>>I just cannot comprehend the difference in the cost for a car rented through Autoeurope when using one of the alternate sites.<<

That kinda bothers me too. What's the old saying "if it seems too good to be true - it probaby is"

I am still worried that:

If I get an inclusive rental through the French site and I present a US drivers license, will they give me a car and if so, will I be covered by insurance. Perhaps the insurance only covers French or EU residents.

If I decline insurance (with no deduction in rate) and have a claim, will the US CC insurance company find a way to not pay since I paid for insurance (but declined CDW). Note that Michael indicated that he witnessed someone who was NOT allowed to decline CDW???

Note - so far in this thread, no US resident has really rented a car (reserved, picked-up, returned, and received final billing) yet through the FR or Spanish site. That worries me. I have a huge amount of confidence with renting through AE in Maine - I'm worried about renting through an affiliate in Europe.

Repeat - "if it seems too good to be true - it probaby is".

Stu Dudley

Stu. I am almost tempted to call Autoeurope in the US and ask a question about the billing difference.
I have doubts that I would easily get someone on the phone that could answer the question, but maybe I would get lucky and there would be someone available for an explanation.
For this next trip, I did buy trip insurance that included car rental coverage with no problem about declining or accepting the CDW from the car rental company.
I needed to buy the insurance anyway, so I just picked a policy that included rental insurance.
After many rentals in Europe, I have never had an accident and I too would be more comfortable if I could find someone who had rented through one of the alternate sites and submitted a claim.
Afterall, the difference in cost would go a long way toward extras on our trip but not at any risk I must say.

If you call AE, get the long term/lease "desk". Perhaps ask for Manny if he is still there. I think the "senior" people work the long term rental desk.

Stu Dudley

I rent two or three cars a month through AutoEurope. They are almost always supplied by Europcar, which bare glances at the voucher -- all they want is to get the name to check their reservation system. (Half of the employees know me now and don't even look at the voucher when they see me walk up to the counter.)

There is nothing about nationality on any AutoEurope voucher -- or on a car rental contract. I don't see how anybody could possibly worry about that angle.

However, for those who are really worried, I advise paying through the nose at the US site -- it probably helps to keep the rates down for the rest of us. And don't forget to refuse any discounts that you might find on airline tickets while you're at it. ;)

Well.
I decided to call Autoeurope. I called the US number.

I got a very nice person on the phone who immediately knew about the difference in the price and called it "ethnic" pricing.
He advised not to do it BUT when I asked him if I had a voucher from Autoeurope.es or Autoeurope.uk when I appeared at the rental counter in Portugal, what would the agents at a particular agency know or care.

To that he had no answer. He just advised not to do it but would not commit if it was illegal. Also, he would not commit if the said agent would stop you.

I didn't get into accidents, etc with him.

He insisted that I was getting ethnic pricing from Carjet, with whom I have rented in Portugal before. I told him that at no time did Carjet ask nor did they care where I was from, he had no answer but insisted that I should not do it because it was ethnic pricing and somehow in his mind was not exactly correct.

Needless to say, I am not renting a car from Autoeurope when I can get one from Carjet for half cost.

AutoEurope-US is just trying to milk Americans for anything it can get. They would probably also advise you against having a Portuguese friend rent a car and just put you on the contract as an additional driver. They wouldn't know exactly why, but it would just be so much better if you rented directly from them instead....

"AutoEurope-US is just trying to milk Americans for anything it can get."

Is that why on my most recent rental with them (which I confirmed on the phone) I said I wanted the full insurance, but the agent firmly kept telling me why it was foolish to do that if I had coverage on the credit card? I kept saying, it was just easier and is what we always did, but he told me I really should check with the card first and then call back, especially since the UK rental would not only cost me a lot for insurance through them, but also would not give me a zero deductible like my credit card might. He was right, and we later confirmed without the insurance. AutoEurope would have made a considerable profit on selling us their insurance, but their agent TALKED me out of it. That's not what I call "milking Americans for anything they can get".

Hi All,

Re: "Ethnic" pricing.

Different markets require different rates and offers to keep customers.

In the UK, CC cards don't offer insurance, so the brokers write contracts with CDW or Super CDW.

In the US, you can have ins on your CC, so the rate is higher, but you can decline CDW.

Germans just won't pay as much as Americans, nor will Brits, etc.

Why don't the US agents approve of "ethnic" pricing? It cuts into their income.

