David

Anybody have experience with this company for car rentals in Europe? <BR> <BR>I am renting a car for a week in Italy next month. Auto Europe quoted me a price $250 higher than a National car rental price reserved through Travelocity -- for the same type of car, including taxes, fees, etc. When I asked about their "won't be beat" guarantee, they indeed cut the rental price lower than National's. However, they require payment in advance to reserve the car, whereas National does not. <BR> <BR>I haven't used Auto Europe before, and am wondering how reliable they are, especially since their initial quote to me was so high. <BR> <BR>Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Rex

My own experiences with AutoEurope are 100% favorable (almost a dozen times), and the consensus experience on this board is probably well over 90% favorable. While they do give better rates for pre-payment, they have a strong reputation for no cancellation penalty (and full refund) right up to the minute you are scheduled to pick up the car. <BR> <BR>Kep in mind that they have no cars of their own. You may indeed still be with National through AutoEurope. I have a very high impression of the toll-free (still can cost you to call trans-atlantic) service available from AutoEurope, 24/24. Still you could theoretically find SOME advantage, I suppose in renting directly from National, if the price is the same. for example, I recently got a mailing from National that all Emerald Aisle rentals now get free fill-up service at local gas station prices. I don't suspect that this is avilable in many europe markets (yet?) - - but it might be worth checking. <BR> <BR>Best wishes, <BR> <BR>Rex <BR>www.rexbickers.italy.com <BR>

Ed

Excellent experiences with AutoEurope. Prepayment is their normal mode of doing business.

Monica

Rented a car for Germany through Auto Europe. Just remember to keep all receipts, which we did. When we got the final bill, they charged us for a full tank of gas; however, we had done that, so after going through our bank, we were reimbursed. Also, they charged us for a more expensive car when they shouldn't have.

Bob Brown

I am 3 for 3 with Avis through AutoEurope for successful rentals. <BR>As others said, Auto Europe does not rent cars; it makes a deal for you with established companies. I would call it a broker rather than a car rental company. <BR>Last year in Lausanne, I had an offer of a lower price through another company, but stuck with Avis because the office is close to the train station and I knew exactly how to find it and how to get out of town!! <BR>Also, Avis in Interlaken is very good about picking you up at the train station or dropping you off. Also they did not hassle us about the car when we turned it in. <BR>

StCirq

I've rented more than 50 cars from AutoEurope and had only one problem - a car that was malfunctioning, which the company replaced after a few phone calls. Their policy, at least with regard to my rentals, has been to require prepayment of one-third the cost, two-thirds upon turning the car in in good shape. I wouldn't hesitate to deal with them.

xx

Another vote for Auto-Europe. No problems, they deliver what they promise.

Jean

We got a good weekly rental price with Auto Europe and were pleased. Their prices beat the other rental agencies by far. <BR>The only negative in dealing with them was in picking up our car. We were supposed to pick up the car in Florence at 1:00 p.m. We ended up waiting in line for 1 hr. & 50 min. Everyone in line had reservations, so it wasn't like we could go to the front of the line because we had reservations and they didn't. When someone checked with the Auto Europe people to see what the problem was, they just said they were moving us through as fast as they could. <BR>I may have chalked this up as just an extremely busy day, or a day short on employees, but when we returned the car a week later (same Florence location), the line to pick up cars was as long as the one we had waited in. (We didn't have to wait in a line when we dropped off the car; it was simple.)

sandi

Ditto.

CBC

Sandi - "ditto" to Jean, or "ditto" to xx?

liz

Had 2 great experiences with AutoEurope. The first time we scheduled a Sunday pickup in paris. When we returned to our hotel one day, the concierge at our hotel told us that someone called from the local car rental agency saying we could not pickup Sunday but on Monday instead. I called AutoEurope immediately on their toll free number & explained the situation. they called back within 15 minutes and said it's been resolved - you can pick the car up on Sunday. When the concierge asked how we made out, I explained that we were all set for Sunday & he gave me a smirk & said "we'll see". A woman met us at 9AM as promised and was surprsingly pleasant. <BR> <BR>

Sherry

I have used AutoEurope a couple of times to rent in Europe with no problems. I only caution you that if you buy the package including insurance that they tell you if there is a deductible amount if you have an accident. The last time I rented from them, it would have cost me up to $250 deductible if I would have had any kind of fender bender even with the CDW. I was unable to purchase additional insurance at the time. You do not want to be surprised with a bill for several hundred dollars if you have an accident. This may not be the case with your rental, but I would double check were I you.