Autoeurope or direct booking
 

We will be in Northern Spain in late June with our son who will drive. I need to book our car. Question: Is there any advantage or disadvantage to booking through Autoeurope which lets you decide as you book which rental company to use vs. booking direct with the specific rental company. I've looked and found different rates but it's hard to know if you are comparing identical experiences with so many variables, e.g. different car models, different terms--with and without collision damage waiver, etc.

For those of you with recent experience booking cars in Europe, please weigh in on the advantages or disadvantages of booking through Auto Europe or directly with the specific car company. Thanks.

You do pay AutoEurope up front which is often not the case when you book directly with a specific company. But if you cancel within, I think, 48 hours, you get your money back. Check both options. Our experience with AutoEurope, multiple times in recent years, including earlier this month in Italy, has been excellent.We like the fact that AutoEurope is located in the US (Maine); many of the rental car companies in Europe (even with US brands) are owned and managed in Europe. I like dealing with a US based company, when I get home, if there is an issue. We have found AutoEurope's rates for companies like Hertz to be lower than booking direct with Hertz.And, the biggest thing is that AutoEurope often offers two rates, one with and one without full insurance. Usually, the rental car companies want you to handle that at the counter when you have other things on your mind. I think we once paid Hertz direct $30 plus a day for full coverage in Italy; AutoEurope it seems is about $10/day. Big difference. And, we have never had a discussion at the counter about up-selling when we have booked via AutoEurope.

One of the main reasons I like AutoEurope is the 24 hour customer service. Many agency locations in Europe are franchises so you are not dealing with the main Hertz/Avis/whatever CS staff. If there is any sort of issue it is great to have the toll free number in Maine and they deal with most any problem.

Hi Julie,
We book with Auto Europe (or its sister company, Kemwel) 4+ times a year in Spain, Portugal and France and have been doing so for many years, since 1996, for the reason that janisj and whitehall mention: the 24-hour customer service and toll-free number in Maine to resolve any issues during, or most importantly, after the rental. As whitehall mentions, we do pay in advance, but if we need to cancel within 48 hours our money is refunded. And in our experience they will match competitors' rates. We just don't see a downside with them and have been more than satisfied with our personal experience.

We almost always book with Autoeurope online, have never needed their customer support to sort anything out since we've never had issues (so far). We use them several times a year, we'll be using them in a couple of weeks time in Corsica and then Sweden. The pricing is the advantage, the prepayment option is convenient for us. Other similar companies that we use are rentalcars.com and economycarrentals.com. The cancellation policy is generous too, refunds for bookings cancelled upto 48 hours before pickup date for full refund. We use the UK storefront and have a separate insurance policy to cover any shortfall in the deductable.

Thanks so much for so many recommendations and comparisons. Very reassuring. Especially interesting to learn that that many of the direct rental companies want you to deal with insurance issues as you are picking up your car which explains why I've been having so much trouble trying to figure out whether I've been comparing apples to apples or to oranges. I'm pretty confident from your responses that my initial thought of going with Auto Europe is the right one. Thanks for such useful information.

I believe you will be happy with your decision regarding AE. I booked a rate with them about 6 months ago for a German trip in June. When I rechecked the rate about 3 weeks ago, I found it had dropped by about $100 USD. When I called AE customer service, the rate was reduced by the $100 plus about another $22 when the representative found a better rate. In many tears of dealing directly with the major rental car companies, I have never had that experience.

I opted for the full coverage as dealing with Avis several years ago regarding a rock chip in the windshield was a 6 month process, even though I had American Express premium coverage.

I don't need rentals anymore, but for 30+ years I booked with AutoEurope and was glad I did. Their 24-hour English-language help line was of unimaginable help to me the few times I needed it. I think they deserve mega-awards for their customer service, and I don't suggest that lightly.

So nice to hear so many good experiences. Thank you all. I'm booking today.

Always get full insurance from Auto Europe
 

That should be "within 48 hours of your rental beginning". You'll also find that since AE is a broker, they have some excellent discount rates once you add up all the numbers.

I know I am a bit late to the game, but we recently booked our car with Autoeurope and everything went smoothly

We used Auto Europe after getting reassurances on this site and it worked very well. Thank you all.