Hello from Wisconsin,
I looked yesterday at car rental prices from CDG, returning to CDG. My goodness, small cars are about $50/day. I checked a 10 day rental and it hovered around $500.
Has anyone used a travel club or a box store membership to rent a car? They say...of course...that it could save you hundreds of dollars.
Boy, for the good old days when should season could produce a car for under $20/day.
wayne iNWI
I don’t know when you’ll be going but I checked prices on AutoEurope a highly rated consolidator in Maine. I checked rentals for 1 week beginning May 7th and they were about half of what you quoted. Rentals from Europcar were $243 for a mini, $277 for an economy and $314 for a compact. Hertz had slightly higher prices. AutoEurope is my go-to rental agency.
AutoEurope is our go to agency for Europe as well. I did look at Costco, but I prefer to get the "no deductible" insurance and I don't think Costco has that option.
I have rented through Costco for US rentals and been pleased. One added bonus is the second driver is free.
We are renting with Costco for a trip to France in June/July. We are paying $415 for a standard SUV for 8 days. It is through Alamo but you have other choices. Seems good so far and I just changed the dates with no penalty or problem.
My go to for European car rentals is gemut.com. Good rates and helpful people.
Our intermediate car rental through Costco/enterprise, picking up and dropping off in Frankfurt for 20 days beginning in mid-May is 909€. That is for an automatic. Our compact car 21 day rental for a trip later this year, pickup and drop off in Madrid, is 872€. I check back every couple weeks to see if the rates have gone down. As a gauge of how much prices have gone up, our 2022 Spain trip was also through Costco, was for an economy car, 22 days, and the rate was 608€. With Costco you get insurance at the counter when picking up the vehicle or through your CC, or third party vendor like Allianz. If wanting zero deductible, you must get that at the rental counter.
I use Costco at home, but with one exception in Scotland I’ve used Auto Europe in Europe. They are easy to work with.
I second Patricia:
Try gemut.com
It's an American company that focuses on European travel - luxury travel makes up A LOT of its offering. I can't afford any of that but I've never had issue with the rental car portion of their business.
You are working with an America company, with an American 24-hour a day service number staffed by English speaking people in the US if you run into any issues, including any misunderstanding or miscommunication at the rental counter.
Gemut requires full payment in advance, but it is fully refundable.
The prices I've gotten are always surprisingly lower than when I do a comparisons looking at the same vehicle, same options through the same European car agency.
Give it a try.
Can't hurt just getting a quote and seeing what they can offer you.
I’ve used Costco for several trips and the prices were much better. The spouse also is a driver at no charge.
To Clarify a point, the second driver does not have to be a spouse with Costco. Any person can be the designated second driver.
Unless you are a fairly fluent French speaker, consider renting from Autoeurope, as they have a 24 hour, free telephone hotline to help with any need that may arise. Autoeurope has great prices, but it is their service that really sets them apart. They can help you with any problem at pickup, en route, or drop off.
I noticed on the Costco website for rentals from CDG that flight information for the return flight to the US is mandatory. Even though we'd be returning the car to the airport, we will be headed elsewhere in Europe by train. So I decided against renting from them despite a great price. (And my being on Enterprise's DNR list though my husband isn't, was a concern as well)
@beejaybeeohio - find a legitimate flight number, put it in the reservation and you’re good to go. Flight numbers can change as well as plans, and nobody from Enterprise will care. It just provides the company with an idea of when the car will be returned.
Wayner -
You do not say how long you plan to stay, but if it is three weeks or longer you might check out leasing a car. We leased through Auto Europe last year for a ten-week trip and saved a ton of money. Insurance included with no deductible and a brand new car.
Chris
Hi from Wisconsin,
Thanks for everyone who responded. I apologize, I am not going to Europe. I saw that Costco offer this 'we will get you' an inexpensive rental. And I wondered if that was true. And not just for this shopping mecca but other consolidators.
In my years of renting European cars for weeks at a time I have learned to book a fully cancelable auto deal early after checking AutoEurope and Europcar. Then check back periodically with AutoEurope and Europcar to see if there are any specials. I landed on a Valentine's Day special once, I only had to book on the 14th for a rental even if the rental wasn't until six months after the 14th of Feb.
I learned this. My credit cards will cover up to 30 consecutive days. When I wanted to rent for 35 days in a row, I rented for 6. At which point I turned the car in, went to bed, and picked up a car, as it turned out, from the very same rental company for the remaining 29 days using the same card for both rentals. And my credit card was cool with that. Even though it sure seemed like 35 consecutive days. Neither contract was for more than 30 days...so it was OK.
I was hoping someone would have responded with, "the best I could find on my own was _____, but Costsless did it for __.
But maybe some one will respond.
Thanks again. this is a great service made great by you all.
wayner iNWI
