Laura

I've checked 5 websites -- Hertz, EuropCar, and 3 brokers -- and the best price I'm getting for a compact car is 170 euros per week plus 16% tax plus 28 airport charge (that's for 6 days, or about 38 per day). That's from Kemwel, who I never heard of. I was expecting much less based upon previous comments on this board. Can anyone suggest a way to get a better rate? Thanks.

olga

<BR>Laura,<BR><BR>That rate sounds about right, I doubt you are going to find anything lower.<BR> <BR>Autoeurope.com has the same rate you mention and I have used them without problems. They book with Avis or Hertz, their booking process online is simple and all the information is in the online voucher they e-mail you. They provide 24h. toll free numbers both in the U.S. and in Spain and if you need to cancel they refund you immediately on your credit card.<BR>

olga

<BR>And I forgot to mention if you access their website through the Karen Brown travelguide website www.karenbrown.com, I think you get an extra 5% off.

Aaron

Actually, have you tried to rent a car in the US lately? Bargains are getting harder and harder to find. I think you are close to the best rate you are going to find. But what country? what season?<BR>

Gretchen

That sounds like a great rate. Kemwell is a well known European renter. We have used AutoEurope (EuropCar) with good results and rates.

bettyk

Laura, do you belong to any organization that might get discounted rates (AAA, Sam's Club, etc.) Also, have you checked with your employer or your husband's? Sometimes you can use whatever discount rate they might get thru their travel agency, etc.

Laura

(On my original post I left out the fact that I'll be renting in Spain this Feb.)<BR><BR>I checked our corporate rate and it's 242 euros per week (basic rate), including CDW. I'll have to compare the coverage with that available on my Gold Mastercard, which seems very limited. Perhaps the corporate rental is the way to go, even if it does costs about 52 euros/day.<BR><BR>My lowest estimate from AutoEurope was 227, versus Kemwel's 185 (basic) for the Renault Megane 2-door. Is that a decent car to get? My husband prefers a manual, but they're much too costly. The other one in our price range is a Peugeot 307 4-door for 187 euros.<BR><BR>I didn't notice any diesel cars during my searches -- are they still recommended and how would I get one?

Rex

My experience with diesel cars is that I have received one about 60-80% of my 15 or so rental years in the last decade. In general, companies will not promise you one, nor will necessarily get a choice to have one or not. they don't cost any different to rent than gasoline cars. I have never had one that seemed underpowered nor inadequate in the &quot;peppy&quot; department. And of course, they save you about 30% in fueling costs.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

olga

<BR>Laura,<BR><BR>I would go with the Peugeot 307. They are about the same size, but 4 doors makes it more convenient and I like Peugeots better than Renaults.<BR><BR>I wouldn´t choose just the credit card insurance. The rental car companies I work with here in Seville, Spain, never accept them and always end up charging the guest if there is any kind of accident or trouble with the car. Then, even if it gets sorted out in the end, they take forever to refund the client.<BR><BR>In my experience in Seville, you are more likely to get a Diesel than not and let me tell you, with the price of gas in Spain you do want a Diesel! <BR><BR>I assume you mean your husband prefers automatic. Manual -stickshift- is cheaper and it´s hard to find automatic cars in Spain.

olga

<BR>I meant to say rental car companies in Seville don't accept the credit card insurance, not that they don't accept credit cards, of course...<BR><BR>

