change car rental now that dollar is stronger today?
Feb 9th, 2005, 05:32 AM
#1
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change car rental now that dollar is stronger today?
With dollar now slightly up, the car I am renting in Italy in August can be had for $50 less per week. Now, $50 is not a lot but it could buy a pizza dinner for our family of four...I hope. Not sure whether to contact the rental agency now or trust that sometime between now and August the rate will get better. I certainly don't want to spend the next six months playing the numbers! Any thoughts?
Feb 9th, 2005, 06:51 AM
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Unless you are using an agency that takes "pre-payments" the only exchange rate that matters is the one in effect when you either pay by a credit card and the charge goes through or the one in effect when you get the cash to pay that way (which I suspect won't happen).
If you don't want to "play the numbers game" then I suggest you stop doing so the moment you finish reading all these posts.
If you don't want to "play the numbers game" then I suggest you stop doing so the moment you finish reading all these posts.
Feb 9th, 2005, 07:21 AM
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When I rented last year from SIXT.com
the rates were in USD so I pre-paid
and didn't have to worry about what the Euro exchange rate was. This year I reserved our hotel in Paris in Euros
so I am looking at the exchange rate daily! Our total for the room is 1,086 euro and when I started reserving the Euro was about $1.32 now it down to $1.27 I sure hope its down to about $1.22 in may? I could save almost $100.00.
the rates were in USD so I pre-paid
and didn't have to worry about what the Euro exchange rate was. This year I reserved our hotel in Paris in Euros
so I am looking at the exchange rate daily! Our total for the room is 1,086 euro and when I started reserving the Euro was about $1.32 now it down to $1.27 I sure hope its down to about $1.22 in may? I could save almost $100.00.
Feb 9th, 2005, 07:48 AM
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The rate is in dollars but the rental can be changed or cancelled without penalty. So I am trying to figure out whether to do that today or gamble that I should do it down the road. I don't mind checking in now and then but don't want to be changing this rental every week!
Feb 9th, 2005, 10:06 AM
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I don't get this either, what kind of nutty car rental agency is this? It sounds like you are saying you prepaid in USD, and now you know the same company would give you the same car and dates and terms for $50 less a week -- and this agency will change your prepayment amount any time you want, as many times as you want, whenever you request it, for no fee?
Well, if that's true, $50 a week is enough that you should request it, I think. I wouldn't bother for $10 or so.
Well, if that's true, $50 a week is enough that you should request it, I think. I wouldn't bother for $10 or so.
Feb 9th, 2005, 11:14 AM
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I just rented a car thru AutoEurope for our 2-week trip to Germany in May. You get a one class upgrade free if you prepay before March 31. We rented a "compact" car and should get upgraded to an "economy" for just $528 for the entire 2 weeks including insurance and taxes.
Feb 9th, 2005, 11:52 AM
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The rate, with AutoEurope, is in dollars. The reason it would change now is that AutoEurope agrees to beat any other agency's price, and the others, who give their rates in Euro, have now dropped their prices for the same car. I guess I am trying to get a sense of what the trend is so I can decide when to ask them to beat the price. Even the WSJ doesn't give me an answer...
Betty, we were not eligible for the free upgrade because we booked too early for this trip in August; the dollar had skyrocketed and we thought it was important to lock in a rate. However, we can rebook any time. If they come up with a free upgrade for August, we can still get that then. I just don't want to drive them crazy with rebooking requests!
Betty, we were not eligible for the free upgrade because we booked too early for this trip in August; the dollar had skyrocketed and we thought it was important to lock in a rate. However, we can rebook any time. If they come up with a free upgrade for August, we can still get that then. I just don't want to drive them crazy with rebooking requests!
Feb 9th, 2005, 11:57 AM
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Hi art,
As Jeff said, if you are paying a certain dollar amount, it will not matter, whether you paid the whole thing now or pay it later.
It will only matter if you have been given a quote in euro.
In my case, I rented from AutoEurope. They gave me a price in USD. I paid a deposit in USD. I will pay the rest in Euro when I get there.
