[Idyllchat] Advice, Please

[Bob Bestor]

Sandy,

Since this list concerns European travel I 
presume your question is about car rentals in 
Europe.

It is a surprisingly complex topic. Insurance, 
extra drivers, premium station charges, road 
taxes, pre-paid gas charges, winter tire 
requirements, age restrictions, geographic travel 
restrictions, one-way drop charges, the cost and 
availability of extras such as GPS (BTW, only 
works in country of rental), safety seats for 
kids, ski racks, cancellation and change fees, 
and several other factors can vary by vehicle 
category, country and rental car company. You 
need to find someone in the business who can 
explain all the issues that are in play 
concerning the kind of car you want in the 
country where you plan to rent.

The second driver issue is a good example: costs 
vary from zero to as much as $20 per day. In 
Germany, Europcar will allow a free second driver 
if it's a spouse with the same last name as the 
principal driver. That same company in France, 
however, charges a flat fee of $39 per rental for 
the first extra driver, $59 for two or more 
drivers. Hertz in France charges about $11 per 
day to a maximum of $104 (I say 'about' because 
the charge is in euros). On average throughout 
Europe you can expect to pay from $6 to $12 per 
day to a max of about $150 for an extra driver.

As to the best deal, with so many variables it's 
often hard to make an apples to apples 
comparison. For example, overseas car rental 
brokers, most of them are in Ireland and the 
U.K., include collision and theft insurance in 
their basic rate quote; but watch out, there may 
be a big deductible...sometimes as much as $3000. 
In order to get that deductible or "excess" down 
to zero you'll have to buy more insurance at the 
rental counter, perhaps making what at first 
looked like a good deal, a not-so-good one. If 
you book through companies in the U.S. you can 
usually (except for Italy and Ireland) rely on 
your credit card for free, zero-deductible CDW 
and theft insurance.

My advice is to book with a knowledgeable agent - 
a live person you can track down and who can help 
you AFTER the rental in case of an overcharge 
(all too frequent these days with the decline in 
professionalism among rental car counter 
personnel in Europe) - and ask a lot of questions 
about:

* insurance (if you rely on a credit card be sure 
to know the rules for making a claim)
* currency in which is the price is guaranteed (US$ preferred)
* who is the supplier...Hertz, Avis, Europcar, National, etc.
* difference in price if car is picked up off-airport or rail station
* extra driver charges
* restrictions on driving in certain countries
* cancel, change charges
* etc.

Then get it all in writing with a specific list 
of what the price includes and does not include.

I've just scratched the surface but you'll find a 
lot more info at: 
http://www.gemut.com/content/category/15/79/310/. 
(See especially on that page, "Car Rental Advice 
from a Pro).

Good luck,

Bob










>Hi Chatters -
>
>In making non-Untours travel plans, does anyone 
>have a tried and true way to pinpoint the best 
>deals for car rentals?  ...So many ways to seek 
>info, and apply discounts, with comparison, 
>auto, airline, AAA, etc., sites.  There seems to 
>be a wrinkle about a 2nd driver incurring an 
>added charge, which isn't always revealed. 
>Since it seems like I often use up my sanity for 
>the airline reservations, I'd love to hear from 
>anyone who has developed an approach for 
>autos that gets them to a conclusion without 
>going nuts!
>
>Thanks,
>Sandy
>
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