Car rental (again)....
 

Hello and thank you for the help,

We have a place booked in Amboise for 3 nights. We will be arriving from Bruges, Belgium by train on Thursday 7/20 and will depart for Paris on Sunday 7/23. I figure we can pick up a car in Tours (most likely connecting through Paris). We plan on dropping off the car and taking the train to Paris. I have looked at autoeurope and kemwel (StuDudley's recs) but they show no cars available. Is it possibly because of a return on a Sunday? I searched Travelocity and there seem to be plenty of cars available. Any thoughts on why? Is it reasonable to rent a car through Travelocity then?

One more question....I have seen quite a few negative reviews for Sixt. Is that something I should be concerned about? Many of the cars on Travelocity are from other agencies (Hertz, Enterprise, Avis).

Thank you for the help,
Robert

autoeurope.co.uk is showing cars on your dates in Tours

Hmmmm, I'm from the US and when I use that as my home country it shows nothing available. I guess I'll give them a call.

I'm a longtime user of Autoeurope, but lately I've found they don't have the best prices.
Be sure to also look at booking.com.

The Sunday return is probably the issue with search results. Hertz at the TGV station is closed on Sundays, but it offers after-hours return. Avis at the TGV station is open Sundays 3-6 p.m. and at the Tours Airport Sundays 9a-12p and offers after-hours return at both locations. We've done an after-hours return a few times in France. It feels iffy at the time, but we haven't had a problem. Not sure I'd do it in Italy. FWIW, I'd book directly with either Hertz or Avis, rather than through Travelocity. One bad experience with Travelocity many years ago put them on the naughty list for me.

https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/locat...e/tours/TUFX92

https://www.avis.com/en/locations/fr/tours

It has been years since I rented from them but I have been happy with SIXT every time.

Sixt is absolutely fine. They all are, Hertz, Avis, Europcar etc.

if you’re in the US, you need to use the US site for Autoeurope, not the U.K. one.

www.Autoeurope.com

Travelocity is fine to book thru too. Or Expedia. Don’t overthink it, they mostly use same tech.

I always use autoeurope.eu to book cars in France, and see several options across Hertz, Avis for your dates (locations vary-the station, tgv station). I dont know if Americans must use autoeurope.com for insurance coverage or other reasons. Never had an issue with any of the majors incl Sixt.

I'm intrigued why someone has to use .com, .co.uk, .eu for their booking.... in principle what are the reasons?

Thank you all for the help. I really appreciate it.

I rented from Sixt in Venice. They gave me a “rent a wreck”! And, were difficult to deal with when I went back into the office to have all the damage noted. Luckily, it was for only a day.

Deleted text, dupe post

If you do after hours drop-off make sure to film the entire outside of your car where you parked it so that if they find damage that occurred later it might help you with the discussion.

Whenever you hire a car, take a photo of every part when you pick the car up, incuding the mileage and fuel meter (engine running) and when you return it. Over the years that has avoided a lot of "chat". I now do it in front of the staff so they know not to pull the fast one.

Over the years I've had every stunt pulled on me
Blood all over the bonnet!
Fuel tank empty (no engine not running)
Nail in tyre!
Scratches!
When you are in a hurry with a plane to catch and in a foreign language the pressures can mount
Last time I had such an issue it was Sixt in a southern French airport

Thanks again. We got a rental through Avis. Still plan on taking pics of car at pic up. Drop off is during the middle of the day, so should be a problem.