La_Tour_de_Cause

Hi. We're living in SW France, and want to rent a car to drive from Toulouse area, through Italy and up to see our daughter in Prague, then return the car to CDG (Paris) . The car companies I've looked at all seem to say the rental car can't be driven into Czech Republic. Do you think the info is outdated now that Czech Republic is part of EU? Has anybody found a car company that will let us do this?

rex

I was under the understanding that they all will - - you just have to stipulate it up front - - they have to do some extra paperwork, and there is an extra charge. Talk to www.autoeurope.com (telephone them after you have looked at the website).

Best wishes,

Rex

viennese

It is not a matter of being a member of the EU. Some type of cars are likely to be stolen more often than others in certain countries (e.g. Mercedes in Italy). Therefore the rental car company may issue restrictions.

Wayne

I have never heard of an extra charge for going into a specific country with your rental car, as expressed by Rex. I do know that I have rented from both Avis and Hertz and have driven into many of the eastern European countries without a problem and without an extra charge. Good luck.

viennese

I looked for the rental conditions on www.sixt.com and here is what I found: no surcharge, but restrictions regarding car / country:

Territorial Restrictions
Cross Border Rentals are allowed to the following countries:
Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, San Marino, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Vatican City.
Audi, VW and Jaguar vehicles may not be taken into Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovak Republic and Slovenia. Mercedes-Benz and BMW cars may additionally not be taken into Corsica and Italy.
In case of offence against Cross Border & Territorial Restrictions all insurances lose their validity

cmeyer54

my husband was unable to take his rental car from Germany to Prague in June. They said it was due to higher theft rates. he took the train instead.

rex

Perhaps I should have said "it may cost extra". My understanding from talking to an agent from AutoEurope is that they negotiate a variety of deals from car rental companies. Sometimes the best rates they can get from one of a number of companies might not allow travel into former "Soviet bloc" countries. So you get another rate, not quite as low.

julies

We've driven into the Czech Rebublic from Germany and from Austria several times. Not all rental companies will allow their cars into the formerly eatern bloc countries. This has to be arranged ahead of time with the rental agency (whether you are renting directly or going through a broker). Sometimes the rate is a bit higher. In the past you would be stopped at the border and asked whether you had the paperwork allowing the car to go into those countries. Recently this hasn't happened to us. Also, certain types of cars won't be allowed in, but that has never made a difference because we always go for the smaller less fancy cars with cheaper rental rates. Last summer we rented a car in Frankfurt and drove into Poland and the Czech Republic. We used Sixt.

La_Tour_de_Cause

Thanks for all your responses. I'll start calling the companies directly rather than trying to use the internet sites, which sometimes lack all the details. I've usually used AutoEurope or Europcar, so I'll call them, and I'll also called Sixt. Hopefully a telephone agent can be of more help than the websites. Thanks again for all your help!

La_Tour_de_Cause

Just a little addendum...called AutoEurope, and they've allowed my travel through Czech Republic. Funny, because their website clearly states "* Cars may not travel into Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, or any other Eastern European country."
But now that I've booked the car, the notes at the bottom of my reservation voucher say "*Travel is permitted into the following countries: Czech Republic, Croatia, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia & all Western Europen countries. Travel must be noted on voucher at time of booking."
Guess their website needs updating?

rex

I encountered the same contradiction with Autoeurope last May - - well sort of - - when I tried to book in February (3 months ahead), the website said no go to CR/Poland, and the telephone agent said the said the same thing. But he said I should try back again, later in the spring.

So I booked through affrodablepoland.com - - though I was nervous about it because they were an unknown to me (for what it's worth, this was actually pick up in Vienna and return to Graz, traveling THROUGH the CR and PL as part of the rental.)

But I tried later, about a month before the trip, and Auto Europe was able to rent to me. This was when I had the telephone conversation about differeing rates being available for different conditions, due to AutoEurope's continuous renegotiation of rates, etc.

I sense that it is not so different from the airlines. The rules change all the time. They reflect supply and demand.

aeiger

Hi
I just wanted to addmy 2c. I just rented a car through Autoeurope for Poland at the end of September. When you go on the autoeurope site there is a small box that asks if you are going to take the car in certain central and eastern european countries. I know last year we could not rent a car in Italy to drive into Croatia. We rented in Slovenia instead and had no problems. The issue is car theft in these countries. I rented in Czech rep before w/o problems. I also take the CDW when I am traveling in eastern/central europe. I have been using autoeurope for many years and have always been accomadated.
alan