So I kept hearing about the beauty of Iceland (I guess their marketing push with IcelandAir worked 😉 ) . As a result, I put it on my list to visit at some point. However, after four years of retirement and being a nomad that moves around the world every month, my list of places to visit has been growing instead of shrinking.
I wasn’t sure when I would be able to fit Iceland into my plans, but then I was planning a trip to Europe and had a eureka moment after looking at flights. IcelandAir flights fit all my criteria and let me add a stopover of up to 7 days in Iceland to each flight for no extra money. Nice 🙂 . So I was sold and my trip to Iceland was solidified as a precursor to my mainland Europe adventures.
But this trip to Iceland would be very different than my usual travels when I fly to a new country or city, take a ride share downtown and then mostly use my legs as transportation. In Iceland, I wanted to go farther than my legs could take me. So a rental car was needed.
This was my first time renting a car abroad so I dove into the internet to do some research. I was immediately cautioned by random internet strangers that said that several of the US based rental car companies I’m familiar with had bit them in the ass in Iceland specifically because Iceland has unique challenges that some of these US based companies are less prepared for compared to an Iceland-based company. I read that people were charged way more than their initial rental cost as a result of these issues. So I wanted to find an Iceland-based car rental company that understands Iceland’s unique challenges and has great recommendations.
Planning
Enter Blue Car Rental 🙂 . I first heard about them while reading the Dragons On Fire blog where they detailed their 11 day trip circumnavigating Iceland. They mentioned in this post that they had paid about $600 for their 11 day rental in 2022 by using a Black Friday deal.
So I emailed them asking more about this deal. We’re friends that met at FinCon in 2019 and have kept in touch and they were super helpful with my trip planning! They mentioned that they had found someone’s affiliate link and also went to the Blue Car Rental website for a Black Friday/Cyber Monday deal to get another 15% off.
So the discounts stacked – I found that very interesting 🙂 . Black Friday was also fast approaching because I like to plan ahead so I eagerly awaited Black Friday for the first time in my life so I could get a discount on an Icelandic rental car.
Booking
On Black Friday I clicked through an affiliate link (like this one 😉 ) and headed to the Blue Car Rental website where this popup appeared:
So I made note of the 2023 code blackcyber and put in the dates I wanted a rental car. Luckily I didn’t actually have to remember that code because there was something to toggle at the top of the website that said it added the discount automatically. Nice.
I also changed the default currency from Icelandic ISK to USD, which you can do on the top right of the page. After clicking through, I added filters to my search, such as making sure I get an Automatic transmission vehicle. Then a “recommended” car pops up, but if you scroll past it there are a lot more options based on your filters.
Then I selected a Kia Stonic mini-SUV and made my way to the payment page. The Black Friday discount was advertised as a 15% discount, but my final payment included a 28% discount off my main charge so the affiliate link was giving me a 13% discount.
The above shows my cost in USD ($454) and in smaller font below that is my cost in ISK. Just a heads up that Iceland (like most of Europe) uses periods instead of commas for money so 63.503 ISK = 63,503 ISK not 63 and change. Still, that’s not a bad price for three people having a rental car for a week 🙂 .
During this process Blue Car Rental had asked if I wanted to add all kinds of extras and the only one I added was a second driver for $47 total for 7 days. The general payment includes insurance that covers things I wouldn’t think of that’s important in Iceland, such as gravel. Spoiler: A lot of roads in Iceland are not paved outside of the main Ring Road/Þjóðvegur/Route 1. After discovering this during our trip I was very happy this company included gravel protection in their standard insurance.
My car also included a GPS that I never used because I’m paranoid and downloaded an offline Google Map of Iceland on my phone just in case. However, I surprisingly had full service with Google Fi almost everywhere in Iceland, even in most of the remote parts of the country.
Another possible addition to the car was sand and ash Insurance, which I declined only because high winds that cause that kind of damage start in December and we were there in September. Luckily I didn’t live to regret that decision. So I filled out all my info on their website and booked the rental car.
Emails
After getting my confirmation email, I went about my life and then about a week before my trip, I started hearing from Blue Car Rental regularly and I must admit that I was impressed. Usually pre-booking emails are spammy garbage trying to upsell me things, but none of their emails were like that. They were all helpful and informative.
7 days before my trip, I received an email that said I could check in online to make it super easy to pick up my car. I’m down for anything that makes my life easier so I filled out the info they asked for (confirming personal info and making sure I didn’t want to add any extras) and then was able to add my confirmation information to my Google Wallet, which I will come back to later 😉 .
They also recommended going to their specific website (safe.bluecarrental.is) for more information like what dashboard lights in their cars mean and what Icelandic road and traffic signs mean as well as speed limit info and even fuel and coffee discounts they provide at specific gas stations. Nice!
A day before my rental car pick up they sent an email showing exactly how to find their office the next day. I love it 🙂 . On the day of my rental after getting my car keys, I received an email with my rental agreement and a damage report of my car that shows any dings that it had before I took it (that will come in handy later in this saga 😉 ) .
One day after we took the car, I got an email with a reminder about the gas station discounts they provide and two days before our planned return, I got an email about how to return the car. So helpful!
