Green Motion vs U-Save: same group, often the same desk

Green Motion vs U-Save (often typed as “usave”) is not a contest between two rival firms. Green Motion bought U-Save in September 2022, and at most of the airports where Vrooem offers both names, they share one address, one pickup routine and much of the fleet. So the useful question is how two offers from one group compare when they appear next to each other, and which details to check before you choose. This guide covers the ownership, the shared branches, the four packages and where the published terms match or differ.

We checked every rule below on 30 September and 1 October 2026, in each brand’s country terms and official location details. Both brands state that these terms cover bookings made on their own websites, and that for a booking through a third party your rental voucher sets the conditions. Treat the figures as standard levels and let your voucher have the final word.

Green Motion vs U-Save at a glance

	Green Motion	U-Save
Started	2007, United Kingdom	1979, North Carolina, USA
Today	Brand owner Green Motion Limited, Woburn, England	Part of the Green Motion group since September 2022
How branches are run	Franchise per country or region	Franchise per location
Package names	Basic, Plus+, Premium, Premium Plus	Basic, Plus, Premium, Premium Plus
Zero excess	Premium Plus	Premium Plus
Free cancellation	Premium Plus, up to 48 hours before pickup	Premium Plus, up to 48 hours before pickup
Basic bookings	Non-refundable	Non-refundable

One group, two brands: what the 2022 deal changed

On 26 September 2022 Green Motion announced it had closed its purchase of U-Save Car & Truck Rental, an American franchise with neighbourhood and airport branches. Green Motion said the combined business would be the world’s largest franchise organisation dedicated to car rental, with more than 600 locations in 60 countries. U-Save’s history page calls it joining forces with Green Motion.

Both names stayed. Each brand keeps its own website and its own terms for each country, and both still work through franchisees: a local operator runs the branch under the brand. In many countries that local operator now runs the two brands together, and the paperwork shows it. U-Save’s instructions for Heathrow ask customers to tell the hotel bus driver they are renting from Green Motion. U-Save’s Portuguese terms refer to Green Motion rental stations and to a toll service run by Green Motion Portugal. And the email address U-Save lists for its desks in Morocco, Dubai and Cape Town is a Green Motion one.

For you as a traveller, this means that at a shared branch the counter and the shuttle are the same whichever name is on your booking. What changes is the set of terms attached to that name.

Where both brands share one branch

We compared the official location details of both brands on 1 October 2026. The two list exactly the same branch address at these places:

• United Kingdom: London Heathrow (Holiday Inn M4 J4, Sipson Road, West Drayton), London Gatwick (Gatwick Business Park, Hookwood), London Stansted (Novotel London Stansted), Manchester Airport (Aviator Way) and Edinburgh (Secure Airparks, Ingliston Road).
• Portugal: the branches serving Faro, Lisbon and Porto airports, each a short shuttle ride from the terminal.
• Morocco: Casablanca, Marrakech, Tangier and Agadir airports, plus the city branches in Marrakech (Gueliz) and Tangier.
• Elsewhere: Larnaca, Dubai (one hotel address for Terminals 1, 2 and 3), Cape Town, Split airport and city, Tivat, Kraków, Bucharest, Mauritius and Miami.

At Rome Fiumicino (neighbouring numbers on the same street) and Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen the two brands list different addresses, so check which location your voucher names before you land.

The cars overlap too. In Vrooem’s own searches on 30 September 2026, for a week in November, the very same car from the same branch appeared under both names at Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Manchester, Faro, Lisbon, Porto, Larnaca, Dubai and Cape Town. Both brands confirm a car group rather than an exact model, so “or similar” applies either way.

How the four-step package ladder works

Both brands offer their cars in four packages, and the logic is the same: the higher the package, the lower your excess (your share of any damage cost) and, in most countries, the smaller the deposit held on your card. Our guide to rental car excess and deposit explains the difference between the two.

• Basic: the lowest rate with the highest excess and deposit. Non-refundable, and it cannot be changed.
• Plus (written “Plus+” on greenmotion.com): a lower excess and deposit, with cancellation refunds on a sliding scale.
• Premium: lower again, and in the UK it adds unlimited mileage.
• Premium Plus: zero excess, the lowest deposit and free cancellation up to 48 hours before pickup. In the UK it also covers glass and tyres and includes up to two optional extras, subject to availability.

