If I had tried to rent a car on the day of my arrival in Cambridge or Brive-la-Gaillarde, I would not have obtained a car. I know that because of the limited number of cars available in Brive-la-Gaillarde (they switched me to an Audi A3) and the crowds waiting for rentals in Cambridge (I waited for an hour before I could present my voucher). Moreover, the price I paid for the car in Brive is higher than the price I original had for a 26 day rental in Paris, and this had nothing to do with Brive but with the three week time differential in placing the rental order.

The idea that a tourist unfamiliar with the town and the rental patterns in the foreign country should wait until the last minute to rent a car does not make sense. He could be arriving on a holiday weekend, or the hours could be off. For example, for some reason the Europcar agency in the Limoges train station changed its schedule and is open only in the morning during the week (that's why I picked up the car in Brive); I discovered that by trying to specify that pick-up when going through the broker. Good luck on getting a car when you arrive from Paris after a 4 hour train ride unless you knew that information and had arranged for a 7 a.m. train. Of course, since this was last minute (otherwise why bother with a last minute car reservation at the end of the train ride?), you probably are paying more for the train ride (around 80€) than I paid by planning ahead (15€). I know that I can't convince you of the price differential, but why not plan ahead when that was necessary for the mode of transportation that got you to the car rental agency in the first place? I used Ryanair from Limoges to Stansted, and I do not recommend trying to get tickets for that at the last minute.

>>sorry if I caused a reaction with the car hire question<<

Absolutely nothing you did or need to apologize about. We have a new member who is 'right' about everything and has a hissy fit when anyone disagrees.

Pre-booking is the way to go (and re the Enterprise examples Enterprise is a good company -- however they usually don't allow one-way rentals and are not generally listed on the broker sites like autoeurope, kemwel etc.)

autoeurope and kemwel have a no penalty cancellation fee up to one week before the beginning of the contract. I do not know if other brokers have the same policy.

"why not plan ahead when that was necessary for the mode of transportation that got you to the car rental agency in the first place?"

Michael, your assumption is that everyone pre-books things like trains or hotels, etc. I rarely pre-book anything at all beyond the flight from A to B ONE WAY.

The examples you give re renting a car all make perfect sense to you, I understand that. However, none of them would apply to me. Let me take one of your examples, arriving on a holiday weekend and finding the car rental office is closed.

So what? I'll wait till tomorrow to rent a car or instead of renting a car to drive north I'll hop on a train south. I do not travel to a set itinerary, I don't 'tour'.

One of the biggest pluses of travel is the freedom from everyday responsibilities and having to live your life to a schedule. Why then immediately self-impose a schedule (itinerary) on yourself? That makes no sense to me.

The key in your sentence above is the word 'necessary'. Nothing is necessary unless you choose to make it so. If you arrive somewhere and a rental agency is closed you have a problem if you have a hotel reservation some miles away for that night. I never have that reservation, I have no problem. I simply spend my time wherever it is that I have arrived.

What I want and you give away, is the freedom to do whatever you want, whenever you want.

What also drives most people's travel plans is a list. They have X amount of money, Y amount of time and want to fit all the places on their list into the time and within their budget. They're tourists who want to take a tour. The only difference between an independent tourist and a package tourist is that the individual has decided on where they will stop and for how long and tries to figure out a total price within their budget. The package tourist gets a fixed price up front and accepts where they will stop and for how long as determined by the tour company. Both are all pre-planned, that's what a tour is.

I'm not interested in a list. I pick one place and go there. I stay there until I am ready to leave and then I pick another place to go. I repeat that until I've had enough and then head back to home base. I have no expectation of ever getting to everywhere I would find interesting.

Where is the sense in a tourist unfamilir with a town in a foreign country (to borrow some of your own words), trying to decide beforehand how long they will want to spend in that town and foreign country? Yet pre-planners do just that. How can person A know that 5 days in Paris will be enough for them and they will want to move on after that, while person B will not be ready to move on until they have been there 10 days. How can either know that beforehand? Crystal ball?

I have visited places thinking a few days would be enough and ended up staying far longer. I have visited places thinking I would need a week and found myself bored after 3 days. What I NEVER do is stay longer than I want to or leave earlier than I want to.

When studley asked, is it easy to rent after arrival and is it easy to find B&B's as you go, what I assumed incorrectly, is that studley was not a pre-planner but a wing it type of traveller like myself. Otherwise, why ask? In fact, I'm still wondering why he asked since it appears he plans to pre-book evrything anyway except perhaps a few days of driving around.

