France Car Rental

We have rented thru AutoEurope several times and been very happy with their service. I'd take the lower rate. Hertz in Europe isn't necessarily same as Hertz in US.

I am in the process of figuring out where to pick up car for our France trip as well- we will be in Bayeux then traveling to Amboise, I had thought Bayeux but after some reading it appears the Hertz location there is just an outpost for larger office in Caen. (do a search for "car rental Bayeux" vs "car rental Caen")
I think we will train from Bayeux to Caen and get car there to avoid any issues about availability, etc.

Was just going to post a question on this very topic!

I too am planning to train to Caen, especially because I am likely to reserve a vehicle with an automatic transmission and am more likely to see that fulfilled successfully there in the larger city.

That is exactly why we will pick up in Caen.
Our first experience renting car in Europe was in Florence, arranged to pick up just outside ZTL, requested automatic (we've not driven stick in about 30 yrs, don't want to relearn in europe)- and the only automatic they had on lot was a van--not a mini van either. A large van. It was actually a large lot, lots of cars.
We freaked out knowing we wanted smallest car possible but took it and it all worked out OK. We had planned well to avoid driving inside towns/cities/ZTL. We did have a bit of a squeaker trying park in underground garage in Assisi- husband is an expert parker is all I can say.

Anyway- I want to be sure I get the car we want. Might even pick up as we leave Paris when all planning is said and done.

I've been using AutoEurope, or their sister company Kemwel, for many years in France. For years I generally rented from Europcar, usually through AE, but because of issues with Europcar on several trips, last year I rented with Hertz through AE, and the same for our upcoming trip. I would definitely go with Hertz through AE, particularly given that their rate is lower. In fact, I no longer even bother to check directly with the car rental company anymore. I just go through AE or Kemwel. I've found on a couple of occasions when issues arose with the car company, AE was very helpful.

Hertz in Europe has nothing to do with Hertz in the US. They also charge a drop fee for in country drops. Since we pretty much never drop at the same station we pick up, we avoid them. They also are not the efficient operations they are in the US. It took us two hours to get a reserved car (manual) in Rome because they had miscalculated cars and we had to wait for one to be returned. the guy who had reserved an automatic was told they had given it to someone else and would have to wait till another one was returned. He was there when we got there and there when we left two hours later. Even when they have your car, the process is tedious and rather time consuming; none of that grab and go we are used to.

We have used Kemwell and now Auto Europe and always had good luck except for avoiding Hertz. Most agencies do not charge extra for drops at different stations in the same country. (and we once avoided an international drop because the agent in Amsterdam found us a Paris car that needed to go home and so we didn't have to pay a drop fee for doing them that favor.)

Remember with these third party agencies you are prepaying in full and you cannot change for free the terms of the rental later

That's not true. With AutoEurope, for example, you can cancel at any time up to 48 hours before the rental period, with no fee. So if you want to make a change, you just cancel and make a new booking.

I must disagree with the statement that most agencies charge for dropping a car at a location different from pick-up (within same country). We’ve been renting cars in Europe for decades and never paid such a fee.

I have been using Hertz in Europe for 25 years and have not paid in Country drop fees.I always reserve my Hertz Cars in the US for Europe pickup and did not know that they are not Part of Hertz.The paperwork Looks the same so I am really confused because they honor my points.
Mike

I've used both more than once (among others). In France, I've used Hertz the last three trips but I think that's more coincidence than anything else. I generally go with the best deal. Sometimes locations of offices and hours helps me decide which will be best.

Personally, I prefer a standard transmission (better performance with small engines) and diesel if I can get it. You haven't seen great gas mileage until you've driven a standard diesel on a compact European car. I think I was getting better than 80 miles to the gallon on highways in Spain (if my conversions were right). They've given me gas Fiat 500's the last couple times. Those are relative gas-guzzlers, probably why the rental agencies have so many of them.

I believe that often a one-way fee is encompassed within the overall charge and the renter won't even know it. On a recent trip, renting Europcar through AutoEurope, I got a post-rental charge from Europcar with no breakdown. Not for the first time I was unable to get answers from Europcar, so I contacted AutoEurope. They said that part of the charge was a one-way drop off fee which shouldn't be there, so they charged it back to Europcar. That's part of the reason I stopped using Europcar, and also why I prefer to go through AutoEurope rather than direct. I've rented directly a few times, and don't see any advantage, particularly since AutoEurope seems to almost always be cheaper.

We have used Autoeurope many times, but we usually call them to be sure there are no 1-way feels. At times, different companies have different 1-way policies/charges.

I have a Hertz car reserved for April in France, and just checked what it would cost if I rented directly through Hertz. It would be several hundred dollars more. So I'll stick with Auto Europe.