A Flight Setback
So I’ve mentioned before that my travel luck is not the best 🙂 . Well on this evening in September, I arrived at Boston Logan Airport and sat at my gate. Everything was going as planned. Our plane had arrived from Iceland without issue and we were planning to board when…a fiasco happened.
I’ll tell the full story in my review of IcelandAir that I’ll add a link to below after I post it, but the summary is that our flight was cancelled at the last minute because of equipment failure, which was fair because I don’t want to fly over the Atlantic Ocean in a broken plane. So our Iceland plans were pushed back a day since we were put on the same exact flight 24 hours later.
My Mom was the second driver on my car rental booking and she arrived in Iceland to meet us on time, so I sent her my Blue Car Rental info and she went to the office to talk to them and say that I was going to be a day late. They didn’t have an issue with it and apologized for not being able to give me a refund for the day we missed, which I didn’t even expect. So in essence, I arrived a day late to Iceland and headed to their office after setting foot in the land of ice and fire.
Check In
So the Keflavík (KEF) Airport is hilariously close to the car rental part of the airport. There is a shuttle you can take, but at least for Blue Car Rental I wouldn’t recommend it.
You can literally see their office from the exit of the airport and it’s a short and easy walk, even with luggage. There’s a sidewalk and crosswalks the whole way and it took us less than 5 minutes.
After we arrived at a bright and early 6am, we headed into the entrance labeled “Rental Pick-Up” and were greeted with a wonderfully technological sight.
There was an entire wall filled with a screen showing gorgeous views of Iceland that we were soon to see, and tablets with scanners next to them.
I was able to easily scan the QR code I got from adding the confirmation information to my Google Wallet, and all my info was automatically added to the queue to talk to someone. This information was displayed on TVs in front of the customer service desks.
It showed my name and a number associated with it, which one of the customer service people called out when they were ready for me.
So I headed over to this employee, we’ll call him “The Dude.” The Dude confirmed that I had the standard insurance and didn’t want additional insurance. He also said that I should take a video of the car to make sure that any damages matched the inspection they did.
I really appreciated this touch because I already take videos of rental cars these days just in case, but have never had a rental car company ask me to do it to double check their work. Nice! The Dude also warned about opening the car door in high winds because winds get so high in Iceland that they can rip the car door right off and obviously I’d have to pay for that. Good tips!
At that moment, I felt thoroughly cared for. We were handed the keys and unfortunately that taken care of feeling was about to be obliterated.
A Freak Out
My Mom and I walked to the parking lot and I made a joke about how small one of the cars was only to touch the car keys and realize…that was our car. Enter: The Smallest Car Ever.
I had booked a mini-SUV Kia Stonic that I checked could comfortably fit all of us and our luggage and this tiny thing was NOT it. I looked around in confusion, checked my confirmation email and even showed my Mom pictures of the Kia Stonic that I booked. She said the angles might be making it look bigger than it was and that this was our car according to the keys The Dude gave us.
I was freaking out. I didn’t think we could comfortably fit 3 tall people and our luggage in this car for a weeklong roadtrip. So I went back inside and asked The Dude if they had any bigger cars I could rent because this was way smaller than I expected. He said no – they were booked solid. Interestingly I went on their website right after that conversation and saw mini-SUVs available for my exact travel dates so I suspect he might have lied to me.
My Mom drove us away from the rental place while I continued freaking out about how I could have been so wrong about this and how this trip was going to be uncomfortable for everyone because I’d fucked up somehow. It was really messing with me.
However, when we parked the car (after navigating Iceland’s less than familiar roundabouts and signage system), I noticed something strange: this car was a Kia, but the back said “Picanto,” not “Stonic” like my confirmation email and rental agreement. This wasn’t the right car! I wasn’t losing my mind!!
I hadn’t been able to see the name of the car previously because it was backed up almost touching another car in the Blue Car Rental parking lot, but now I saw it clear as day and something wasn’t right.
A Mistake Revealed
So my kind Mom indulged me and we headed back AGAIN to the Blue Car Rental office. The Dude was still at the desk, but there were other employees too. My Mom just walked up to a different employee (damn she’s a badass) while I was going to just wait in line and probably end up with The Dude implying I’m being silly again.
I showed this new employee my rental agreement (which said “Kia Stonic”) and the car keys I was given (which said “Kia Picanto”) and he said I was given the wrong car. He looked super confused, clicked on the computer a bit and then asked who gave me the car. I hesitantly pointed to The Dude.
This new guy called The Dude over and told him that he had given us the wrong car. I felt bad that this dressing down was happening right in front of us, but also super happy that I wasn’t losing my mind.
So we were given keys to our actual Kia Stonic. We then had to go get the original tiny car and bring it back and then pick up our new car. Luckily the new car looked just like the pictures and was as large as I expected. Phew!
This whole ordeal took about an hour. It’s a good thing we weren’t in a rush, but I assume this was a rare mistake. All the employees besides The Dude were super on it and helpful. It seemed like a very efficient operation overall, but next time I’ll definitely double check that I receive keys to the exact type of car on my rental agreement if I arrive early in the morning. I get it – I’m basically delirious at 6am too 🙂 .
