Am hoping to save some research time by posting this question. Renting a car in Paris and dropping in Frankfurt - are there any rental cos that charge no (or a small) drop off charge? Any advice greatly appreciated.

If there are, they must be well-kept secrets.

Best wishes,

Rex

You can usually do that with only a small supplement if you get a lease car from Peugeot or Renault, but it's for a minimum of 17 days.
Alternatively, drop your rental car in a border town like Strassbourg and take a train to Frankfurt.

I was going to add that it's sometimes possible to be allocated a German-registered rental car in Paris that needs returning to the country of origin. You can't reserve and it's very much a matter of luck when you turn up at the rental desk.

Hi W,

You will pay a hefty fee.

Drop your rental car in a town as close to the border as you can, take a train to the next town where you can pick up a car.

For example, drop car in Strasbourg, train to Stuttgart (2 hr), pick up car in Stuttgart.

You could also go to Stuttgart's airport at Echterdingen (additional 40 min).

If you have a reason to want/need a car (for two to three days in each of) both countries, then you can drop off AND pick up right at Strasbourg airport. A French car can be returned there for free, and a German car rental can be initiated there which can be returned free anywhere in Germany.

Ira has the best solution. I found myself in the same predicament when planning our 2 week trip this Septmeber. We were planning on flying into Amsterdam and home from Milan. The drop charge was HUGE! I ended up paying to rebook our airfare so we now fly into Paris and return from Nice. The cost to rebook our flights was far less than the car rental drop charge would have been.

As appealing as open jaw tickets are, they take on new meaning when you're renting a car opposed to taking trains. You have to get creative with your itinerary.

dropping off in Strasbourg and picking up another - great idea - many thanks - Have passed the info onto my colleauge

>...you can drop off AND pick up right at Strasbourg airport. A French car can be returned there for free, and a German car rental can be initiated there ...<

Thanks for the tip, Rex.

We rented a car in Brussels to be returned at CDG. We were delayed while the car rental agency hunted down a car that was appropriate. We were rented an Audi A6 but could have possibly been the registration or license or type of car. I don't know.

You're welcome, ira... I would have thought that I had repeated this list more recently - - but I first posted this five years ago... and repeat it here:

from http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...mp;tid=1289173

Basel - - rent French, Swiss or (I think) German.

Strasbourg - - rent French or German

Geneva - - rent French or Swiss

Lille (I think) - - rent French or Belgian

====================

since I first posted this, I think that Lugano (airport?) should be added to the list (Swiss or Italian); might be true of Bolzano also, perhaps? I do not believe that Nice (nor Monte Carlo) will rent Italian cars, nor accept them for free, despite their proximity to the border. And I don't think that major car rental companies have an office at Ventimiglia, even though it is a pretty good sized little town.

I do not know if there is a similar opportunity in Luxembourg (City), nor Maastricht, nor Aachen (you might suppose that one could).