((I))

Hi T,

>You may be unable to receive benefits in Australia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, and New Zealand. Please contact your vehicle rental agency before you travel.

I know that Ireland, Israel, Italy require CDW. With the possible exception of some MC Platinum cards, the CC companies won't offer insurance on cars rented there.

((I))

The credit card companies will offer insurance in Israel or Ireland, but with the caveat that the local car rental companies can refuse to accept it. It's a legal stipulation. I know from what I speak, as I used to manage the car rental insurance program for a credit card company.

Thanks for your reply Ira and others. So I'm thinking I'm safe (as safe as I can be) declining CDW and using my CC insurance since I am renting the car out of Germany.

And, I've learned more than I thought I ever would about car rental abroad!

Anyone ever used EuropeByCar? I think they are a consolidator. Filed a claim with them? They come up cheaper than AE, so I may present the offer from them to AE and be secure in knowing AE is a good rental company with good customer service.

Hi t,

Whenever you find a lower rate tell AE.

They usually cive a better price. If they can't, they will tell you why.

((I))

I agree with ira on that. One reason why sometimes AE is higher is that if you selected a pick up location or a return location specifically, you "tied their hands" as to which agency they must use, as those are specific addresses for Avis or Hertz or whomever. Sometimes when you call with another price they will suggest that they can match that price IF you switch your actual pick up location to another agency's.

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Has anyone had any experience with cars4holidays? They are a consolidator. I have reserved a car with them for 1 week in Spain in March. The car will be through Aurigacrown. They are MUCH cheaper than the quotes I got from AutoEurope using either the US or Spain site. I am a bit nervous about using an unknown company and wonder why they are so much less expensive.

Hi D,

Call ae, tell them about the lower rate and ask them to match it.

If they can't they will explain why.

((I))

I posted this in January. Since that time, has any North American renter tried using autoeurope.fr site instead of .com?

If so, any issues in practice that you think we can learn from?

Thanks Philp

Hi Philip --

I went ahead and reserved through the Italian version of the site. We translated everything while also walking through the US site, and the screens were identical. I'll know if it was problem-free after we return at the end of May. So, at least there is one person trying it...

Stay tuned!
Heather.

Did you call or just use their web site?

Remember, if you call, you can usually get additional discounts. Last week I got an AAA 10% discount from their "already discounted rate".

I'll also call on May 1 & ask them to check the current rates to see if they have been lowered. This saved us over $100 in '06.

Stu Dudley

I'm looking for a rental in May. I have a Capital One cc which I believe will provides insurance. Is American Express better due to easier handling of claims/customer service?

Philip, I booked with the fr site of autoeurope for a pickup and return in Madrid. My rate was inclusive, for 18 days it will be $34 per day. It was better than the ae.com site for price and car selection. Our rental is not until May so hopefully I will have nothing but positives to report after our trip ;;) Deborah

We have a group of 8 friends going to Florence on May 23rd.

Will any of y'all be back before then? I may see a trend here.

Philip

Terrific thread. We are going to Italy in May and last night I saved about $700 by using the Italian site instead of the US site.

My concern, however, is that I'll get stuck with Europcar, which gets awful reviews no matter where you look them up on the net. The Europcar site was even cheaper than AE, but I will pay the extra to AE to avoid the horror stories that others have reported. If AE books me through Europcar I guess it'll be back to square one.

Well, if I may add to the mix, when booking a car for pick up in Germany and driving to Croatia, I was given an extremely high deductible of $1500. (We've booked dozens of cars in Europe and have never been quoted this high deductible before this call.) I told Auto europe about my comparison rate of economycarrentals.com that was the same price but without any deductible. The agent, from the Maine office, said he could use the Europe website rather than the North American website to make the change for me so I would have no deductible.

It mayn't hurt to ask if they would do this for you.

While checking our credit card companies, we found the cc companies varied in coverages. Some didn't cover past 15 days, others didn't cover some countries. I would absolutely visit the cc company website and print out the coverages.

Good Luck!

Hi again, Philip --

We're not back until after Memorial Day (5/26) so I think I'll just miss being able to report on our experience.

Otherwise, to answer Stu, I booked using the website. I appreciate the tips, though, and might just call a bit closer to the date...

Thanks and good luck!

Hi D,

Are you sure that it was Europcar and not EuropAcar that had the bad reviews?

((I))

Hi esm,

Ask both CapitalOne and Amex to send you the details of the insurance coverage.

