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car hire in France

Hi. Just looking for advice on cheap but more importantly reliable car hire company in France. After Paris will be spending 5-7 days on rememberance trail (visiting WW1 sites between Fromelle & Amiens up to Ypres in Belgium) Still unsure if I should take train to Lille and hire car there to avoid any one way fees or hire out of Paris or Amiens and then drop at Lille (heading to London on Eurostar after France), but if I can get advice on good companies will then compare alternatives.
Thanks in advance

Posted by
9110 posts

Use Kayak, pick the cheapest, favor Europcar if they're close.

There's no charge for dropping in different cities within the same country.

There's no need for deliberation, the whole thing is a five-minute process.

Posted by
10585 posts

"There's no charge for dropping in different cities within the same country."

Ed is the guru of travel around here, but this statement is not always true in France. Europcar doesn't charge extra for a one-way in country rental. Hertz wanted to charge €65. Go with Europcar.

Posted by
7151 posts

I agree with Andrea, Hertz charged me $50 to drop in a different city. That was a rental from Colmar to Chartres; it's possible that some other cities don't have that add'l drop charge. So take that into account when comparing with other rental companies, but they may still be the best deal.

Posted by
10585 posts

My rental will be Paris-Avignon.

While Europcar doesn't charge an additional drop off fee, they do charge extra to pick up at a train station. That charge was less than the drop off charge for Hertz.

EDIT: I use AutoEurope when I rent cars. They are a consolidator based in Maine. It's easy to call them to ask questions before choosing a rental, and it's easy to change or cancel your car.

Posted by
3272 posts

Check the rates at AutoEurope. I've rented from them a number of times. Call the 800 number and talk to one of their helper bees. They might be able to find vehicles with no or low drop off fees.

Posted by
255 posts

I did the same type trip in June. I rented a car from SIXT leaving Paris and dropped off in Nice. There was a drop off charge but the total rental was less than other companies. I kept checking the rates before the trip and the SIXT rates kept going down and they adjusted them. I always book direct with the rental company rather than using Auto Europe, Europecar or the other resellers. I have never booked a lower rate from a consolidator than booking direct.

Posted by
3642 posts

I haven't used them, myself; but friends swear by Kemwel. The other consolidator with good reviews is Gemut. I know they, and perhaps other consolidators, will match any price you find.

Posted by
10599 posts

Clarification: Europcar is a rental company, not a consolidator. Kemwel is now owned by AutoEurope. Kemwel/AutoEurope will adjust prices down too, if lower prices appear. AutoEurope used to be good advocating for the renter in case of a dispute. I've noticed a change in level of service in the past three years or so, but I still use them.
Whatever you do, as a non-EU resident, be sure you rent using .com websites, not .fr, and pay in dollars in order to avoid certain taxes you'd have to pay if you rented locally.

Posted by
9 posts

Re advice to rent from .com sites and pay in dollars. Does that work if you are already in France? We don't have set dates, and were planning to rent a car a day or two in advance of when we decided to leave Paris and head south. Will we be able to use the (US-based?) consolidators?

Posted by
10599 posts

Yes, you can. I've even called AutoEurope's 0800-number, which is for use from France, talked to the agent on duty and rented my car while standing in the EuropCar's office in Montagis, a smaller city between Burgundy and the Loire. I can't remember if I used my cell phone or the agency telephone. The voucher was in the EuropeCar computer within two minutes. However, during Christmas vacation and July/August, in Paris the agencies get low on stock, while outside Paris the agencies may run out of cars. We've run into that several times. You have to keep calling around to find anything if you leave it to the last minute during those periods.

Furthermore, once at Christmas we found the allotment for .com had run out, but .fr still had stock to rent--at the higher price.