Tinling

Yesterday I rented a car from RailEurope for pickup in France and drop off in Italy. The price quoted, which said "Total" was about $400 for 5 days rental of a compact. I agreed to it and they charged my credit card. Today, I received an e-mail saying that I was also going to be charged a drop of fee of $640. Not my understanding of contract law. Anyway, I was able to cancel the charges, but their site is very misleading if you have a drop off situation.

Patrick

You were lucky to be able to cancel. Most of those contracts usually say in the small print at the bottom something like "drop off charges may be extra". That's one of the first things you need to check on when you rent a car in Europe. But I agree that when it says "total" it SHOULD mean "total".

Patrick

Wow. Just for fun I went to the RailEurope site to see what you mean. When you first enter drop off city other than pick up city, it does say "additonal drop off fee may apply", but once you go on, it will take all the information and go ahead and bill you at the "total" with no further indication of what that fee is or if there is indeed one at all. VERY MISLEADING. I agree with you.

Marilyn

I just looked into this on AutoEurope, and the way they handle it is quite different. They state very clearly that if there are drop off charges you will be notified of them, and your credit card will NOT be charged until you have indicated that you accept the drop off fees. Tinling, you are indeed lucky you were able to get out of the contract.

Patrick

Yes, and I didn't ask the obvious -- why book through RailEurope? I'm not that familiar with it, but considering how they mark up rail tickets and reservations, I'm not sure how they'd compare with car rental rates. I stick with AutoEurope, and I've never had a disagreement or complaint about how they work.

Tinling

To answer Patrick:
After this happened to me, I went back on line to see what prices were out there. It turns out that RailEurope was among the lowest. It's just that I was fooled by how they presented their costs. Most importantly, it made a difference in how I planned my trip. Now I'm thinking of different options, like keeping the car and cancelling my rail pass (with a 15% penalty). If I had know up front about the cost, I could have planned better.

ira

Hi Tin,

Regarding your railpass: Did you enter your itinerary at www.railsaver.com and click "only if it saves money"?

Tinling

Yes Ira, I did.
And it would have saved money had the car rental costs that were quoted been correct.
In planning a trip, you have to be careful about the quotes you receive for car rentals, especially, when you have a drop off in a different country.

Linda431

We were trying to book a pick-up in Italy, drop-off in France through AutoEurope online. The reservation request was accepted but I never got the firm quote. Finally, I called them and they said that was because of the inter-country drop-off fee. You can book Paris/Nice for example online but not Rome/Paris. You have to do this by phone.

The drop-off fee was around $400 but after giving me the sale price plus a $15% discount, it came close to cancelling out the surcharge.

ira

That was very good, Linda.

AutoEurope's toll free US number is 1800 223 5555

I have found that it is easier to call them than to deal with the computer.

Patrick

We've rented from AutoEurope maybe a dozen times. I always check it out on the website first, but I have NEVER booked that way. I call them and so far I have ALWAYS gotten a better price when I talked with them on the phone. One thing is that you may click preferred pick up or drop off locations, but those will set your price as they are location specific to a particular company they deal with. When you call, they are likely to offer you a different pick up location (sometimes not even on the website) that will save you money.

Gretchen

That is a big charge for a compact also.Rent from AutoEurope. I find RailEurope always has some hidden or add on fees for their services.

Tinling

Good advice all. By calling AutoEurope direct I was able to get a discounted rate of $809 for a mid size, pick up in Avignon, drop off in Rome, 5 days. Quite a bit lower than any other source.

ira

Hi Tin,

You might wish to consider an alternative.

www.autoeurope will give you a 3-day rental for Avignon to Menton for $199.

You can then take the train to San Remo.
10E pp 1cl 0:45 hr

See www.sncf.com

Pick up your Italian car in San Remo and drop it in Rome.
3 days for $277.

Savings of $300.

Tinling

Thanks Ira, you are on top of it.

ira

Happy to help, tin