As for car pricing, again I will repeat, Gordon_R got it right. They work on 'dynamic pricing' which means the price fluctuates daily and cannot be predicted. The price 2 months ahead can as easily be higher than the price on the day. Pre-booking does NOT insure anything. But I know I can't convince you of that reality. You might however want to do some reading on dynamic pricing.

http://vita.mcafee.cc/PDF/DynamicPri...rimination.pdf
Go to page 28 and look at the graph of real prices for a seat on a flight.

If you booked 100 days before that flight at 7am, you would have paid the third highest price in the total 115 day period checked. The price would have been around 158. If you had booked on the day of the flight at 7am the price would have been around 103.

What that one graph shows you is that you cannot predict when a price will be higher or lower than at any other time. If you had booked at 7am on the 99th day before the flight the price would have been around 65. But you have no way of knowing whether it is better to book on day 99 or day 100 or at 7am vs. 9am. Look at the graph. Dynamic pricing is totally unpredictable by the consumer.

I no longer look for the cheapest flight michael. I know there is no way to know if I have found it.

Instead what I do is look at which airlines fly to the destination? Which of those would I prefer to fly with? Is the price they are showing a price I am willing to pay? If that answer to that last question is yes, I book.

If the answer is no, I forget the idea and look at going elsewhere.

dulciusexasperis,

Your desire for freedom in travel negates your advice to anyone, except to do your own thing when you want to. The B&B that you found on a certain date and would recommend to the next person might not be available to the next traveler on his dates unless he pre-books, but you don't believe in that for the sake of freedom. BTW, not booking in advance is how I normally travel after picking up the car at a specific date and returning it at a specific date.

As for pricing: Your car rentals were more expensive than the ones I quoted. I find it difficult to believe that last minute rentals will be cheaper than going through a broker who offers early discounts (with some caveats, which I can give you if so desired). Moreover, the brokers I mentioned are not necessarily the best on rentals where the car is returned to the same agency. But to find the best for you requires researching ahead of time (one should always compare), so why not book what you found?

Ryanair is the only airline to fly between Limoges and Stansted, and it is unlikely that one would find a good price, much less a seat, at the last minute.

I am not the only one to know that the cheapest long distance train tickets in France are purchased three months ahead of time. Your last minute purchase is guaranteed to be more expensive.

But this might jog one's memory:

http://www.fodors.com/community/trav...o-to-a-bar.cfm

sounds more and more . . . . :?

It seems you still don't understand dynamic pricing michael. I can't do any more to help you do so. It's simple, there is no way to know when a price will be higher or lower.

You may find it, "difficult to believe that last minute rentals will be cheaper than going through a broker who offers early discounts", but the fact remains that they MAY be or they MAY NOT be. That is what dynamic pricing is all about. The price can vary tremendously based on various factors, hour by hour. That is what the graph I suggested you look at shows you. So however difficult to believe you find it, it is a fact.

Re Ryanair and Limoges to Stansted. First, I would never fly Ryanair, so again not applicable to me. Second, I can't imgagine ever wanting to fly Limoges to Stansted. Again, your assumption is a NECESSITY to do something specifically.

If I did want to fly from Limoges and I felt the price was too expensive, I would simply change my plans and do something else.

The same applies to train tickets. You assume the objective is to get the cheapest ticket. It isn't. The objective is to maintain my freedom of travel.

Price is not the deciding factor in my travel decisions and locking myself in to anything, in the belief it will get me the lowest price, is not something I would ever do. Price is a factor in my decisions but only one factor and it's not at the top of the list.

I don't care if anyone else wants to pre-book and lock themseslves in. That's your choice but nothing makes it a better choice michael. You give up freedom to try and save a few dollars. I pay a few dollars more perhaps to maintain my freedom. You value money more than freedom right? That's the choice you are making.

dulciusexasperis,

<i>Le moi est haïssable</i>. I would think that on a forum one tries to suggest solutions that do not reflect one's idiosyncracies even while reflecting personal experience.

And you do not understand the SNCF pricing policy, while I am unwilling to game the corporate computers when it comes to price allocation and getting a good deal.

Michael - don't feed the beast . . .

The information has been provided re dynamic pricing. If someone can't understand it or chooses to ignore it that's up to the individual.

"I'm unwilling to game the corporate computers"

LOL, you are playing the game every time you book michael, don't kid yourself.