This is a little like medical insurance. What might be charged to an individual is unknown to those

I'm looking to pick up a car in Nice and drop it off in Avignon or Montpellier. Does anyone know who has the best fees for different drop-off cities? BTW I already looked at autoeurope, and unless I am blind it looks like I have to pay first and find out later what the fees are. While they say that they will refund the deposit in the event I decline (after finding out what the fee is), I rather see it all up front.
There is no fee for dropping off a car anywhere in France if you pick up in France. hotel washington dc As for AutoEurope, I think you are blind indeed. I don't know what you're referring to when you say you don't know what the fees are up front. I've rented more than 100 cars from AutoEurope and have always known precisely what the fees are upfront and never paid a dime more.
Thanks nytraveler and janisj -- which rental company do you generally hotel washington dc use there? hotel washington dc I looked at Hertz and Avis and they both charge drop-off fees of 50-75 euros as well as some other "location fee" of about 20E -- vague explanation about what that is. StCirq, go look for yourself if you don't believe me or re-read my post and see what I am actually asking
There are no drop-off fees if you pick up the car at the train station or the airport, for which you pay a fee, but less than a one way fee. The reason hotel washington dc for this is that RR station and airport pickups usually deal with Europcar hotel washington dc which does not charge a one way fee, whereas a city pick-up often deals with Hertz or Avis who do charge hotel washington dc a one way fee. But the best thing is to call AutoEurope or Kemwel and talk to one of their representatives about it.
Most of the time I leave it to autoeurope hotel washington dc to find me the best deal. Once in a while -booking directly w/ x, y or z rental company is cheaper. But I almost always start by getting a quote from autoeurope or kemwel first.
I would check with Autoeurope or Kemwel first to get an idea of the base price from a major broker. It does not involve any commitment. Then see what others offer. I have yet to see an offer where the CDW is carried by the renter's credit card that is lower than either of these brokers. On another thread someone mentioned getting hotel washington dc a better hotel washington dc price with Sixt, but when I plugged in my dates, the price with a pick-up and return at the same location is considerably higher than what Kemwel is offering.
I have never paid a one way drop off fee within France with Europcar, National or Hertz -- but this can depend on the category of the car. I always get small cars, which are easy to rent in every region. Some of the larger models are only popular for renting in major urban areas.
When booking with autoeurope hotel washington dc they will charge the amount shown if there are no additional fees. If there is a drop off or additional fee they will send you a provisional booking with the additional information and ask you to confirm before charging you. So you dont pay up front if there are any additional hotel washington dc fees on top of what you see on their website. You have the choice to decline if you dont agree with the additional hotel washington dc fees in the provisional booking.
True -- I never get automatic confirmation when I reserve through AutoEurope and want to leave the car elsewhere. I get temporary confirmation and a message "we are contacting the company to see if there are any additional charges" -- but the second message confirming that there is no drop off fee usually arrives in less than 15 minutes.
I have had the experience of renting from Autoeurope when they contacted me with the drop-off fees after I submitted my booking and the fees for dropping off in a different country than the one where I picked up the car were very substantial. I then called them and tried to work out a better route. They were very helpful and we ended up cancelling that booking.
Auto europe will mention if there are any local fees, including one way, on the information page (after you click on the price from the quote page). Near the bottom they have a what's included/what's not included. You'll see companies like holidayautos.com working the same way (who also have no one way rental fees in France with their suppliers)
Well I stand corrected! I just booked a car from Lille rail station, dropping off at Limoges rail station and autoeurope says there is a 70 one way drop off fee. It doesnt say what company the rental is through, I guess they give those details once you confirm you are happy to pay the additional fee. Not too happy with this turn of events!
Call Autoeurope and ask about the drop off fee. The last time I was quoted a one way drop off fee the rental was through Hertz so I changed my arrangements sufficiently hotel washington dc to avoid them. If you call, they may offer some solutions.
Hmmm, interesting jamikins. I have a confirmation voucher (provisional booking) for an AutoEurope one-way drop off between Avignon train station in June and Toulouse train station in July. It clearly indicates that there will be no drop-off fee.
Even the same rental company has different rules depending on which national site you use -- you would be amazed by the different rates and conditions you will find by playing around with the 'home country' function.