The Experience
So after that initial drama, the rest of the time with my Blue Car Rental was completely seamless. Their website with all its information about driving in Iceland saved us more than once and I appreciated their gas station discount though I think it came out to like a $1 USD savings per tank, so it’s not enough of an incentive that I would seek out those specific gas stations, but I still appreciated it.
During this trip I also learned that the car had fun new features I didn’t realize, such as heated seats in the front and a heated steering wheel, which was appreciated in the frozen tundra we encountered in east Iceland.
I also did have to heed the wind with doors warning one day when our Airbnb was on a lake, but we were just careful opening the doors and it was all good.
Car Return
On the day of the car return, we followed the instructions given in that helpful email and also followed Google Maps and signs to the return parking lot. After parking the car we rent inside to the Return section, handed over the keys, confirmed we refilled the gas tank and then the employee ran out to check we didn’t wreck the car 😉 . They came back shortly and said we were good to go!
We returned the car less clean than when we left, including the inside. There was dirt on the outside and some mud on the inside from our wet treks, but all was good. And so the saga was at an end.
Review
I was very happy with my experience with Blue Car Rental. Outside of one employee (“The Dude”), everyone was very on their game, kind and helpful – which is even more impressive since it was 6am when I was in the office the first time.
Everything went well with the car. We had no issues returning it after experiencing all the gravel and snow we ran into while circumnavigating the country. Drop off was seamless and their prices were unbeatable, even before the Black Friday deal.
I also appreciated all the extra things they did from giving us so much specific information on their website about driving in Iceland, to the emails before the trip to even the green sticker they had on the gas tank so there was no way we could forget what kind of fuel to put in there. It all added up to great customer service 🙂 .
I was extremely impressed with my experience and without that hiccup with ‘The Dude” at the beginning, this would easily be my favorite rental car experience that far surpasses any I’ve had with a US car company. As it is, I’m still very impressed and will be using Blue Car Rental again.
Conclusion
I actually already booked a return flight to Iceland for next year (yes I’m going back already – I just can’t help myself 😉 ). And I’m going to book Blue Car Rental for that trip as well during their upcoming Black Friday sale. Feel free to use this link if you plan to head to Iceland and want a 5-13% discount on your car rental. I’m relieved to report that my first time booking a rental car in a foreign country had a happy ending and I’m excited to go back to the gorgeous landscapes of Iceland 🙂 .
Have you ever rented a car abroad? What rental car company did you use? What’s your favorite?
Apart from the car type mix-up, sounds like a great company to rent from! I have to admit, when I read your headline, I thought of the scene in Walter Mitty when Walter arrives in Greenland and goes up to a rental car counter that’s basically a shed, and asks if they have any cars. The guy in the shed says, “Yeah. We got a blue one and a red one.” Walter says he’ll take the red car. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Wf1GlSSWMI If only it had been the blue one and if only he’d been in Iceland XD my mind makes odd connections.
To answer your question: I haven’t, no, but I did join a car share scheme in a country outside of the one where I learned to drive. I learned to drive in the UK (on the left), but actually drove consistently in a European country where they drive on the right. I choose to think that’s made my driving better lol. I anticipate having to rent a car at some point during my travels and can’t really wait to be honest. It’ll be so freeing!
Yeah it was a good experience overall and lol – I do enjoy that scene in the movie. What’s a car share scheme? Like ZipCar?
I actually have to rent a car for a domestic January trip and hadn’t realized that there could be Black Friday deals. Definitely going to hold off on booking now haha
I have no idea if US rental companies have them, but I guess it can’t hurt to check – especially if you can just cancel a reservation you make earlier without penalty if you see a better deal like at most US rental car companies. Good luck!
Great info Purple, thanks for sharing!
I’ve rented cars on 6 continents, and it’s usually been logistically uneventful, with a few exceptions.
Once a car rental in Ecuador placed a $10,000 hold on my credit card (!!!). I fortunately had the AmEx Plat which doesn’t have a limit, so it went through.
Another curiosity that you may come across as you expand your country list is that while premium US credit cards usually cover rental insurance so that you don’t need to purchase extra from the rental company, there are a few exceptions. Surprisingly, one of these is Ireland. The majority of US credit cards do not cover insurance there, but fortunately the AmEx Biz Plat started to in the last year or two. Thanks to reddit, I knew that I needed a printed and dated confirmation from the credit card company of the coverage amounts. It wasn’t a cursory glance, the rental company made a copy, wrote on it, and asked me questions about it. But because of this insurance coverage, my rental car was 60 euros TOTAL for 8 days.
Thanks for reading! That’s very good to know about Ecuador and Ireland – I haven’t been to Ireland yet. That’s a wildly low rental car cost – nice!
Hey Purple! Thanks for the shout out! Glad to see that you were able to get a good deal on the car rental and that the service at Blue Rentals hasn’t changed much from our experience (except for that one agent…).
Hi – and of course! Thank you for your help. I did overall have a good experience and that’s why I want to book them again. I just always have to have some drama in my travels apparently 😉 .