ttt

since this has come back to the top, and if you are still following this hlocke1, I think you missed the point. My entire point was that yes perhaps you can get the car -- but if it is against some rules, what happens if you have an accident or other problem?

To me that's the same as saying "we didn't have any insurance to cover us at all, but it all went smoothly as we didn't have an accident" -- but that's hardly good advice for someone if they DO have an accident.

I'm not sure there would be any problems, but my point is that IF it is against the rules (and I'm still not sure if it is or not), I wouldn't want to be in that position if I DID have an accident or other problem.

Meanwhile, some of my colleagues have told me that since so many customers are now using AutoEurope to get cars from Europcar that Europcar has started matching the AutoEurope rates themselves. All you have to do is tell them your AutoEurope quote and they match the rates and conditions.

I'm running into the same thing while planning a vacation in france for this September (much higher rates on autoeurope.com vs. .fr) While the counter agents may accept whatever voucher they are given and not question nationality - if you get in an accident - does the "fine print" cause problems? The huge price difference (in my case 400$) has to be due to something and my guess it is the insurance. I'm not sure we will risk it - the kemwel website did have a little lower rate than autoeurope (thanks for that tip from a previous thread) so I think we may bit the bullet and reserve that way. Any other thoughts?

Don't wimp out. The competition between the various national sites is totally legal. The French site says absolutely NOTHING about having to live in France or be French to rent from them.

Meanwhile, the rental contract that you sign is with the rental company itself (Europcar, Hertz or whatever). AutoEurope is just a payment device. If you read the AutoEurope conditions you will see that they do not provide insurance, for example, and the insurance is provided on the contract of the car provider, under the conditions that you sign for on the contract where you pick up the car.

Worrying about AutoEurope sites is like worrying about whether it is more legal to pay with American Express or with Visa.

>Europcar has started matching the AutoEurope rates themselves. All you have to do is tell them your AutoEurope quote and they match the rates and conditions.<

Great idea, since AE will beat any other offer.

Maybe we can whittle them down to zero.

kerouac, can you tell me if there's a difference in insurance rates for French/non French residents? As a US resident if I rent using my MC I can decline CDW. Do most insurance policies there cover CDW?

When you rent through AutoEurope, the basic insurance is included but not the full CDW. When you arrive with an AutoEurope voucher, the companies ask if you want to pay extra for full CDW.

Since the contract that you are signing to get the car is by the rental company and not by AutoEurope, I would presume that the same conditions apply according to your card: if you decline the extra insurance, your card will cover any problems if it is designed to do so.

Thanks. I think I misunderstood a friend and thought that French residents were covered by their personal auto insurance for CDW.

Some of them might well be.

Since I have never owned an automobile, I sure as hell am not.

LOL, some of us wish we could be free of our cars too and just rent as needed.

kerouac - thanks for the additional clarification on renting through the .fr website.

NeoPatrick --

Nope, I didn't miss your point. We showed our passports and were not breaking any sort of terms of the agreement by renting through the Italian version of the website. I translated everything before doing so and compared it to the American version. The terms were the same and did not mention place of residence at all.

I rented through AutoEurope once before, as well, and did have damage caused to the car. With the full coverage in Italy, it was no problem at all.

Not exactly the same but I always compare US and CDN AE sites and when I talked to agent he said that it was no problem and he books me at cheaper price.

Of course you must factor exchange into the deal as I am billed in $US when I use those prices. The difference was considerable as I booked a Peugeot lease this last time... saved +$500 using the US price.

When I asked why, the agent said it had to do with them using a broker in Canada as go between for leases.

BTW - when I am given the price I always ask for a CAA (AAA) or CARP (AARP) discount and they inevitably knock off another bit ($35 to $140 in past experience).

I have found that renting a car in Switzerland (mid size or full size) is the cheapest when you want to drop the car off in another country. This year I can rent a full size deisel for 31 days from Hertz for 1434 swiss francs which is aroung $1,400.00. My credit card covers insurance for 31 days.

<<Legally, you are allowed to use any AutoEurope site that you want in Europe due to the 'unified market' law in the EU. Rates may vary depending on the country, but the customer has the right to choose the cheapest one he finds.>>


Unfortunately this does not seem to apply in our case. Autoeurope could not explain why rates on the UK site for rental in Denmark are not valid for Danish citizens who live outside of Denmark, AE told me to book on the Danish site since their theory was it had to be booked in EUR and not GBP, but DK was not on the dropdown list of countries on the Danish site and the site quotes in Kroner.

Picking up a car at Europcar last week, I was chatting with the staff and they said they actually rent through AutoEurope themselves when they rent a car on vacation, because the rate is better than their own Europcar employee discount. The agency manager told me that when he went on vacation in Spain last month, he rented his car through the AutoEurope Belgian site to get the best rate.

He said that in every case, the rate of foreign AutoEurope sites will be better than the site in which the rental takes place for any rental of a week or more, i.e. if you are renting a car in France, use the Belgian or Spanish site to get your car; if you are renting in Spain, use the French or Italian AutoEurope site, etc.

Just bringing this up because I am on the brink of booking with the AE Italy site for a car rental next month.

Since this thread was posted, has anyone had experience with a US resident booking with the Italian AE site for rental in Italy?

Are the terms the same on the Italian site as they are on the US AE site?

Check Kemwel too. I received better rates on Kemwel than from AE US or the French or Belguim site when I called to rent a car in France . It's the same company. In fact, I made 1 call to 1 person & got quotes form both Kemwel & AE from him. You have to maneuver a bit and tell him the Kemwel internet price after you've asked for all the AE discounts (AAA, AARP, etc). He stated that Kemwel is their lowest price.

T&Cs are the same. If you have a problem (incorrect add-on charges, charges for a gas fill-up), you talk to the same Customer Service person. This is for an upcoming rental, so I have not been able to determine if there are any "gotchas" yet. I've rented around 30 cars from AE.

Stu Dudley