((I))

I really appreciate all of the information you have provided. I am going to Italy, so CDW is required. The deductible is quite high on both CDW and theft and since italy has one of the highest theft rates in the world.... I went to the Italy site and it was about $100 cheaper than the US site - however it was difficult to figure out what the cost would be for zero dedutible.

I went to the Auto Europe Canada site as someone suggested and the car rental included zero deductible on both the CDW and Theft plus a free upgrade. I called them to check - told them I was from the US - they don't care and were happy to help me. The cost was about $65 less and that includes zero deductible (not offered outright on the US site) We are only renting for 3 days so the prices are quite high so of course the savings are less than if we were renting for longer.

I think I am going to go with this rental - comfort factor plus English speaking with an 800 number helps.

My research showed that the UK site was even cheaper than the italian site but the no dedutible still swayed me to Canada. I too am going about the same time as everyone else - May 22 to 26. Thanks!

>How does citizenship factor in here? I've never been asked for passport or any other proof of citizenship when renting a car.

Not at all.
Diverse guidelines (=>laws) of the EU prohibit businesses of any kind (except defense related... not a cetegory one would put a car rental in) from differentiating prices based on citizenship or residence place of the buyer. Some countries (notably Italy) find a few loopholes to continue residence-based discrimination - things like railway discoutn cards come to mind - but it is only a question of time until somebody will start a process in the European Court about that.

FYI

Called AutoEurope US today and they said if US citizens reserve through non USA AutoEurope websites that they will be charged extra when they pick up the automobile. Based on common sense and previous post, hard to believe that that is anything other than a company line.

QUESTION
The 800 number listed on Canadian AutoEurope website is the USA number. I could not locate a local telephone number to call Canada directly. Does anybody know the regular telephone number (not the toll free) for AutoEurope Canada?

Hi Philip -- I would agree that this has to be a line. When we reserved, our card was already charged the amount on the Italian site. Not to mention, we entered our US address when reserving.

I can't imagine getting there and having them say, "oh, you're american! we have to charge you extra". That would be kind of nuts.

Good luck!

Hello again, Philip (and everyone else who might be wondering about this) --

I am reporting back to say that my husband and I <b>successfully</b> rented a car through the Italian version of the Auto Europe site (http://www.autoeurope.it/) and saved something like $200 doing so. We picked the car up in Florence on our way out to Tuscany. The agent was very helpful, spoke English, looked at my hubby's passport, International Driver's Permit, and the credit card used to pay for the rental. He explained that we had the full insurance coverage and sent us on our way. It literally took 10 minutes and nationality was never an issue. =)

When we returned the car, nobody even inspected it. We just dumped it off at the Pisa airport office, turned in the keys, and left. Done and done!

As a side note, when we reserved the car, we pulled up the US and Italian versions of the site simultaneously to see if the translations for each step matched up. Everything did, so it was a very easy process over all.

Hope that helps! I'll put this info in my upcoming trip report, as well...

Thanks!
Heather.

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&lt;&lt;How does citizenship factor in here? I've never been asked for passport or any other proof of citizenship when renting a car.&gt;&gt;


When I booked a car for Copenhagen for August, the AutoEurope website said the rate was not valid for Danish citizens. I hope they don't ask to see passport and as well as driving licence, since one of us is a Danish citizen (but not resident).

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Regarding their not asking to see a passport, I'd call that flirting with danger. While you may not need to prove that you qualify for the contract, I'd be worried that in the event of wrecking the car, they would find out that I had not met the terms of the contract and all insurance would become invalid -- and perhaps they would charge or fine for falsely contracting the rental. Maybe that's just me. Sounds as dangerous as driving without a driver's license or insurance. If you don't get caught -- what's the big deal?

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NeoPatrick --

If you see my response (just a few ahead of yours), I successfully booked through the Italian version of the site and we were asked to show our passports. Everything went smoothly.

Has anyone mentioned that there seems to be a different cancellation policy on the French and UK websites? At least when I did the comparison on a rental we will use during our next trip, a 48 hour cancellation was required on these websites, and this is not the case on the US site.

Booking on the French site, I have made changes (by calling the toll free number to the call center in Dusseldorf) as little as 2 hours before I was planning to pick up the car -- and they straightened everything out within 20 minutes. I made a mistake on the date and saw that my voucher was for the next day. Of course if no cars had been available, I would have been in trouble.