Mittens 2017 - Hafnir, Iceland, 15-22 July

Disco · Tue 23/05/2017 17:56:49

It is for a small four seater (Hyundai i10 or similar), but it is not like we'll be sleeping in the thing. I should be able to make the booking on Saturday if we decide to do this.

2ma2 · Thu 25/05/2017 17:08:57

SADly, they had no 8+-seaters...

I've talked with my bank and will apply for credit instead of messing around with debit workarounds. Budget looks good, I'll most likely apply for the second smallest, a "VW Polo or similar" at â,¬309 (34 200 ISK), which gives is a bit of leg room, luggage space an additional inch of reinforced steel between our fleshy shells and whatever may stray into the road*. Scandinavia is stick-shift country, so nemas problemas ManuÃ©l for me.

In conclusion, I will book the following as soon as possible:
- A group "N" car from "Budget" at Keflavik Airport
- From the 15th of July 11:00 to the 22nd of July 11:00.
- At an estimated cost of â,¬309

*There's fuck all in regards to trees and large wildlife, so my main concern is other vehicles and elves.

AGA · Fri 26/05/2017 06:01:35

Go for it!

Disco · Sat 27/05/2017 16:10:13

A car is booked

Turns out I could have done it all along as they do not take card details at the time of booking, only at pick up.

It may be the smallest, but we only need to seat four in each car, so it meets our needs exactly! Luggage should not be an issue as we will only likely need to travel 10 minutes with everyone's stuff on the first and final days.

Anyways, here are the details of one of our sweet rides!:
- A group "D" car (Hyundai i10 Auto or similar) from Budget at Keflavik Airport
- From the 15th of July 11:00 to the 22nd of July 11:00.
- At an estimated cost of â,¬314 (35,200 ISK)

AGA · Sat 27/05/2017 16:11:52

Great! What about a second car, 2ma2?

2ma2 · Mon 29/05/2017 14:11:43

Still awaiting confirmation that I've been approved for credit. It's true that you don't need to give card details until pick-up, but I'd rather know for sure I'll be having one before booking. (I freelance so I have a wonky income flow, yet a fair amount of savings, so I hope the bank are rational about it. On the other hand, there's been a mid-week holiday in Sweden, perhaps they just haven't got around to it yet. Annoying none the less.)

AGA · Thu 08/06/2017 18:47:12

Any credit yet? Tamara can book if you're having difficulty? Time's running out!

2ma2 · Fri 09/06/2017 17:04:01

No, the bank has decided to be fuck me over. My initial application was turned down, so I asked them to confirm my savings and reconsider the application. Not a word, so I hunted them down by phone today, only to be told that they haven't even touched my ticket. I'm fucking livid.

Tamara can do the booking. You may put me up as an extra driver, so we at least can share the driving duty. PM or messenger me if you need additional personal information. I can cover the cost of an additional driver myself. Feel free to shop around for better deals as well, the rental price at Budget has ballooned during this pointless, miserable fucking delay.

AGA · Fri 09/06/2017 19:18:55

Tamara has booked a second car. Chevrolet Spark or similar, â,¬355.64 total, 11:00 15 July to 11:00 22 July.

Esseb · Wed 14/06/2017 22:48:17

Cars seem useful.

I guess we'll split the gas bills and rental fees at the end of the week? Or we could paypal the car rental shares ahead of time and deal with only gas at the end of the week?

AGA · Thu 15/06/2017 05:50:28

~I think Tamara's fine to wait, but can't speak for Disco...

However, in the past we usually took turns paying for petrol filling sessions, so splitting that separatelt at the end, having paid for the rental in advance, might work.

Disco · Wed 21/06/2017 17:20:23

I have been attempting to find an estimate of the hold that Budget will place on the card during the rental period. In the US it tends to be $200ish, but figuring it would be in another country with higher rates and a more expensive currency it would be prudent to look. Nothing on the official site, just a vague "fees and holds vary by location".

A credible-looking post on Tripadvisor states the hold is usually equal to the excess damage coverage, which in this case is somewhere in the $700 range :o :o Nevermind, that information was wildly inaccurate. An email from Budget KEF revealed that the security deposit hold tops out at â,¬170.

The total between the two rentals is about â,¬680, or â,¬85 per person. Since I have not yet paid for my spot in the house, perhaps everyone should send their car rental shares directly to Berian/Tamara, as three car shares combined are just over one house share.

AGA · Sun 25/06/2017 18:42:59

Makes sense. I'll PM the non car people about the outstanding balance.

The deposit on the house and cars aren't included in these totals, but of course if someone does end up exploding something there will have to be some further collection of funds.