DeborahAnn

Thanks for all the helpful comments. With such overwhelming recommendations for renting two vehicles rather than one, I'll be searching for two cars for our family trip. Thanks again, Deborah

iris1745

Good decision Deb. autoeurope.com carrentals.com kayak.com/cars

We have used all, but carrentals.com does not charge until you get to the counter.

Not only that, you can cancel at any time and they do not require CC info.

DeborahAnn

Thanks Iris! I'll check into that. It's hard to beat the reliability of Autoeurope but I will research car rentals.com. Deborah

Gretchen

I don't recall that AutoEurope charged until we got the car. I'm pretty confident renting from them--we've had some really complicated things happen with no problem working it out.

DeborahAnn

Gretchen, Autoeurope does charge your cc when you complete your reservation. It is however fully refundable or changeable if you find a better rate or need to cancel. Deborah

Judy

When looking for better rates, be sure to look at AutoEurope. They refunded us once when I found a lower rate on their website. I was helping a friend search and saw that our car rentalwas less than what we originally paid.

Gretchen

OK. I never pay much attention to that as long as it is refundable. I just have found them very reliable to deal with.

Sarastro

The Loire Valley is easily navigated with a 7 or 9 passenger van, large commercial buses travel to virtually all of the châteaux every day of the year. I can't think of anywhere a van would be a liability due to its size. I would definitely rent a van and have done so in the past for groups of this size.

However, if you are set on two cars, keep in mind that unless your son is at least 25 years old, there is typically a 30€ per day under aged driver fee assessed onto the rental. Also, two vehicles means you'll pay environmental fees, location surcharges, road taxes twice and these fees are not included in Autoeurope quotes.

Rentals through Autoeurope are indeed payed at the time the rental is made (except the fees and surcharges which are paid at drop off). AE has changed its refund policy and now requires a three day advance notice for cancellation refunds.

If you are thinking about a GPS, bring your own from home, loaded with a France map database. You can also customize your own GPS with the locations of gas stations you might want to use, restaurants, hotels, and other points of interest.

Traveling with a large group is a daunting task, particularly for the organizer. Just dining together can be challenging. Using several cars for the group may sound like a good idea but it complicates enormously any touring plan which may have been designed for the group.

Good luck.

StuDudley

Like I stated earlier - we had zero problems with a 2 car caravan for 3 weeks - on four different trips to Europe.

This year we cancelled our rental with Kemwel (same company as Autoeurope) less than 24 hours before we were scheduled to pick it up. Got a 100% refund. The new AE rule on at least 3 days must be a new one for 2014.

Stu Dudley

janisj

Sarastro. No one is talking about 'several' cars. It is just a group of 7 so 2 smaller cars is certainly adequate.

And since one of the grand children is 12 years old . . . I SERIOUSLY doubt the DS is under 25.

DeborahAnn

Thank you for the recommendations about which type of rental would be best for our family. Convenience is important to me as the planner but flexibility probably more so to everyone else in the family. Two cars may actually be quite a bit cheaper to rent than the 9 passenger people mover I was considering.

Sarastro thanks for the update on the AutoEurope cancellation policy.

thanks again, Deborah

Gretchen

As the family planner here also, your family will bless you for the flexibility that is possible with two cars--really. And as also the family planner, I urge you to not overdo that role!! When we went to Paris, as I mentioned earlier, I engaged Michael, and I was immediately NOT that tour director, and it was wonderful. That was with a larger number of people, but I recognize that if I stayed at the (also passive aggressive) tour director, it would not be ideal.
You are dealing with fewer, but do be flexible, in spite of your "knowing what we SHOULD do"!! LOL--tongue in cheek, etc.
It was a great trip for us--and I know it will be for you.