AutoEurope: Reserve Spain Car Rental through UK vs US Site?
 

Hello,

We are looking to rent a car in Malaga and drop-off at Seville. Our Amex card will cover the insurance if we decline the CDW.

The rate on the AutoEurope UK site is 117GBP "Inclusive" (About US$223). The rate for the same car, same dates on the AutoEurope US site is US$607 (basic)!

I called AutoEurope and the guy said that to get the lower rates, I'd have to reserve the car through the UK site.

There is also a "Price includes refundable excess" option for 124GBP for the same car, dates.

If I understand this correctly, if I choose the 117GBP inclusive rate and an accident occurs, our deductible will be 555GBP (per info attached below).

If I choose the 124GBP option, then the deductible is covered and we'd be liable for nothing should something happens.

Are those correct assumptions???? And if we rent from the UK site and select those insurance, our Amex coverage is no longer valid (?)

Is there any reason NOT to rent from the UK site instead of the US site?

Has anybody else rented through the UK site instead of the US site?

Thanks for your insights!

Below is the information from the AutoEurope UK Site.

The Rental Includes:
* V.A.T. as of Booking Date: 31-Oct-2006. Liability Insurance for injuries or damages to persons or things outside the vehicle.
* Rental includes Collision Damage coverage and Theft Protection for the vehicle. Rental limits potential vehicle damage or loss liability to an excess of approx. GBP 555.
* Unlimited mileage and fire insurance. Airport Surcharge for rentals commencing at an airport.

RENTAL DOES NOT INCLUDE

* Insurance coverage for personal injuries to driver or passengers. Optional coverage may be offered locally for an additional fee.
* Optional coverage may be available locally at an additional cost that will reduce the insurance excess.
* Local toll, highway fees, or travel stickers required by local authorities.
* Fuel. Client is advised to return the vehicle with a full fuel tank and to retain a copy of final receipt for their records.

Insurance and Excess Refund
Most suppliers will request a deposit at the start of the rental to cover any potential damage to the vehicle. In the event of damage to the vehicle a part or all of this amount may be charged to you. Where the "Excess Refund" is shown as included in the price you can then reclaim the amount charged from Auto Europe provided that you send a copy of the accident report form from the supplier, a police report form and proof of payment to Auto Europe.

Hi TC,

I have use both AE and AE UK.

They are the same company.

If you call the US number, you can arrange to have the car booked through the UK office.

>* Rental includes Collision Damage coverage and Theft Protection for the vehicle.<

If you do this, your credit card will not cover you. However, the refundable excess option is quite cheap, and Yes, they will reimburse you.

Read the fine print, not everything is covered.

((I))

Hello Ira,

Thanks for your reply. And I think it was a previous post by you that made me check the AE UK site so thanks for that too! :)

I wouldn't have otherwise thought to look there. The UK prices are much lower than the US prices.

The only difference (besides price) is the insurance choices. The US site offers Basic and Inclusive whereas the UK site offers Inclusive and Refundable Excess.

I did read the Terms and Conditions. The refundable excess option is only 8GBP more and covers everything but windows, wheels, underside, interior, towing charges.

Sounds like a pretty good deal!

Hi TC,

Your post made me go look at AE and AEUK for my May, 2007 trip to Europe.

For my dates, the US is currently cheaper than the UK.

I would jump on your UK deal.

Remember, you can always cancel without penalty.

((I))

We rented our cars thru AE-UK and purchased the refundable excess version. Our price was much cheaper and we had no problems with the return of the car or any extra fees beyond the Italy driving tax and extra driver fee.

We had a car with lots of scratches already, which I prefer, that way I don't need to worry about returning a perfect car. We even got kissed while the car was parked and the damage wasn't a problem.

What is the exact URL for AutoEurope-UK?????

never mind..found it using Google.

I have been advised (by AutoEurope staff!) that to get the cheapest rates, you set the home country as Belgium or Portugal and pay in euros by credit card. Once you present the voucher, there is no way that the car rental company can complain about your actual home address -- since your purported "home country" does not appear on the car rental voucher.

Use Skycars...forget the rest.
My wife an I have used Skycars to book rental cars here in Spain many times. We get a car from Europcar outlets but approx. 20 euro per day cheaper. The service from Europcar and Skycars is excellent, the staff at Europcar speak good English. We always get the car we request,the checkout is fast and eff.
No problems wath so ever.

Check this link www.skycars.com

Last month I rented a car in Italy through the UK website. Everything was great but there are some factors to consider. There is a foreign currency charge assessed by Amex to factor in. This will affect your bottom line. Also if you drop your car off a day early you will not get credited for the unused amount of the rental. Not huge but good to have pointed out.

Hi K,

>I have been advised (by AutoEurope staff!) that to get the cheapest rates, you set the home country as Belgium or Portugal...<

Well, the Belgium site is charging in Euro the same as the US site is asking in Dollars for my rental dates.

Portugal isn't listed as a home country.

((I))

Thanks for your replies!

Based on Kerouac's comment, I too checked AE's other country sites and still found the prices higher.

Skycar prices were high too.

Ahotpoet brought up the foreign transaction fee charge (I believe 2% with Amex, 3% with just about everyone else except Capital One).

Let's say you reserve the car and the charge on your CC is the amount + 3%. What happens if you cancel?

Do you get credited for the amount and 3%? Or do you get credited for the amount and charged another 3% because the credit was in another currency? I haven't called the cc company to ask about this yet.

Back to the rental cars...I've checked various sites mentioned in postings - AE, Carjet, Nova, Argus, Skycars, Hispacar, Europcar, etc.

Prices are all over the place.

For example a 3 day rental of an Automatic Ford Mondeo ranged from about US$125 to well over $200.

I started out looking at manual cars but the automatics weren't that much more so why not? :)

I think with rental cars, there is no one best company...it all depends on when, where and what you're renting.

The only fact that I can add to this is that Eurocar was having a special on mid-sized cars. We got a 4 door mid size for less than their otherwise cheapest car. Check out the sales. BS

Hi TC,

>Let's say you reserve the car and the charge on your CC is the amount + 3%. What happens if you cancel? <

Your CC company will charge you 3% to make the reservation in GBP.

When you cancel, AE UK will credit your account in GBP. Your CC will charge you 3% to convert back to USD.

((I))

Kerouac, I checked into your "home country" thing and I got a much better rate for the same car with the same itinerary. I went to europcar.uk and used Portugal as my country. It was at least a 25% dfference from europcar.com with USA as my home country.

Hi Ira,

<When you cancel, AE UK will credit your account in GBP. Your CC will charge you 3% to convert back to USD.>

I checked with Amex and they say that when the amount is credited, the 2% (Amex charges up to 2%) will be credited too.

Hi TC,

That's a good reason for using AMEX.

((I))

Just to update my post above. I continually went back to Europcar trying different combinations of country website and country of residence. The US website and US residence was constant at 977 Euros for my request while it was 422 for the UK website and Portugal as country of residence (Belgium got the same rate). Then, out of nowhere the same 422 Euro rate came up with the France website and US as country of residence.

I guess it pays to keep trying.