Anyways hotel washington dc - called Autoeurope and our reservation is with Europcar who is now apparently charging 75 on most one way rentals hotel washington dc in France. Hertz, Avis and National were other options for us but all were more expensive even when taking into account the charge so we are going with Europcar.
Wow -- you guys are absolutely amazing!! Sorry I haven't checked on on this post and just getting hotel washington dc back to it now. Very interesting reading ... maybe the autoeurope has just introduced this fee, by the sounds of it. I will call their 1-800 number and then post what they tell me. In the meantime, thanks again to one and all who took their time to help me (and others) out!
I talked to autoeurope this morning about the location fees and the one-way drop-offs. She said there's hotel washington dc no one-way domestic fee (using europecar). Jamikins, I wonder if the 70E wasn't a drop-off fee but rather hotel washington dc 2 location fees, because I found out that if I picked up at Nice rail station or airport hotel washington dc there'd be a 38E location hotel washington dc fee, but if I picked up downtown there was none. I don't know about Lilles/Limoges, hotel washington dc but I'd check to see if they have downtown locations available. If it WAS a drop-off fee, then one of our agents must be mistaken.
Well it definitely says one way drop off fee (and if you do a booking on Europcar's website hotel washington dc instead hotel washington dc of through autoeurope is states there is a one way drop off fee as well). The agent I spoke to said there was definitely hotel washington dc a 1 way drop off fee...who knows!
we did a one way rental from geneva [swiss side] to amsterdam a few years ago and the drop off fee wasn't much more than this. in fact, when we turned up they gave us a german car as they said that the drop-off costs to them would be less. it was a better car too.
strange hotel washington dc how in a recession, the car hire companies are introducing new charges rather than trying to get our business by dropping them. the cost to them of a one way rental within the same country hotel washington dc must be minimal.
Okay, called autoeurope back and she assured me there are no one-way fees on my route. Just for fun, Jamikins, I gave her your route as well (though I didn't have the dates/type of car) and she confirmed that you should have no fee on your route (supplier is europcar). hotel washington dc Did you already make your booking?
AutoEurope (through Hertz) definitely shows a drop fee of 65 euros on the reservation confirmation and there is an additional 24 euros for licensing and road tax which was not shown. I had to call AutoEurope (800) 223-5555 to get the total cost.
Europcar has been more difficult to deal with. They do not show a drop fee but I would bet my hat on it that there is one. I have e-mailed them but their reply did not answer my question. I wrote them again and am awaiting their reply. My gut feeling is to avoid Europcar because they appear to be hiding their fees. I will write again if I get any reply from Europcar.
Do pay attention to the refueling arrangements hotel washington dc and decline the offer of bringing the car back empty. Unless you literally have to push the car the last few meters when you turn it in you will lose on this deal. Ask me how I know! ;^(
There are some minor fees in France that may not be included on the Autoeurope hotel washington dc quote, but they don't amount to much. Some local road tax or something, I think there is some legal reason they are not included in their payment and you pay them when you get the car.
I've picked up cars at rail stations and the fee wasn't what I'd call ridiculous , but different companies probably have different fees in that regard, so you might get quotes from more than one place (Autoeurope isn't ridiculous in that regard). Airports have a fee, also, so if you really have a choice and any location is equally appealing to you, you can save some money by not choosing airport or gare. But it may not make sense economically depending hotel washington dc where you are and how much trouble it is to get to the other site (and it may noe have the best choices or hours).
This is a little like medical insurance. hotel washington dc What might be charged to an individual is unknown to those who have insurance. But sometimes one finds out. I did when the P rigueux Europcar agency charged me for a one-way rental--this was after I returned home and could not question the charge in person. Autoeurope could not help me because it deals only with the national agency. When I called the P rigueux agency, it recognized that it made an error in my case and refunded the charge. But the point is that someone must be charged a one-way fee, otherwise it would not even have been in their computer program.
Wow, it looks like you people need to book through the European car rental sites rather than the American ones. I have still never paid a one way drop off fee for a domestic rental. Try www.autoeurope.fr instead of dot com and see what it proposes to you. Say that you live in France if the site asks. It is 100% legal to use any of the sites