If the dollar goes up I will pay more euros than if the dollar goes down, but it will still be the same number of dollars.
You might want to check to see if the price in dollars is still the same a month before you go.
As Jeff said, if you are paying a certain dollar amount, it will not matter, whether you paid the whole thing now or pay it later.
It will only matter if you have been given a quote in euro.
In my case, I rented from AutoEurope. They gave me a price in USD. I paid a deposit in USD. I will pay the rest in Euro when I get there.
If the dollar goes up I will pay more euros than if the dollar goes down, but it will still be the same number of dollars.
You might want to check to see if the price in dollars is still the same a month before you go.
Feb 9th, 2005, 12:38 PM
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Go ahead and look around and ask for your rate in USD. most rental companies
can give you a quote in what ever currency your country uses. I rented from sixt after trying all the others and found them to be alot less for the dates we rented for, so I pre-paid in full when I reserved our car. P.S. I got an upgrade of 3 or 4 classes for free just by reserving the cheapest car
Sixt rented, when we got to Amsterdam
they were out of that class of cars so they gave us the next cheapest car on the lot, A brand new VW bug instead of a ford Ka or opel. I got the idea to do that from this site.
can give you a quote in what ever currency your country uses. I rented from sixt after trying all the others and found them to be alot less for the dates we rented for, so I pre-paid in full when I reserved our car. P.S. I got an upgrade of 3 or 4 classes for free just by reserving the cheapest car
Sixt rented, when we got to Amsterdam
they were out of that class of cars so they gave us the next cheapest car on the lot, A brand new VW bug instead of a ford Ka or opel. I got the idea to do that from this site.
Feb 9th, 2005, 01:01 PM
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Yesterday's WSJ had an article discussing current views and opinions on the USD/EUR rate. The view was that Europe likes what they are hearing from Greenspan and that might cause the dollar to strengthen. But, 6 weeks ago you would have read opinions saying it was heading to $1.35 and possibly lower.
I'd lock in now and check back. I don't know that I'd wait because at some point you might run into pricing that gets changed by supply/demand levels, regardless of where the dollar goes.
If it doens't cost you anything to rebook if the dollar strengthens again, you have little downside risk if you've got the time to rebook a second or third time.
I'd lock in now and check back. I don't know that I'd wait because at some point you might run into pricing that gets changed by supply/demand levels, regardless of where the dollar goes.
If it doens't cost you anything to rebook if the dollar strengthens again, you have little downside risk if you've got the time to rebook a second or third time.
Feb 10th, 2005, 08:22 AM
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If you are trying to play the currency game, keep your quote in Euros. The dollar rates are sticky and wont directly track exchange rates. But if you prepay a euro priced deal, you get the gain or loss on current exchange rates. With Autoeurope and others, check the international site as well as US site. There can be dramatic price differences.
Feb 10th, 2005, 08:55 AM
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Hi abs,
>...check the international site as well as US site. There can be dramatic price differences.<
I did as you suggested and found the AutoEurope German and UK sites.
Plugged in my particulars and found that the same car would be $100 - 140 less for a 2-week rental.
Called AutoEurope in the US and found that if I rent through the German or the UK site I have to take the CDW. If I want the Super CDW, the deductible drops to about $120, but it costs $10 more than the US site without any CDW.
Insurance will be covered by my credit card.
So, it turned out that www.autoeurope.com was about the same price as using the foreign sites, for my purposes.
Did I miss any other sites?
>...check the international site as well as US site. There can be dramatic price differences.<
I did as you suggested and found the AutoEurope German and UK sites.
Plugged in my particulars and found that the same car would be $100 - 140 less for a 2-week rental.
Called AutoEurope in the US and found that if I rent through the German or the UK site I have to take the CDW. If I want the Super CDW, the deductible drops to about $120, but it costs $10 more than the US site without any CDW.
Insurance will be covered by my credit card.
So, it turned out that www.autoeurope.com was about the same price as using the foreign sites, for my purposes.
Did I miss any other sites?
