Nancy

HELP! <BR> <BR>I am renting a car in Amsterdam & driving to Germany. Will have the car for about 13 days. <BR> <BR>Where should I turn the car in at & what is the best (cheapest & shortest preferably) way to get to London from Germany. I would like to arrive in London in the a.m. <BR> <BR>I had originally thought RyanAir but they leave from Hahn airport & there is only a Hertz agency at Hahn. Hertz quoted me 2x what Kemwel quoted me for the same car!!! I have also been advised that the Hahn airport is not easily accessable without a car. <BR> <BR>The other thought I had was to leave the car in Germany (maybe Stuttgart) & take a train to Calais & take the ferry to England. <BR> <BR>Any suggestions?

Rex

"Germany" is a big place. Could mean 2 hours from Amsterdam or 12. Where is your PREFERRED departure point FROM Germany? By mentioning Stuttgart, I take it that your goal(s) in Germany are south and west of Frankfurt. If you don't mind driving back (towards Amsterdam) as far as Frankfurt, why not just drive the car on back TO Amsterdam and fly from there? <BR> <BR>What ARE your choices of cities to turn in the car? Any choice you would be better off to take the train across the Dutch-German border and rent a car from Kemwel IN Germany? <BR> <BR>I just don't understand all your constraints. <BR> <BR>

Nancy

Rex, <BR> <BR>Thanks for trying to understand my problem! <BR> <BR>We will be arriving in Amsterdam 5/25 & pick up a car 5/28. We then travel to Bacharach, Rothenburg, Stuttgart, Rhuette area. We fly out of London on 6/11. We need to be in London 6/7. <BR> <BR>Stuttgart only figures in at all much less 2x because my sister lives there. We make the one visit then the rest was just out of convience & trying to get to the car taken care of & get to London. At this point I am open to all suggestions!!

Rex

There are a lot of different ways to skin this cat, but I think that flying will be part of the most cost-effective solution, and NOT in or out of Holland or Germany either one. <BR> <BR>Consider that London-Brussels (well, actually Charleroi) is currently on sale on RyanAir for as low as EIGHT pounds sterling! and likewise Brussels-Salzburg for the same low price. There's also Brussels-Venice for 1710 BEF (less than $40 USD) and there become a lot of reason to think about a short train ride at one end or the other (both, I guess, most likely). <BR> <BR>How many of you are there? And what precisely are the car rental quotes (and for what size) you are getting? <BR> <BR>Which constrains you more? money? convenience? time? <BR> <BR>And last of all, I don't know what Rhuette means - - is this a place? do you mean Reutte (Austria) - - an excellent base for Neuschwanstein and Schloss Linderhof. <BR> <BR>Please continue the dialogue here (though I will be at work some of the day). <BR> <BR>Best wishes, <BR> <BR>Rex <BR>

Nancy

Rex, <BR> <BR>Thanks for helping me figure out how to "skin that cat". Our priority would be money then time. Our airline tickets are bought, we are locked into flying into Amsterdam on the 25th & out of London on the 11th. <BR> <BR>Ruette is what I meant, sorry about the spelling. There are 2 of us. I haven't booked the car yet but we would like to get as small a car as 2 6 ft. tall people could comfortably ride in. I got a quote from Kemwel for $297. That includes the CDW insurance but not the $82 drop off for Germany. Hertz was $490 something. <BR> <BR>I am trying to figure out the part from after we leave Reutte on the 6th to getting to London by the 7th a.m. <BR> <BR>I am checking websites in between my boss wanting me to work! <BR> <BR>Thanks again!!!

Rex

Okay. I think I would train to Brussels Charleroi. Fly to Salzburg (and besides it's wonderful). Rent there, traveling to all your German destinations in a big loop, ending up back in Reutte. Drive Reutte to Salzburg on the 6th and take Salzburg-Stansted dep 20:35 arr 21:30 - - voila, you are there the night of the 6th. <BR> <BR>Of coursem I don't know what kind of quotes you will get for a car rental in austria. Besides Kemwel, try www.autoeurope.com and www.its-cars-hotels.com and www.travelocity.com - - Travelocity won't get you a "brokered" rate (usually) but it does allow you to check the "published" rates of all the "majors" simultaneously. <BR> <BR>Oh, and one final note: search for Alpenhotel Erenberg here on this forum. In Breitenwang (just outside Reutte) - - highly recommended. <BR>

Nancy

Thanks Rex! <BR> <BR>I am looking into what the drop off rate is for Salzburg. If we could just drive to Salzburg from Ruette & catch a flight through RyanAir I think that might tie things up nicely!! Thanks for all your help.

andy franks

following on from previous advice, please be aware that "cheap" airlines such as Ryanair may advertise really cheap flights but they only sell a handful of tickets at those prices and after that..........

Nancy

Good point Andy. I will book ASAP! Thanks.

Nancy

Rex & Andy thank you for your help. I talked with Kemwel & I think that I can turn the car in at Bremen then take the train to Hahn. <BR> <BR>Kemwel doesn't allow you to drop off the car in Austria. Don't know why but it doesn;t. <BR> <BR>Now the question is ~ is there a train from Bremen to the Hahn airport?

Tony

I am totally confused now. How does Bremen get into the picture when we are down South in Salzburg/Ruette? <BR>I think we need a fresh piece of paper here and start again. <BR>As a thought starter, why not train from Amsterdam to the Cologne area, then rent a car in Germany, and drop off in Germany, say, Munich for a flight to London.

Rex

I was puzzled by the idea of going to Bremen also, but I believe that the issue is that there are NO cheap flights between Germany and England other than RyanAir and Hahn. <BR> <BR>Still, with Salzburg-Stansted being available cheap, I am a little surprised that a Kemwel rental, picked up in Germany, returned in Germany wouldn't be better. It IS a million miles from Reutte to Bremen. So I would think, Nancy that you should still be considering train from Amsterdam to some close place in northern/eastern Germany - - then when you are done in Reutte, just drive back to Munich, train to Salzburg and fly from there. <BR> <BR>I do lve these logistical puzzles - - finding the cheapest combinations of ground, air and lodging combos - - hoping without sacrificing why you're going to Europe in the first place. <BR>

Nancy

Well gentlemen, I think it is a case of my not being able to see the forest for the trees! I am taking this weekend to re-evaluate the situation. I am going to put it on paper & that will pretty much show the pros & cons of each scenario. <BR> <BR>I want to rent a car in Amsterdam because there are several stops I want to make on my way to Bacharach. I was driving back to Bremen because thats the closest drop site to Hahn. I am using Hahn because it will get me to London for about $20. <BR> <BR>Salzburg came into the mix late. It does make more sense to go to Salzburg from Reutte & connect. That would give us a day to see another city also. <BR> <BR>Thanks again guys, sometimes you just need a sounding board to bounce ideas back off of & to point out the ones that don't make sense. <BR> <BR>Thank you all for trying to help me straighten out this problem of mine.

Tony

Did you sort it out Nancy? Would love to hear the conclusion.

Nancy

I think I did figure it out. <BR> <BR>We will go to Munich to drop off the car we rent through Kemwel & pick up a car from Hertz for one day. <BR> <BR>Then we drive to Hahn and return the car there & catch a Ryanair flight to London! <BR> <BR>Why rent from 2 companies? Kemwel is MUCH cheaper than Hertz & renting the car for one day from Hertz will be cheaper than 2 train tickets. We will be able to see some more country this way too. <BR> <BR>Thanks again for everyones suggestions!