For Plus and Premium bookings made directly, the UK terms of both brands use the same scale: cancel 7 or more days ahead and you get the prepaid amount back minus a £15 admin fee, 3 to 6 days ahead 50%, 2 days ahead 25%, and 0 to 1 days ahead nothing. A day here means a 24-hour period up to your pickup time. Cancellations must be made in writing or through your online account, as both brands say they do not accept them by phone.

United Kingdom: identical ladder, different Basic level

In the UK the two documents differ on a single step: Basic. For small and medium cars, the official UK terms show:

Package	Green Motion excess / deposit	U-Save excess / deposit
Basic	£1,500 / £1,500	£2,000 / £2,000
Plus	£400 / £400	£400 / £400
Premium	£200 / £200	£200 / £200
Premium Plus	zero / £150	zero / £150

Larger car groups follow the same pattern: from Plus upwards the levels match, while Basic is set per brand. For seven-seaters, for example, Basic is £1,700 at Green Motion and £2,500 at U-Save.

The other key rules read the same in both UK documents:

• Deposit on a Visa or Mastercard credit card in the main driver’s name that does not expire within 2 months of the return date; a debit card only with Premium Plus, after an ID check.
• Drivers aged 21 to 80, with a young driver charge of £50 per day from 21 to 24.
• Fuel: return the level you received, anything from 1/8 of a tank to full.
• The deposit hold is usually released within 10 working days, although it can take up to 30 days depending on your card and bank.
• The same optional excess products at the counter (Zero Excess, Low Excess, Reduced Excess, Glass & Tyres) at the same daily rates.

Planning long drives on Basic or Plus? Both brands cap these two packages at 100 miles per day in the UK, but Green Motion’s terms list airports where unlimited mileage applies anyway, including Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Manchester. U-Save’s UK terms have no such list. Above the allowance, Green Motion’s terms charge £0.30 per extra mile and U-Save’s £0.20. Premium and Premium Plus include unlimited UK mileage with both.

Heathrow pickup works the same for either name: take the Hotel Hoppa bus (H2B from Terminals 2 and 3, H5B from Terminal 5) to the Holiday Inn M4 J4, and go to the rental office at the front of the hotel, not the returns office at the rear. Timetables change often, so check them before you fly.

Portugal: Faro, Lisbon and Porto on shared terms

In Portugal the two terms documents are almost word for word the same. For the most common small car groups (codes PO-A, PO-B, PO-BA, PO-BX, PO-BE and PO-K), both list:

Package	Excess	Deposit
Basic	€1,200	€1,500
Plus	€800	€1,100
Premium	€400	€700
Premium Plus	€0	€300

The one gap in the tables sits on the top step: for the groups coded PO-MDMR and PO-EDAH, U-Save sets the Premium Plus deposit at €200, where Green Motion lists €300.

Rules that also match in both documents:

• Unlimited mileage on all four packages.
• Like-for-like fuel on all packages. Missing fuel is charged at €2.50 per litre plus a €50 refuelling fee.
• An electronic toll device is part of every rental at €2.20 per day, capped at €22.20, with the tolls charged afterwards.
• Driving into Spain (€80) or France (€200) is possible on request.
• For the small car groups above: minimum age 19, maximum 85, and drivers aged 19 to 24, or 75 and over, pay €10 per day, capped at €140.
• A debit card is accepted for the deposit only with Premium Plus.
• The car is held for 2 hours after your booked pickup time.

At Faro, U-Save’s instructions ask you to leave the terminal by exit B and walk to the Kiss & Fly car park, where the shuttle stops about every 15 minutes in summer and every 30 minutes in winter. Green Motion’s Faro page sends you to the same Kiss & Fly car park, and both pages give the same phone numbers, including the out-of-hours line.

Morocco: twin rules, three small differences

Casablanca, Marrakech, Tangier and Agadir are all shared branches, and the two Moroccan documents match on the big points: minimum age 23, MAD 100 per day for drivers aged 23 to 25 or 65 and over, unlimited kilometres, no driving outside Morocco, and like-for-like fuel on Basic and Plus against full-to-full on Premium and Premium Plus, with a MAD 300 refuelling fee on top of missing fuel.

Three details differ:

• Levels for the smallest cars. Green Motion: Basic MAD 17,500, Plus MAD 9,000, Premium MAD 4,750, and Premium Plus with zero excess and a MAD 2,500 deposit. U-Save: MAD 17,000, MAD 8,500, MAD 4,250, and zero excess with a MAD 2,000 deposit.
• Debit cards. Green Motion’s Moroccan terms list debit cards as accepted for the deposit. U-Save’s accept them for the deposit only with Premium Plus.
• Late arrivals. Green Motion holds the car for 2.5 hours after the booked time, U-Save for 3 hours.

