Which card is best for car rental in Western Europe if the rental is over 30 days? Some cards require you to return to the rental agency to extend the agreement.

Also I guess there are new credit card charges for Americans using a credit card in Europe. I think it's 3%. Other than taking cash or traveler's checks or using an ATM debit card are there any credit cards that don't require this extra charge?

Hi G,

You don't want to take cash or TC's. The conversion fee is much more than 3%.

Capital One Platinum card charges no foreign transaction fees.

Hi
I use my credit union visa which charged less than the 3% when were in Germany last month.
Have you considered a lease deal. I believe it has to be over 6 weeks though. Check out autoeurope for their deals.

For more than 3 weeks you may want to consider a lease.

Check this site for Renaults:

http://www.renaultusa.com/

and this one for Peugeots:

http://www.autoeurope.com/

Renault is useful because they provide actual prices on-line. I think that you will have to call Autoeurope to get an actual quote. That makes comparisons less convenient. The longer the lease, the lower the cost per day because the fixed costs are loaded up front (taxes, insurance, etc.). If you leae, you save a considerable amount of money if you pick up the car in France and return it in France. A diesel, although higher in lease cost, may turn out to be cheaper and it is more convenient as you need to fill up less frequently. I figure on 5,000 km. as the break even point between gas and diesel cars.

With a rental of over 30 days you'd do well to lease a car rather than rent. Both Renault and Kemwell offer lease options, and I believe some of the other agencies do as well.

Thanks for the info on Capital One. It was correct. Better news is that you don't need to have Platimun to reap the benefits.

Also Capital One covers the CDW for 31 consecutive days.

That's a 2'fer.

If you book through AutoEurope, you prepay in the States and there's no "conversion fee." We pretty much exclusively used our Capitol One card for credit charges on our recent trip, although I'd used my Diners Club to rent the car.

Consider a Peugeot buy-back as it automatically covers your CDW regardless of which card you use.

Diners Club? What is the length that they'll cover the CDW?

Renault lease 30 day example was $1,666. Limited locations, many with extra fees such as $275 for Porto.

Auto Europe for same period similar car was $950 for rental. The same for Kemwell. Actually the Kemwell and Auto Europe sites look the same. Hmmm! At least these 2 are more flexible as to locations and no extra fees.