michele_d

Hi Kram,
I can only speak for Hertz, whom we rented from in Austria. What they quoted us online was our total, no extra charges when we arrived for pickup, and no hidden fees upon our final invoice. The road sticker was also included in the quote.

Michael

Kram,

For my travels in Poland, I used http://www.economycarrentals.com/ because it was cheaper than Autoeurope or Kemwel. But this was with full insurance because the autoeurope's/kemwel's basic rate was not available. The same might apply for a car taken into the Czech Republic.

bettyk

You never mentioned that you were taking the car into the Czech Republic. That does complicate matters somewhat.

kram

A call with Hertz- things seem to be moving in the riight direction. I have now dropped them an email to get a confirmation in writing that some items are already included.

On the advice from a few in these forums, I talked to Autoeurope and they were ready to match any rate given by hertz. And from a few reviews, it seems to be a wise move to go via auto Europe than directly through a car rental in Europe.

Fingers crossed, if hertz comes back today, I will close it with them or a deal with them through Autoeurope.

bettyk

I've found AutoEurope to be a good choice. I like paying in US $ at the time of rental to lock in the rate. If the exchange rate changes in YOUR favor, you can call them back and they will adjust your rate for you. They will also work with you in case of any problems.

Michael

<i>If the exchange rate changes in YOUR favor, you can call them back and they will adjust your rate for you.</i>

How does that work if the rates are quoted in dollars and paid in dollars? Do you check on the currency exchange rate for the day you sign the contract?

bettyk

The US $ rates are based on the current exchange rate of the Euro, etc, at the time you make your reservation.

If the rate changes in your favor, the US $ rate should go down also.

Even after I make my reservation and pay, I will check back every so often to see if the rate has gone down. If so, you can call and ask them to give you the lower rate.

kram

Have been having mails with AutoEurope on matching Hertz and finally learnt that they do not deal with Hertz in Vienna!!

So, the choice is Avis through AutoEurope or Hertz directly.

AutoEurope has reduced the Avis rate such that the cost is now comparable after adding the fees to enter Czech Republic and payment of Vehicle Licensing Fee.

They are very sure that Avis will not ask me to take CDW or TP to drive into Czech. But its their word for it.

Two questions :
1. Choice of agency
- Should I go with AutoEurope if they have said in mails that none of their suppliers insist on CDW and TP if the card covers it. Will they back me up if the supplier insists on coverage at the time of picking up the car.
- Or should I just deal with Hertz directly for this rental?

2. Car
Avis is a Opel Astra. Hertz is a VW Golf VI - which is a wagon. Are European compact cars typically wagons as I would love the extra trunk space.

kram

I wanted to give a summary of what I finally ended up doing:

My needs:
- A pickup location near Downtown Vienna
- 12 day rental with travel into Czech, Italy and Germany
- Do not want CDW or TP as credit card covers it
- Compact (like a VW Golf)

a. Option 1 was Hertz. The rules seem pretty clear about driving to Czech Republic. They are clear about the option to decline CDW and TP including if I travel to Czech. Another plus is that their pickup location is downtown right next to Stadpark. Autoeurope does not deal with Hertz in Vienna.

b. Option 2 was Avis directly. Their T&C is unclear about travel to Czech. It seems to imply that CDW and TP is mandatory from them and there is a 50% surcharge on those rates for Czech. If they insist at the counter that I take it, the deal will be very expensive. An advantage is that they do not ask for a credit card/payment for a reservation. Their downtown office is a little further out.

c. Option 3 was AutoEurope who got me a similar deal from Avis. Advantage was dealing with AutoEurope in case Avis created an issue on anything. While AE was willing to give their view that their partners will not insist CDW and TP, they seemed unwilling to give me an undertaking to take care of my interests if Avis did indeed insist on CDW and TP.

d. Option 4 was Europcar directly - their rates were good, the T&Cs seem to be clear about taking the car to Czech. Their downtown office is right next to Stadpark too.

e. I called Autoeurope to match Autoeurope but they insisted the car choice available for Czech was only an intermediate and not a compact that I could see on Europcar's site. On a hunch, I called Kemwel and they checked and confirmed that I could indeed take the compact from Europcar and matched the price.

Funnily enough, when I called back Kemwel, the call was picked up by the person from AE who had just said the compact was not available from Europcar. They do share resources and call center - but their T&Cs are different. AE is actually more lenient with cancellation.

Anyway, I have now closed out with Kemwel for a Europcar rental.

janisj

"<i>Do not want CDW or TP as credit card covers it</i>"

I'm late to this party . . . But are you <i>sure</i> your cc will cover you in Italy? IME, most don't.

kram

Car rentals taken in Italy are required to take CDW and TP from a local provider. But if the rental is from an outside location and one drives into Italy, the coverage applies.

The credit card coverage therefore applies to Italy as well.