When traveling in Europe, we have always arranged our rental car thru one of the companies you'll see mentioned on this website. We've had good luck.

For an upcoming trip, a friend of mine who lived for years in Germany, suggested I contact the local travel agency in Germany near where he lived.

I checked it out, and I was surprised how much I saved on this week-long rental.

I wonder if anyone else has a similar finding.
Also, I won't quote companies or names, as I know this board is not for promotional efforts. I will add to this posting when we return from Spain near the end of May, to report on whether the deal was smooth.

EK

I'm skeptical without knowing the details or the name of the companies. I've tried a few times to see what the price would be with the rental agencies in France (Hertz, Europcar), and it has always been higher than what Kemwel or AutoEurope offered, or about the same price but with a different coverage: limited mileage, a deductible, a one-way drop-off fee.

I don't understand why you won't post the car rental company. After all, plenty of people post about AutoEurope, Kemwell, Hertz, Europcar, Economy Car Rentals, et. al.

Posting the car rental company would be giving complete information and may help others. Why post at all if you're going to withhold the company name.

"<i>Also, I won't quote companies or names, as I know this board is not for promotional efforts.</i>"

That rule is about advertising -- not about sharing useful information.

W/o knowing the details who knows what's what. Basically - as it is - your post is pretty useless. Also -- are you sure you compared apples to apples? Insurance and such can make a huge difference in rates.

Wow, folks.
The point is that maybe you can get a better price by booking thru a travel agency located in Europe. It's an idea or a suggestion. Wondered if anyone else had found similar pricing.

Sounds as if the Fodors Posting Police are monitoring

EK

Without knowing the name of the travel agency in Europe, how can we even begin a search for price comparisons?

"<i>Wondered if anyone else had found similar pricing.</i>"

Sorta hard to tell . . . W/o knowing what you are paying, and what options are included.

But if your message is simply that it pays to shop around -- yep, that's a good idea.

ekellyga, please we all would like to know, you say you are using a company located in Germany to rent a car in Spain.>?
Please as those before me have asked give us the details. thank you.

[email protected]

Here is the email address of the travel agency that I used. The "main guy" there is Jerry. Years of experience. He's from Chicago, so if you call them, you can use English. This travel agency is located in Ansbach, Germany.

For one of the replies, I am thinking there are thousands of travel agents "over there" who you could contact to get a quote and make a price comparison.

ekellyga,

I went to the web site. I could not get a one-way rental. Renting from Bordeaux for 31 days for a compact (standard, automatic?) would cost me 1100€ ($1600 at today's rate of exchange). I got the same type of car (standard shift) for the same amount of time but a one-way rental for $785.31 from Kemwel although its recently posted price for the same rental is about $200 higher. I will have to pay the road tax and the train station pick-up, but the total price will still be much lower than 1100€. I did chose a "basic" rental, and I do not know if an inclusive rental might come close to or exceed what Reisebüro Rupp offers. It does pay to shop around, but I think that for those countries where the "basic" rate is available, the rate offered by AutoEurope or Kemwel is hard to beat.

you emailed Jerry for a quote???

No. I went to the web site. But I doubt that he could cut the price in half to meet what I am paying, nor should one expect Reisebüro Rupp to meet that price since theirs is an inclusive rental.

One note, I have always been very satisfied with Auto Europe and I guess I shall use them again.

I think you probably can get a better deal IF you know someone locally who can set you up personally. For most of us, that isn't possible when we are traveling.

<i>I think you probably can get a better deal IF you know someone locally who can set you up personally.</i>

I think that this is a myth, or wishful thinking--that personal service or connections will be better than what is offered as a standard, not compared to what that same agency offers walk-in traffic but what a large volume broker can offer. Brokers who have a high volume probably get better deals from the rental agencies.

As Michael says, I too would think it probably does not make a difference to know a person and get a direct quote as opposed to shopping it online and booking online.

That is why I started this posting thread, as I was quite surprised at the price I received when I checked with Jerry at that travel agency in Ansbach Germany.

I did not know that "they" had a website for booking online. See my earlier posting that lists his email address, and let me know if you give him a try for booking any type of travel. He usually takes a day or so to return your email. It might be worth a try, but who knows, maybe my savings scenario was a one time fluke.

I know that next time I travel, I will have him give me a quote.
EK