Go on vacation by plane in Portugal and make your car conveyed by road: a new trend

“Going to Portugal at the start of the holidays should not be a tiring trip at 8 pm.” With her husband Carlos, Sandra Fonseca is already packing up in Algarve. The return to Luxembourg is close.

This year, the couple opted for a “more practical and more comfortable” alternative which is attracting more and more residents during their summer vacation in their country of origin: renting the services of a transport company to convey the car to Portugal, while traveling the light spirit by plane.

“It is a quiet trip of only three hours and when we arrive in Figueira Da Foz (seaside resort west of Coimbra, in the center of the country, editor’s note), we already have our car that awaits us,” explains Sandra Fonseca, 50.

A health problem led him to adopt this solution: “It is the best. In this way, we do not have to go so many tiring kilometers by road, nor to face traffic jams in France. We leave during the holidays during collective leave, when many people go home. ”

In addition, “it’s cheaper than renting a car in Portugal”. According to Sandra, it would indeed be necessary to pay sometimes more than 2,000 euros to rent a vehicle for three weeks.

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The couple’s car, a Seat Arona, took the road a week before its owners, but in the trunk, Sandra and Carlos have already put their suitcases and everything they need for the holidays, in order to travel “light” by the air. “The transport company is looking for the car on Thursday and it arrives in Portugal on Saturday. My brother-in-law will come and get it on site. As our children are already tall and there are only two of us, we prefer to take the plane to come here. ”

During his stay in his country of origin, the couple took the opportunity to do tourism and “it feels good to have their own car”. In addition to the days spent in Ribatejo and Figueira, their original lands, Sandra and Carlos saw the Douro, the Alentejo and the Algarve. The return trip will be done by road, without stress: “We will rest for a week and take the opportunity to walk in Spain and France, without hurrying.”

From 550 to 750 euros per journey

In this new trend in vacation trips between Luxembourg and Portugal by expatriates, the choice of plane and sending the car by carrier is made to go and return. On average, the minimum cost of transporting a vehicle in this way may vary between 550 and 750 euros, depending on the figures communicated by two carriers to Contact. It is a simple return trip, the price of which evolves according to the brand of the car (its weight) and the place of delivery.

A week before his arrival, Sandra Alves already had his Volvo XC 90 who was waiting for her with her parents, in the town of Mafra. In general, the carriers put between two days and two and a half days to make the journey between the two countries. This Portuguese spent two summer months in Portugal with its two young children. Her husband joins the family for three weeks.

“I prefer to travel with my two children and our dog by plane rather than by road. It is a tiring trip of more than 2,000 kilometers, ”says this Portuguese who, since 2021, has opted for the plane and sends his car by courier.

In the luggage of her vehicle, she takes the opportunity to “take clothes and children’s shoes to give them to Portugal” and her return to Luxembourg, she brings “clothes for her children to school”.

The two Paulos Aleixo, father and son, of Auto Silva Aleixo, next to the trucks already loaded with cars to take from Luxembourg to Portugal. © PHOTO: D.R.

During her two -month stay in his parents’ country, as well as to visit his family in the Mafra and Oliveira do Hospital regions, Sandra Alves took the opportunity to discover new places in the Iberian Peninsula. This year, she already went to Marbella, Andalusia. This is why she prefers to drive her own car rather than rent one in Portugal.

The return of the family to Luxembourg is scheduled for September 5, but a week earlier, the transport company will come to seek the Volvo de Sandra Alves to bring it home. Upon arriving at the Grand Duchy, the car will be parked in front of the house.

Economic motivations

More and more Portuguese from Luxembourg are choosing the aircraft-gap combination to spend all or part of the summer in Portugal, as confirmed in Contact two carriers.

“The demand has experienced a significant increase just after the pandemic, since 2021, and each year we have more customers between July and September,” explains Paulo Aleixo, Auto Silva Aleixo, whose trucks are filled with cars to transport from Luxembourg to Portugal this week. “The explosion of prices for rental cars in Portugal is one of the main reasons why the Portuguese of the Grand Duchy send their cars to specialized companies.”

“They did the calculation and realized that it was cheaper to take the car than to rent a vehicle in Portugal, especially a SUV, to save money,” explains Paulo Aleixo. To rent a good car, the price soar. “They prefer to have their own car, which is better,” he says.

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On the other hand, many Portuguese bought electric vehicles which, at the start, were not adapted to such long journeys. “There was a lack of charging stations and these took a long time, which lengthened the journey.” Paulo Aleixo also mentions the disadvantage of hours spent on the road and “the traffic jams in France” which are a torture.

A fairly clear increase in demand

All these factors have led to an increase in demand, favorable to transport companies. In July, Paulo Aleixo company transported 87 client vehicles on vacation to Portugal, already more than last year. “The peak is at the end of June and July, then we return in September and early October. Despite this, during these months, demand increases, with cars that come and go, ”explains Paulo Aleixo.

Auto Silva Aleixo has four transport trucks, which can each embark on eight cars, but during the summer months, it must call on partners due to the increase in demand, explains its manager. In total, the fleet makes three to four round trips per week. “The price is around 650 to 750 euros, and increases according to the place of delivery and the weight of the cars.” The Paulo Aleixo transport company delivers vehicles at the three airports in Portugal, leaving cars in private car parks.

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Upon their return, customers who land in Findel can also have their car in a parking lot on site: “In this way, the customer goes down from the plane and his car awaits him.” Besides cars, Portuguese customers also send their motorcycles. “We transport the car and the motorcycle, because at this time of the year, there were several biker gatherings in Portugal and our customers take the opportunity to get there,” explains Paulo Aleixo.

High -end and luxury cars

The Luxembourg car fleet is one of the youngest and most upscale in Europe, and the cars of the Luxembourg Portuguese are no exception.

Paulo Aleixo and the transport company José Martinho Pereira are both responsible for transporting high -end and luxury vehicles for Portuguese holidaymakers in their country of origin.

Both say they transport a lot of BMW, Mercedes, Audi, but also Porsche and Ferrari. “There are Portuguese who want to take their most beautiful cars to Portugal. In Luxembourg, it is rare to drive them because they are not everyday cars, ”explains José Martinho Pereira, in Contact. From year to year, it transports more and more luxury cars.

For this businessman too, the summer months are “the highest point” of car transportation activity between Luxembourg and Portugal. “This increases from year to year, we have more and more customers. Families come by plane and send their cars, ”he explains. “They take the plane at Findel and in three hours, they are on vacation in Portugal.”

José Martinho has a truck reserved for cars and three other heavy goods vehicles with trailers for four cars, which spend their summer vacation on the road. In fact, the request is such that this businessman even recommends another carrier to his customers so that they bring their cars to it. “There were at least four loads of eight to nine cars.”

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“In summer, I charge in Luxembourg and I discharge near Coimbra, at home. Customers take or drop their car at the desired address, but this leads to an increase in the cost, depending on the location. ” The minimum billed for car transporting is between 550 and 600 euros, the amount increasing depending on the weight and the place of delivery.

On the way back to Luxembourg, the cars are a little heavier because of the chests filled with Portuguese specialties, says laughing José Martinho Pereira. “They take the opportunity to take potatoes, olive oil, smoked meats, family sausages.”

From August 21, returns must intensify. “I already have trucks that are back to Luxembourg.” José Martinho and Paulo Aleix do not doubt it: if there were more places, they would do more car journeys between the two countries.

This article was initially published on the Contacto site. It was translated using artificial intelligence tools that learn from data from human translations, then checked by Christophe Lemaire.