Hey savvy car renters!
 

What do you experienced car renters do in this situation- you arrive in Europe in the early morning, so your car is due back in the morning, but your flight doesn't leave until late afternoon, and you don't care to spend 8 hours at the airport, but it seems like a waste to rent the car for a whole 'nother day. Suggestions?

Good question, KK. I've gone both ways (either wasting time or money) and both were equally irritating. Hasn't anyone else dealt with this?

I have far more trips to Europe where two rentals work better for me than one continuous one. It's a curious thing that 7 days costs you the same as five - - but when you start into the second week, there is no price advantage until you get to the 12 (to 14 day) window. <BR> <BR>So I find that a three day rental and a seven-day rental (often in two different countries) work well for a 12-14 day trip. Which gets the front end, and which gets the back end depends on the itinerary. <BR> <BR>And remember that many larger airports add on a hefty surcharge for airport pickup. 12% of a week-long rental can be a good reason to take other transportation to the hotel of your first day/night - - and rent the car "in town" the next day (afternoon?) <BR> <BR>Best wishes, <BR> <BR>Rex <BR>

Been there. I figured my time is worth more than money, so we kept the car. The cost was small compared to the cost of our trip and we spent too much to get here to sit in an airport for 8 hours.

Good point, Bob. Just don't get caught flat footed at the airport like we did on our first trip. If we had thought ahead and booked that extra day with the original reservation it would have cost far less than buying another day at the desk at 7:00 a.m. After flying all night. :p

We'll spend our last two nights in the city we're flying out of -- Munich -- so we decided to return the car downtown two days before we fly out. Saves us rental and parking fees. It will be a lot less stressful to use the excellent public transportation to get around the city and get out to the airport for our afternoon flight.

Bill- Great idea for those areas with good public transport. When I originally posted I was thinking more along the lines of Shannon airport, where the public transportation is somewhat lacking.

KK - In that case, I would suggest you pay for the extra day. Shannon airport is certainly not the kind of place to hang around for any length of time -- you'd be bored senseless. <BR> <BR>I suppose you could get rid of the car the day before if you were spending the night in Bunratty, but the two taxi rides might cost as much as the extra day of car rental.