickup or dropoff i took care to note any damages and take pictures before driving off as noted by the staff and also made sure to fill up at the gas station just before the airport to show the recepit. The 1000 Euro deposit with credit card worked fine and no extra charges was made.
overall a good experience

Title: Booked car denied on arrival, then aggressive treatment by staff at counter AGX51 – avoid this location

I rented with Thrifty at Málaga–Costa del Sol Airport on 4 June 2026 (booking reference available on request), and it turned into one of the worst arrival experiences I have ever had at any airport, anywhere.

I had booked a manual-transmission car weeks in advance. After a long flight, I arrived to find the car was simply not ready. When I asked why, the staff member at counter AGX51 told me — rudely — to wait. While I waited nearby, he then told me to move further away from the counter. After waiting some 15–20 minutes with no update, he confronted me aggressively and completely unprovoked, demanding to know why I was "looking at him."

When I asked to speak to a manager or supervisor, I was told flatly: "there's no manager, there's no supervisor, we are the managers." The same agent then told me I was not getting the car at all. I was left stranded at the airport — a new arrival, with a confirmed advance booking, with absolutely no vehicle and no alternative offered. This is an unacceptable way to treat any customer, let alone one who did everything right by booking weeks ahead.

What's made it worse is Thrifty's total silence since, on every channel:

The Spanish-language complaint to their listed local email (agx51at thrifty.es) bounced as undeliverable every single time I sent it — that address does not work.
The English complaint to their reservations inbox was successfully delivered and has now gone unanswered for over three weeks.
I have since phoned the Málaga desk directly two or three times — it simply rang out, unanswered, every time.

A company that cannot be reached through any of its own listed contact channels — email or phone — and that ignores a formal written complaint for weeks, is not one I can recommend to anyone. If you're considering Thrifty at Málaga Airport, be aware that if anything goes wrong, you will not get a response.

I am now taking this to the European Car Rental Conciliation Service.

!!! ACHTUNG !!! FINGER WEG VON THRIFTY MALAGA !!! Aggressiver Verkaufsversuch für teure Zusatzversicherungen und unerwarteten Gebühren bei der Abholung. Eine bodenlose Frechheit und Schweinerei!!! Leider haben wir über EasyTerra gebucht (Rundum-sorglos/Worry Free und Maximal-Versicherung) und Mietbetrag überwiesen. Empfehle EasyTerra auch nicht. Bucht direkt z.B. malagacar.com (top Erfahrung) und nicht über einen Broker.

I recently rented a car from Thrifty at Alicante Airport (June 2026) and was extremely disappointed with their business practices.
Upon returning the vehicle, I discovered an unauthorized charge of 62.65 EUR on my credit card for “Premium Emer / Road Serv S” (Premium Emergency Roadside Service). I did not request, accept, or sign for this optional service at the counter. I only agreed to the basic rental terms.
The rental agreement clearly shows this extra was added without my consent. When I have contacted them, the process to get a refund has been slow and frustrating.
This feels like a deliberate attempt to upsell or sneak in extras that customers don’t want. As a Danish customer, I expect honesty and transparency — not hidden charges after the fact.
I will be disputing this charge with my bank if Thrifty does not refund it immediately.
Very disappointed and will not rent from Thrifty or Hertz again. Be careful if you rent in Spain!

Recent update. Halifax have credited the fraudulent €218 euros taken by thrifty/hertz and are in contact with these companies as they believe they have broken visa rules. Please do the same if confronted with this fraudulent scam where no discussion st all took place trying to sell this ridiculous extra insurance it was just taken. Halifax will see you in court 👍. Thrifty more like shifty. Malaga airport location. Don’t ask or explain but charge you for expensive extra insurance. Holiday autos booking including extra insurance was £118. They charge £188 for this scam. Disgusting company beware. Holiday autos have contacted me re the complaint. AKA fraudulent activity