emcash

me again. i just looked up some reviews from Autoeurope and they aren't all that positive for the most part. kellie, i trust your opinion, but the reviews are gettign me nervous!

joesorce

What time do you arrive in Fort Lauderdale? Is it a weekend day? Renting from an off-airport location might save you money and just require a cab ride...you could still return the car to the airport at departure.

kelliebellie

That is too bad about the reviews. Are the reviews specific to autoeurope or are they more about the companies that the car ends up coming from?

Why don't you try to buy the tank of gas upfront when you rent the car? My dad does that all the time anyway. That way you can bring it back empty and not worry about it. But like I said, we just returned the car full and they never charged us anything extra.

kelliebellie

Why don't you get an alternate reservation in place with no credit card to hold it and then if you get to the rental counter and they are talking crazy stuff, you can always head over to the other reservation.

NeoPatrick

I'm curious too what it means that the reviews aren't all that positive for AutoEurope. They are a consolidator. Are the negative comments about the way AutoEurope works or about one of the agencies a particular car came from? I also know that every now and then someone will post a negative experience here on Fodors about AutoEurope, but invariably dozens will reply that they can only rave about them! And is there any company -- individual agency -- that gets NO complaints?

emcash

i agree- and I always look at reviews with a cautious eye. the complaints are about autoeurope and the charge for the gas upfront. the complaints (it may just be a person or 2 posting the same complaints on dif websites) are that they charge a premium on that full tank and dont give a choice tho they call it an "option."

I guess at this point, I got such a good rate from that code joesource gave me, i might just go with that. Primarily b/c i don't want to deal with my husband getting upset at the counter at the start of our vacation when the tank i think will cost 75 ends up costing me 150. I'm very tempted by using autosource, but i don't know if the 70 difference is worth not having teh peace of mind.

emcash

there were some other complaints, as well, but i was focused on the extra charges.

I'm not completely ruling them out, i would like to get the type of car i wanted for a good price, but i don't like to roll the dice when it comes to a smooth and stress free vacation.

NeoPatrick

Oh yes. I forgot about the complaints about AE's deal with most agencies to require the purchase of a full tank of gas. Add me to those who "complained" about that!

emcash

I don't have a problem with paying for the gas up front if the deal is still good, but i don't like not knowing what the charge will be. I will pay up to evne 100 for the gas b/c the rate is so good, but i won't pay 150.

kelliebellie

You can completely cancel the autoeurope reservation once you make it. Why don't you make the reservation, see which company you are dealing with, and call them directly. Talk to a manager and get his/her name and find out what the scoop is.

emcash

do you know if they precharge your card or just use the card to hold the res?

kelliebellie

They charge the card for whole amount.