Budget Rental Car - Europe Promotion!?
 

We have been searching for a mid size rental car for three weeks in Zurich for May & June. Budget has offered us a Renault Laguna 1.8 or similar for a very reasonable $593 ( 21 days including ALL taxes, fees & CDW & Theft Insurance) This price is much lower than all the other rental companies including AutoEurope - in some cases by half! Is this too good to be true? Has anyone dealt with Budget in Europe? Are there going to be any surprises when I get there?<BR>Thanks for your help.

I have dealt with Budget in Italy (where it's called Budget/Maggiore) - - no real problems - - in San Remo, the return wasn't very conveniently located.<BR><BR>I'm not sure this can be extrapolated to Budget in Switzerland at all.<BR><BR>For what it's worth, one of the young men with me on that trip was an assistant manager at a large Budget location in the US - - he could NOT get any "inside" deals for us - - and didn't get any special treatment by identifying himself as being part of the Budget "family" - - although they did give him a Budget/Maggiore baseball cap (and you thought we only had those in America!)<BR><BR>If you do have your quote in writing, AutoEurope SAYS that it will match it.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

Rex,<BR>Auto Europe quoted a price $350 more for the same size vehicle. Why would Auto Europe be better than Budget? Aren't they all the same? Would they actually come down that much? <BR>Thanks<BR><BR>

My reply was really not meant to dissuade you from Budget. The one (and only?) possible advantage of www.autoeurope.com is the absence of ANY cancellation or no-show penalties. and they might match the price you got from Budget. Gotta ask to find out. AutoEurope also has toll-free helpful problem solvers, available AROUND THE CLOCK, if you need help dealing with whatever car rental company they have matched you up with. Helpful when you land in Europe at 7 am, Europe time. some lesser companies might not be there for you. I have used this more than once.<BR><BR>Remember that AutoEurope has NO cars - - they simply re-sell contracts, based on their bulk purchasing power - - usually at a better deal than you can get by yourself. But not always. If Budget is striking back - - and not offering this rate through AutoEurope, then you have a very good situation. If memory serves me correctly, the Laguna 1.8 is a NICE car.<BR><BR>Of course, AutoEurope might actually out you with Budget!<BR><BR>I would give SOME (modest) value to presence or absence of cancelation or no-show policy.<BR><BR>Sometimes you just stumble on to at-the-counter, unadvertised special promotional deals (rarely though).<BR>

Whoops!<BR><BR>Of course, AutoEurope might actually PUT you with Budget!<BR>

Rex,<BR><BR>Thanks, very much for the information. I have contacted Auto Europe & they are looking into my Budget quote. They will call me back Monday. It looks like a can't lose situation - either way I seem to be getting a nice car at a very reasonable cost.<BR><BR>Thanks again.

Hi, Capt B.,<BR>I have rented cars several times in Europe and have liked Budget for their service more than any other company. I really can not say enough good things about them.<BR>Have a wonderful trip!<BR>

We rented through AutoEurope in Budapest last year. They arranged a Budget rental for us. We had an unexpected flight delay and were worried that our car would not be held for us. We had a long unplanned layover in Amsterdam and went to the Budget desk to see if they could put us in touch with the Budapest office to let them know about our delay. Although the people in amsterdam tried to be helpful, they really had no information on other locations. We were told this is because all locations are local franchises. They finally had us call AutoEurope which then helped us reach the budapest office. We were finally able to get through and confirm that we would be delayed. But, this is just to let you know that if you have had good or bad luck with Budget in one location, you shouldn't extrapolate to all locations.