rbws

Hi all,

So I have been looking around at reserving a car for a four day stint between Sevilla and Granada as part of a 2 week trip to Andalucia and Madrid in October. I found what seems to be a good rate from the Avis website-- $(US)50 a day for an economy car (manual). Looking at the Avis spain website, however, the same car class comes out as 50 euros a day. I looked again at my e-mail confirmation from Avis, and it definitely says USD, but should I be worried that once I get there I will paying 50 euros, not 50 dollars, a day? Avis doesn't require you to pay ahead of time (or even leave a credit card number), so there's no way of checking a charge already made ...

Thanks for the thoughts!

Neopolitan

Tricky question. Car rentals in Europe remains something I really don't mind prepaying (particularly in dollars through Auto-Europe) since I know what I'm paying.

The problem is that you could get there and they agree your contract says 50 dollars, but they must charge you in euro, and it is up to them what exchange rate they want to use. That could be scarey.

bobthenavigator

What did Avis say?

Michael

Have you checked AutoEurope for its rates? Or Carjet (http://www.carjet.co.uk/)?

rbws

Carjet does have lower rates, it turns out-- when I first checked 1-way rentals, I only checked from the train station in Sevilla, which doesn't allow 1-ways to Granada, but the airport rental station does, so that sounds like a good plan! And I don't have to worry about currency changes. . .

car

I usualy rent with Avis,and I think if you have a rate in USdrs they will stand to it.
Just be sure you carry a print of the email or fax they send you

Neopolitan

car, but the question still remains. When you pay for the car in Europe and they agree it is 50 dollars -- but they charge you in euros -- how many euros will that be? Who sets their exchange rate?

Robert2533

My experience in booking with directly with Avis is that you will receive the US dollar rate quoted based on the current exchange rate at the time you pick up the car in Spain. With the exchange rate holding fairly steady the past few months, the difference is minor.

Also, when you book with AVIS, or many of the other major rental car companies, using a premium VISA, MC or Amex, you can decline the CDW, thus saving a small bundle that you might end up paying if you book the rental in Spain. Our rental in July amounted to 42€/day for a full Opel Vectra, perfect for 4 adults. With the CDW the rate would have been 30€/day extra.

Note: if you wait until you arrive in Spain to book your rental, you may not be able to waive the CDW. In most cases VISA will not provide the primary insurance coverage unless you book from home.

The one advantage with Avis has been that if you are a member of their club (have a Wizard Number), your credit card will not be charged until you pick up the car and you can cancel up to the day of the rental without any penalties.

RonZ

I would call autoeurope on their 800 number and see what they can offer.

car

To Neopolitan,
I think you get the exchange rate of the day you use your credit card, I donīt think neither you or Avis have a chance to choose rate.
I found that Visa exchange rate is fare and closed to the one reported in the papers or news.
To Robert, you donīt need to have a wizard number to rent without giving your credit card in Avis. same for cancelling.

ira

>The problem is that you could get there and they agree your contract says 50 dollars, but they must charge you in euro, and it is up to them what exchange rate they want to use.<

It was my experience that our confirmed price through Avis was $xxx and we were billed the number of Euro that came out to be almost exactly $xxx.

ira

Hi rb,

www.autoeurope.com is offering a free upgrade from economy (edmr) to compact (cdmr) for about the same price.

Their weekly rate is about $40/day.

You might want to give them a call.

car

To ira,
I donīt understand your example. You were billed in euros at the same amount of dolars or at the right amount using the exchange rate?

ira

Hi car,

Our bill came through as yyyE = $xxx.

It doesn't matter what exchange rate was used, the final charge was the $xxx we had been quoted.

rbws

thanks for all the advice, etc.! yes, an advantage of Avis is always that they don't charge your card ahead of time, which for people like us who like the flexibility is great, though the prices with carjet might make us change our minds!

happytrailstoyou

I didn't read the other replies, however, we have been extremely pleased with Auto Europe. You pay in advance, but if you need to cancel a reservation you get a complete refund. The best deal is to book before you leaver. Check it out.

You can be confident that 50 USD means $50 (but that's a lot more than we paid for an Avis car through Auto Europe).