feghbali

I am planning to rent a car in CDG airport, in Paris to travel in France. I am 71 years old. Rental cars have limit of 69 and over that age they charge extra. Anyone knows how much extra they charge. I am looking at Hertz and Kyak.
Frank

jane1144

Just put your age in two different ways...that will tell you. I use Autoeurope, a broker, that finds the best rate.

Christina

Where did you get that idea from, in the first place?

Hertz' website doesn't say there is such a surcharge just that some franchise offices may not allow you to rent over a certain age. For CDG, there is nothing noted under the "age" information tag if you ask for a quote, so I presume they don't. But since you know eactly where you want to rent, you could call that one office to ask, I suppose (or first try the general Hertz info but I somewhat doubt that would know).

don't know what kyak is

Pegontheroad

I usually rent a car for all or part of my European trips, and my age has never been a problem. I am now 80 years old and have rented a car in Europe for at least the last 13 years.

I don't think I've been charged extra because of my age.

I suggest that you call U.S. offices of the companies from whom you want to rent to ascertain their policies.

traveller1959

Europcar does not charge for older drivers, only for younger ones.

Sarastro

Many rental companies do charge extra for those over 70 and some will not rent to those over 70. This question has come up before the sure way to avoid an age problem is to lease rather than rent.

I would not use Hertz or Avis if you plan on dropping off the car at some location other than CDG as they both charge extra to change an in France drop off. Citer, Sixt, or Europcar will not charge.

No problem checking with sites such as kyak or directly with any of the rental companies but I would always check with Autoeurope. European rentals can be tricky for those from other areas of the world so know what it is you are agreeing to; there can be a lot of hidden charges and fees which are not included in the quotes.

You don´t say specifically Frank, and maybe it doesn´t apply, but allow me to point out that you do not want to rent a car from CDG if you are arriving after an all night, transatlantic flight. Take the train to your first destination and hire a car the following day after you have rested and adjusted a bit to the time zone changes.

janisj

Use Autoeurope to find your rental -- it will hook you up to the best fit for your specific situation -- age, length of rental, pick up/drop off locations etc.

traveller1959

I have to disagree, Sarastro. Better book directly with the rental car company.

Last week, I had a very bad experience with Autoeurope. Autoeurope is a broker, and they do not have full information on the terms and conditions of the rental car companies. So, there can be surprises which you do not really want.

I do not know where the information about age discrimination comes from. But here in Europe, we have laws that prohibit age discrimination. So, charging a fee for drivers beyond a certain age would be illegal.

Better book directly with Europcar, Sixt or Citer, even if brokers like Autoeurope may be 3 per cent cheaper. You will be on the safe side.

Whathello

Something to do with risking a 'tête à queue' maybe ?

feghbali

Thanks for all the good information. Autoeurope first questionnaire asks has age 25-69 to check mark and when you scroll on the ? mark it says there will be extra charge!

Christina

I'm sure even in Europe, they can charge different amounts based on age if it relevant to something, they do in France for young ages. Mostly they limit certain rentals by age, though (too old or too young). But this is from Hertz.fr, so I'm sure it is legal to have different fees based on some age group (Groupe 1 is a certain kind of car):

<<GROUPE 1 : 21 ans moyennant un supplément jeune conducteur de 37,13 € TTC par jour (jusqu'à 25 ans), plafonné à 445,54 € TTC par location. >>

And logically, saying you can't do age discrimination would apply just to allowing a rental at all, not only an extra fee, and they won't rent certain kinds of cars to people under age 30 (luxury ones, I think).

Europcar also has such age-related rental fees for young ages, eg if you put in an age of 20 you get a fee description like:
<<Le prix inclut Surcharge jeune conducteur Inclus (EUR 295.97) - Peut être retiré ci-dessous dans "Choisir mes options" ou à la prochaine étape.>>

Autoeurope's front page has that note in general as it applies to all countries, not just France, and some do that. And it doesn't say there will be a fee but there "may" be one, to check the terms. But if you actually got a quote on Autoeurope and put in your age, the terms on the quote would tell you if it had such a surcharge or not (and it doesn't, they have youth surcharges in France, but I don't think they have old age surcharges).

janisj

feghbali: >> Autoeurope first questionnaire asks has age 25-69 to check mark and when you scroll on the ? mark it says there will be extra charge!<<

It doesn't say that at all. It says there 'may' be an extra charge -- big (HUGE) difference

aliced

Husband rented our car from Avis in September (from Bordeaux) and he was just shy of his 73d birthday; don't believe everything you're told. He price-shopped everywhere for a good deal and no one said he was too old.

StCirq

My father rented cars through AutoEurope until he was 81 and never paid extra do to so....maybe because he had decades of auto rentals in Europe behind him, but as janisj says there is nothing that says there WILL be an extra charge.

You can always call them and ask. In fact, I rented cars through AutoEurope for more than 30 years and would never have just gone online to do a rental. They have excellent sales reps and will answer any questions you have over the phone. So for heavens' sake, CALL them. You shouldn't be renting a car online without talking to a human.

My kids, on the other hand, paid a fair bit extra (like 20-30 euros per day) to rent cars in Europe when they were 20-25.