At the end of our time in Paris, we want to visit the Vimy Memorial and also Flanders - American Cemetery. Comparing car rental costs (and convenience) to taking train, it seems I can save good chunk of change if I reserve/rent a car through AutoEurope or Rental Cars. There are 3 of us traveling. When I go to direct to a car rental firm's website, Hertz (for example), the price is much higher. Anybody have any experience renting through either of these? Any advice?
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10188 posts
AutoEurope is good. It's a consolidator, which we've been using for fourteen years. Another regular poster here uses them as his last choice. I've never used the other, Rental Cars, or run into it.
Posted by
OP
Beaverton, OR, United States
245 posts
Thanks Bets!
Posted by
OP
Beaverton, OR, United States
245 posts
Also…any preferences for which car rental company to go with? Best experiences? Thanks all.
Posted by
Pensacola
9110 posts
I'm the anti-AE guy. My problem with them is that you have to pay up front, which isn't too bad. The real problem comes when I show up and the agency they've set me up with doesn't have the super-small car that I need to get into the tight roads of the far outback. Since I've already paid, I've no leverage to walk over to the next counter and get them to match the deal. The proffered free upgrade to a larger car just won't work.
The only consolidator that really sucks bad is Holiday Autos.
Car Rentals is a search engine. They used to be pretty good, got eclipsed by Kayak, and are now coming back. Sometimes they don't show the full price until you get to the final step.
A car of a given class, at a given place, on a given set of dates is not going to vary substantially if you reserve it six months or a day ahead of time.
I rent a lot of cars all over the world. It's something I take care of at the departure gate while sucking down a coffee and it takes all of five minutes using Kayak. I take the cheapest deal in a class, avoiding consolidators for the reasons stated.
I've been generally pleased with everybody and infrequently ticked at almost everybody, but there's no real pattern. If Europcar is anywhere close to the best deal, they've been getting the nod for the last few years -- they haven't ticked me off yet.
I don't even glance at the single corporate agencies for an international rental even if I'm in their super-gold-club -- there's just no deal to be had.
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
If you are going to use a consolidator, look at Kemwel also. There a sister company to AutoEurope, but on my trip to Italy in April 2014, they had a MUCH better price than either AutoEurope or any individual car rental company, for the vehicle and terms we wanted.
Posted by
OP
Beaverton, OR, United States
245 posts
Ed…thank you! Great insight — much appreciate.
Harold…thank you, also — will check out Kemwel!
What would I do without this forum?
Have a great day...
Posted by
Florida
1 posts
I had the best experience renting from www.gotrentalcars.com. They compare rates from every car rental companies and pick the best offer depending on your needs. At first I wasn't sure so I called them and they helped me find the right car at the right price. I got a great deal!! I was planning my trip throughout Europe and I used them in France, Italy, Spain and UK. I would suggest anyone to purchase their car rental from gotrentalcars.com.
John
Posted by
OP
Beaverton, OR, United States
245 posts
Thanks John—appreciate your recommendation, too — I'll check them out.