U-Save’s Casablanca instructions place the desk inside Terminal 1, in the airport’s train station.

Larnaca, Dubai and Cape Town: matching tables

In Cyprus, the UAE and South Africa, the two brands publish identical excess and deposit tables. In Cyprus the smallest car group goes from a €600 excess and deposit on Basic to zero excess and a €50 deposit on Premium Plus. In the UAE the deposit for smaller cars stays at AED 2,000 on every package, while the excess falls from AED 2,000 on Basic to zero on Premium Plus. For South Africa, both documents say the deposit is usually released within 7 to 21 days.

One small difference shows up in the Cypriot and UAE terms: Green Motion holds a booked car for 2.5 hours after the pickup time, U-Save for 3 hours. If your flight is late, that window is worth knowing.

How to compare the two offers side by side

When both brands show up for the same airport, run five checks on each:

1. Branch. Is the pickup address the same? At most airports above it is.
2. Car group. Match the group or class, not the photo, since both brands confirm a group.
3. Package step. Compare Basic with Basic and Premium Plus with Premium Plus.
4. Excess and deposit for that step. These differ by brand in the UK and Morocco, and match almost fully in the other countries above.
5. Card, mileage, fuel and cancellation. Check each line on the offer.

Then compare the total for the whole trip with the package you want. At pickup, photograph the car from all sides plus the fuel gauge and mileage, and bring a credit card in the main driver’s name with room for the deposit.

Where Vrooem sells both brands

In Vrooem’s searches on 30 September 2026, both brands were available at Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Manchester, Edinburgh, Faro, Lisbon, Porto, Casablanca, Marrakech airport and city, Tangier airport and city, Agadir, Larnaca, Dubai, Cape Town, Tivat, Kraków, Split, Rome Fiumicino, Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen, Mauritius, Miami and Bucharest. Of the two brands, only Green Motion appeared at places such as Dubrovnik, Athens, Heraklion, Rhodes, Mallorca, Milan Malpensa, Antalya and Dalaman, and only U-Save at Catania.

On Vrooem you choose one of the brand’s four packages before you pay, so you know your excess level before you reach the counter. Every Vrooem booking also includes a free travel eSIM, so you have mobile data when you land, which helps when a branch asks you to call for the shuttle. For Green Motion’s packages, fuel rules and pickup points in more countries, see our Green Motion guide.

So which one should you book?

Book the offer, not the logo. Green Motion and U-Save are one group, and at most of the airports listed above they share the counter, the shuttle and much of the fleet. Where their terms match, the choice comes down to the total for the car and package you want; where they differ, the sections above show which line to compare. If you want no excess at all, both offer the same option: Premium Plus, with a low deposit and free cancellation up to 48 hours before pickup.

Green Motion and U-Save: common questions

Is U-Save the same company as Green Motion? They are two brands in one group. Green Motion bought U-Save in September 2022, and both still operate through local franchisees, often the same one.

Are the packages the same? The ladder is the same: Basic, Plus, Premium and Premium Plus, with zero excess on Premium Plus. The excess and deposit per step can differ by country, for example on Basic in the UK.

Does U-Save accept debit cards? In the UK, Portugal and Morocco, U-Save accepts a debit card for the deposit only with Premium Plus. In the UK an ID check is required.

Is the excess the same at both brands? It depends on the country. In the UK only Basic differs (£1,500 against £2,000 for a small car), and in Morocco the levels are close but not equal. In Portugal, Cyprus, the UAE and South Africa the tables match, apart from the Premium Plus deposit on two Portuguese car groups.

Can I cancel a Basic booking? Not with either brand: Basic is non-refundable, while Premium Plus gives free cancellation up to 48 hours before pickup. With a third-party booking, your voucher sets the terms.

Sources

Checked on 30 September and 1 October 2026: Green Motion rental bundles, about Green Motion, Green Motion terms per country (United Kingdom, Portugal, Morocco, Cyprus, United Arab Emirates, South Africa), U-Save terms per country (same countries), about U-Save, Green Motion on the U-Save acquisition, U-Save on the acquisition, Green Motion Heathrow, U-Save Heathrow, Green Motion Faro, U-Save Faro, U-Save Lisbon, U-Save Casablanca, Green Motion locations, U-Save locations and Hotel Hoppa timetables.