Renting a car through Kemwel on the internet vs. the phone
 

After much research (including the various buy/back programs) we finally rented a car on the internet through Kemwel for our 33 day road trip in France. The price was $831. Before booking, I phoned Kemwel and they quoted a price of around $1250 for the same car. For the $831 we got a Europcar. I had previously researched the internet rate for Europcar and they quoted $1290. Go figure!

Are you renting and returning in the same spot? We're looking to rent for 14 days, but the prices are ridiculous. Apparently, there is a $600 drop off fee if you drop off in a different location than pickup.

No, we're picking up in Deauville (Normandy) and returning to Nice railstation. Kemwel doesn't have a drop-off fee in France. I don't know about other countries.

Just for those who don't know, Kemwel and AutoEurope are the same company. One look at each website will convince you.

If you are declining the CDW from the rental agency, make sure that you have two rental agreements. VISA and most other credit card companies will not provide CDW insurance for more than 31 days, and therefore you must somehow split your rental agreement even if you are not changing cars.

I have never, in 100+ European car rentals, paid a dropoff fee except when I picked the car up in one country and dropped it in another.

We have an American Express card and signed up for their "premium car rental protection" at $24.95 per rental. Everything is 100% covered in every way including things stolen from your car. It is good for up to 42 days. A few countries are excluded such as Italy and Ireland. When you pay for your car rental, use the American Express card then their "premium rental protection" kicks in. I found out about it on www.americanexpress.com/pcrprew. If you get the wrong page when you click on this link, just type in the address instead and you'll get there.

Hi NJ,

There are rarely drop off charges for the same country.

Did you check www.kemwel.com, www.autoeurope.com and www.gemut.com?

((I))

Hi K,

Kemwel and Gemut are "associated" with AE, but not owned by them.

I often get better prices through K and G than from AE.

((I))

PS,

For example, for May 23/30 pickup at Strasbourg train sta,

Megane AE 345E K 290
207 AE 335 K 281

((I))

We recently reserved a car from AE but later I checked the price and it was $200 less expensive from Kemwel. The rental is in France.

When I asked AE about matching the price they said they would not through AE but they would book the car through Kemwel since they are affiliates.

So we switched the rentals. I thought this was strange.

If you have not read previous threads, you would be well advised to use the AutoEurope sites in Europe rather than the American one -- if you set your country as Spain, Belgium or France, you can save up to 25% off the American rates.

And yes, it is totally legal. There is no restriction on finding the best price in international commerce in this part of the world.

kerouac. I tried that for this particular rental and it wasn't less expensive using another country's AE site.

But I know that sometimes it is.

We are renting in Paris and returning to Rome. The prices are ridiculous.

Very bad idea to do that. You should rent in Paris and return in Menton and then rent in Ventimiglia and return in Rome, thus avoiding an international drop off fee.