tish519

we are traveling to provence for 3 days, Nov. 25-27 renting a car from avignon tgv station from sunday and return it on tuesday.

Any advice as to whether it is better to rent on the spot, or book ahead in the U.S.?
thanks. : )

Dukey

I don't see what the advantage of waiting is unless you think for some reason you'll get a discount by doing so.

janisj

You generally save quite a bit if you book ahead from home. Walk up rates in Europe tend to be higher.

Check out autoeurope.com - they often have the best all-inclusive rates (but not always)

kerouac

For 3 days and up, book through AutoEurope. I do a regular price check and they always come up cheapest. The only exception is for 2 weeks and up (when you are not driving 500km a day), sometimes you can get a better deal from the rental companies themselves on the net, at least for bigger cars. (Since I always rent compacts or sub compacts, this doesn't apply to me.)

TPAYT

Definitely book ahead. The "Smart Cars" are fun if you can get one.

If you don't book a car ahead of time, you may find no cars available.

Underhill

Booking ahead is especially important if you want a specific class of car and/or automatic transmission.

ira

Hi t,

You will almost always get a lower rate booking ahead.

Try www.gemut.com, www.autoeurope.com, www.novacarhire.com.

TimS

I've been pleased with AutoEurope. Their site will quote you two rates, basic and complete. If your credit card covers car insurance in Europe, choose the basic rate, decline CDW coverage, and save yourself some money.

astein12

I recommend Kemwel. They're a consolidator and will beat any rate out there.

Just book with them and then search every few days for a better rate. When you find one, just email or call and they'll beat it. Has worked very well for me in the past.

blackduff

<b>Author: TimS
Date: 10/19/2007, 01:17 pm
I've been pleased with AutoEurope. Their site will quote you two rates, basic and complete. If your credit card covers car insurance in Europe, choose the basic rate, decline CDW coverage, and save yourself some money</b>

I have often people say that declining the CDW coverage. I looked into this once and it shows the coverage is up to ??? amount. If you kill someone, you might be dead too.

Blackduff

mari5

It's MUCH easier and less expensive to arrange the rental in the U.S.before leaving home.
(one time in Italy we wanted a car for just ONE day.........and I called from Italy back to the U.S. to get it reserved, and came out ahead!)
Try several of the majors; Hertz, Avis, etc as well as AutoEurope. The latter, AutoEurope are brokers for the majors and will usually get you the best rate for that country.
It's MUCH better also to prepay in FULL and get a voucher to have in hand when you get to the counter overseas.
Auto Europe use to have a partial pay in U.S. and the remaining at pickup. I never liked that ,but now you can prepay , I think.
Three days is a daily rate...5 days qualifies for a weekly rate.
Oh, I wish we were traveling back to Provence for a nice weekend in Nov!!!

justretired

When we booked (and paid) in advance for our three week vacation in Provence (which ends tomorrow), we found that AutoEurope and Kemwel are now the same company. They merged, or one bought the other, or something like that. Their web pages might list slightly different prices, due to differing deals the original companies made with the actual rental companies, so just take the lowest.

We rented through Kemwel (we did it by phone, and the rep. chose the one with the lower Price). We pre-paid, and were given a car through EuropeCar. We've rented through them in the past. We were given a nice diesel, and we've been very happy with it. We'll return it tomorrow in Avignon, at the TGV station. I checked on the coverage from my credit card, and declined the CDW (Collision Damage Waiver).

Larry

ira

Hi B,

&gt; have often people say that declining the CDW coverage. I looked into this once and it shows the coverage is up to ??? amount. If you kill someone, you might be dead too.&lt;

CDW and CC coverage is for the car only. The rental agency carries insurance to cover 3rd party liability.

If your CC covers you with no deductible, it is much better than the CDW.

astein12

Kemwel is a consolidator. Yes, you may end up with a car from AutoEurope, but my last two rentals thru them came thru as with Sixt.

Gretchen

NO doubt. Rent here. And use AutoEurope. It is a consolidator. You will get the best price.

janisj

astein12: &quot;<i>Kemwel is a consolidator. Yes, you may end up with a car from AutoEurope</i>&quot;

Autoeurope doesn't have cars - it is also a broker. Maybe you meant EuropeCar.

miller04

Just a word of caution about AutoEurope. You must prepay for the full rental and then get a &quot;voucher&quot; to take to a third party car rental company, the name of that company is only disclosed to you after you have paid for the car rental in full. At the rental counter, the car rental company asked to scan our credit card for security, said it was in case we damaged the car, and we were surprized to see that they actually made a $1,200 charge to our card. Okay... Then after we are home from Europe, having returned the car full of gas and in perfect condition, we find another charge against our credit card for a &quot;fee&quot; AutoEurope now says was not included in the voucher price we prepaid them a month before our trip. I was never advised in my telephone reservation that there was an additional fee that was not included in the price quoted, yet my credit card was charged $45 for &quot;airport rental surcharge&quot;. When I called AutoEurope, the surley customer service agent agreed that the additional fee is only disclosed in the fine print of the voucher, which voucher you don't see until after you have paid in full. I have no idea why that fee would not be included in the price quoted, because of course I reserved a car to be picked up at the airport, but I am sorry now that I didn't deal directly with a car rental company.

ekscrunchy

I can't address the other points in the post above, but I always inquire of Autoeurope which company will handle the actual rental. Autoeurope will tell you if you ask, before you pay. The rental office always takes a credit card and blocks out an amount to insure against damage to the vehicle. Another tip: Be sure that the person who rents the car is the actual driver, because the person who pays for the car is the one who is covered if damage occurs. This seems elementary but we did not follow it and got burned after a mishap last fall in France.

ekscrunchy

..one more thing: For my most recent trip to France, a few months ago, we used Kemwell who offered better rates than Autoeurope. I think the companies are related and it pays to check both for the best price.

StCirq

You don't have to wait until you get the voucher from AutoEurope before they &quot;disclose&quot; the name of the company. First of all, you can look it up on their website. Second of all, if you have half a brain you ask where you'll be picking up the car - name of the company and location.

And yes, they'll charge your credit card upon arrival even if you've paid in full, as will any car rental company. If you've declined the CDW, expect that to be a sizable charge, which will be removed when you return the car in good condition.