Maribel

Hi Laura,<BR>Here's our recent experience:<BR><BR>For our 7 day Nov. Spain rental, a Madrid airport pick up/return, of a manual category C compact, I called Kemwell, Hertz, Avis, Europcar, Budget, Dollar/Sixt (suspended its Spain rentals) and after receiving quotes from all, I then called the wholesaler, Auto<BR>Europe last. I mentioned we're members of AAA, Sam's Club and AARP. Their initial quote was higher than Kemwell's, the lowest rate found in my search, with a courtesy 5% AAA discount. Then I asked them to match or better still, beat Kemwell's price, and they agreed. <BR>Cost: 196 euros, including airport surcharge and 16% VAT but MINUS the CDW.<BR>This time Auto Europe surprisingly subcontracted with Europcar instead of Avis, They had used Avis for our previous 2 Spain rentals this summer.<BR><BR>As others have mentioned, always ask for a discount or corporate rate, And I would call Auto Europe and ask them to beat the Kemwell rate (it will only be a few $-but a nice goodwill gesture). To do so, they may ask you if you have a reservation # from Kemwell, but I didn't, but they matched the Kemwell rate anyway. I did all this by phone, not on line, because I always have lots of questions for the agent. <BR>If you pay Auto Europe your refundable partial paymet, receive your voucher but later find a lower rate with another agency, for Auto Europe to then, after the fact, match that rate, they will require you to have a reservation number. They send you a form to fill out/return before they agree to lower their price.<BR><BR>We requested a diesel (had been given one for our previous 2 Auto Europe rentals), but we arrived 1 1/2 hrs. earlier than expected, and this time none was available, nor did they have a Renault Megane or Opel Astra. We didn't want to wait (were dying to reach Segovia!), so we took the available 6 speed 4 door Fiat Styllo (an &quot;upgrade&quot, which just didn't have enough passing power. Had never driven a Styllo so didn't know. Next time we'll turn it down and politely insist on the Megane or Astra, or a Ford Focus, which is what Auto Europe contracting with Avis usually gives us.<BR><BR>Our gold c.c. gives us primary CDW insurance, but opting out of the CDW is really rolling the dice, and I think you probably should take it for the peace of mind it will bring.<BR><BR>Hope our recent experience helps you a bit<BR>to decide<BR><BR>p.s. Out of curiousity, I did later call Alamo and found a slightly better rate, subcontracted with the Spanish rental giant, Atesa, but I just didn't want to go to the trouble of getting a reserv. # with Alamo I would later cancel, then requesting and filling out the form for Auto Europe to shave off a few more euros. I could have, but got lazy.<BR>

jim

I used EuropCar in September and October while in Spain and France and was very pleased. If you have a change in plans, they change your reservation without fuss or additional cost.

Ellen

My employer always uses www.easycar.com, they charge 15.75 euros a day plus taxes and I highly recommend you buy the 4 euros damage waiver per day if you stay in Madrid because they will damage the car ---- trust me.... I have lived here a while now and see people regurarly bump or scratch a car and they do not bother to leave a note. Also be careful when driving, and feel free to vent your fustration by loudly honking the horn as all the other drivers do here when having a 3 year old temper tamtrum wth the driver in front of you who accidently blocked the road for 2 minutes (saracastically...okay please don't honk). <BR><BR>If you come in thru Madrid's only international airport Barajas, you can take the metro directly from inside the airport (follow the metro signs) to Atocha RENFE. Note, there are two stops in the metro on the blue line --- one called Atocha and the other is Atocha RENFE, you want RENFE since that is where you can rent the car. Dont forget your passport, creditcard (with rental insurance), and driver's license (USA licenses are valid for a year here in Spain). From there you should be able to find the car rentals on the second level. Goodluck and hope you have a good visit to Madrid. I am stuck here for the Christmas due to a lack of funds so email me if you need any more recommendations. <BR>Take care, <BR>Ellen <BR>

Angela

Kemwell told me they were sister companies with AutoEurope. Why would you cancel one to go with the other? They both contract through Europecar ultimately. Why did you prefer AutoEurope over Kemwell? I thought they were of equal quality.

shayna

I am looking to pick up a car in Malaga and then return it 10 days later in Lisbon. I have read some postings on companies that charge a huge fee to pick up / drop off in two different countries. Has anyone had a good and affordable experience doing this?

Maribel

Angela,<BR>I wasn't aware that Kemwell and AutoEurope are sister companies. <BR>I didn't cancel a Kemwell reservation; simply got an intital price quote by phone, and they informed me they would contract with Avis, not with Europcar, for our Barajas airport pickup/return. I didn't make a reservation with them; I simply called for info, then finally booked with Auto Europe for these reasons: This past summer for our several European rentals, we found their customer service friendly, efficient and dependable, they beat their competitors' rate (subcontracting with Avis) and the partial payment was refundable. Actually, many satisfied customers here on Fodors convinced me to give AutoEurope a try.<BR>Kemwell may be every bit as reliable.<BR>In the past (we do several European rentals per yr.) I had found Kemwell's rates for Spain to be on the higher side (since I do this often, I keep the notes and compare from yr. to yr.). But each rental is different. No single rental agency is consistently the cheapest for our Spain rentals. Soon I'll need to research our April Holy Week rental, picking up at Barajas and returning to Sevilla, and will report back what I find.<BR><BR>I had read about Easy Car's very low rates, and we did see one of their cars, as it was easily identifiable due to the logo www.easycar.com on the back windshield. They explain this practice on their web page:<BR>&quot;By displaying our name on our cars we increase our marketing exposure allowing us to reduce the amount we spend on advertising.&quot; <BR>But this really would give me pause. Just something to keep in mind.<BR>

Julie

Laura,<BR>Check out a recent posting by Steve about brunocar.com. Seems like the best deal yet.