How Much to Pay for Rental Car in Provence???

It’s one driver. Count 8 euros a day for the second, maximum 48 euros. There are a few more local fees if you pick up at a train station or airport, and a tiny road tax. If it’s Hertz, there could be a fee for dropping in a different city. That’s what we have at this moment, a car fron EuropCar via AutoEurope with full deductible. We’ve used these two companies for 20 years. So—the price difference is true. It all depends in what was negotiated by the consolidator.

Sixt used to be quite reasonable with their prices however for some reason a few years ago they decided to hike their prices with no discernible change in their service. I have gone from using them whenever they were an option to rarely using them now.

I've never used Auto Europe but they appear to be one of the reliable companies. The price seems reasonable.

We have used AutoEurope for over twenty years of European travel, good reliable company.Renting a manual transmission will save you a lot of money.

Renting a manual transmission will save you a lot of money.

Nope, apparently not in this case if his quotes are accurate.

Debbie,
This is a tough answer to give because it DEPENDS. Picking up and dropping off at a train station is sometimes cheaper than an airport. Also, depends on the city, events going on, etc. Don't rule out Avis or Hertz. I rented a car for a week for $220 this summer in eastern France at the Colmar train station from Avis. Try different cities for you specific dates. Keep in mind your are looking very early and rates sometimes are higher. Good luck.

Renting a manual transmission will save you a lot of money.

Nope, apparently not in this case if his quotes are accurate.

This is one of the longer-standing pieces of misinformation circulating on this forum. At best, a manual transmission saves the renter a small percentage on the overall rental cost. I would suggest that it's an insignificant amount for a visitor coming from North America, given the other costs involved.

Well, it depends on what you're comparing the automatic-car rental rate to. It may not be all that much more expensive than a manual of the same size class, but if the traveler just wants a small car for cheap transportation and is forced to rent a larger car than he needs to get automatic transmission, the price difference isn't so negligible. At least that's the way it has looked to me on the few occasions when I thought about renting (and rejected the idea, partly due to cost).

Thanks for all of the responses so far. We have to get an automatic car as we cannot drive a manual transmission car.
Our plans are to fly into Marseille & then spend a week in Avignon. When I got the quote online it was to pick up the car at the airport. I did not see any charges for doing so. Would it be better to get the car elsewhere?
--Debbie

Since the automatic transmission is a deal breaker, and since so few automatics are used on this side of the ocean, you may find that if you venture off the airport you will run into difficulties getting a car you can drive. If there aren't any automatics on the lot when you arrive then you won't get one.

Airports tend to have larger fleets, and - even at a small airport like Marseille - usually have the kind of cars that Americans want.

This is one of the longer-standing pieces of misinformation circulating on this forum. At best, a manual transmission saves the renter a small percentage on the overall rental cost.

Vehemently disagree with this. I´ll concur that the base cost difference may be only marginally more selecting a car with automatic transmission, but what is often overlooked by those ordering cars with automatic transmissions is that it triggers an environmental fee of up to 5€ per day.

The environmental fee is typically charged at drop off and is not included in most quotes. The result is that automatics ultimately cost noticeably more than do manuals when renting in France.

Not only are costs higher with automatic transmissions, but availability is noticeably restricted at many rental car locations.

if the traveler just wants a small car for cheap transportation and is forced to rent a larger car than he needs to get automatic transmission, the price difference isn't so negligible.

That's basically why I've often said that getting an automatic in France costs a lot more than a manual (and that was before the environmental fee existed). I can only drive an automatic, and when I rent a car I look for the smallest one possible (with the exception of a Smartcar). So when I see a list of available cars, I have to go up a couple of levels before there are any automatics, and the price is usually significantly more than the smallest manual. I no longer even pay attention to this issue, since I need an automatic and that's what I search for. I've never failed to get an automatic when I've reserved one, although I now pretty much know what types of locations to stick to; mostly airports at somewhat larger cities.

If you are looking at mid size class and above the cost difference between manual and automatic is not great.

The issue is if you were planning on renting an economy car level, there are no automatics so the price jump for a mid size automatic from that starting point is a big jump.

Is definitely true what others said to rent from an Airport location if you must have an automatic. Very rarely if ever do they guarantee you will get one, so you need to keep your odds as high as possible that you will so an airport is your best bet for largest selection.

Auto Europe has good rates in France and can be trusted, I assume it is a Sixt rental through Auto Europe since you state apples to apples? Auto Europe customer service is really good and in Maine if you have any questions/concerns.
They are merely a consolidator not a rental car company, so you book through them and pay them when booking but go to the counter through the company you booked with (Sixt, Avis, Hertz, Europcar, etc..)
if the rental car company you select from them is bad , then it doesn't matter that Auto Europe is good.

Overall does not sound too good to be true as far as that lowest rate but there will be some drop off charges, nothing major but daily road taxes, some have airport or train location surcharges, environmental fees for auto and the like to be added at the end. Those costs should be somewhere in the fine print of the contract when getting a quote from Auto Europe online.

No quoted rate includes 2 drivers, just one. You can add a second driver for a fee.

If you are flying in and out of Marseille, I would rent at the airport and return there. Your probably only talking about a difference of a 100.00. Use Kayak or Skyscanner and put in your dates and select transmission as Automatic. Provence can be seen by train, but not as easy as a car. Good luck.

We finally bought our airplane tickets for the trips to Europe & back home to Hawaii, so our dates/time in Provence has changed. We will only spend 5 nights in Provence. I just checked Skyscanner, as recommended, & it looks like we can get a compact car for $124.00 from Got Rental Cars & then $146.12 from AutoEurope at the MRS airport. IF everyone thinks either one is a good idea, please let me know. Thanks for all of your help.--Debbie

Debbie, go with AutoEurope rather than that other one. They're totally reputable (I've been using them for 20+ years), and if you run into a problem at the time of rental or afterwards, they provide great customer service. And their voucher clearly explains what's included and what will be extra (like road taxes, environmental fee, etc.). And I always book an automatic, and it's always there.

Just to provide some actual figures on the whole discussion about how much auto rentals cost for manual versus automatic, I just priced out a hypothetical approximate 2-week trip for a couple from Chicago to France to see how the cost of the rental car type affected the trip's overall cost.

I used actual plane fares and hotel costs from momondo (fare was for Lufthansa and hotel was the Hotel Espirit Saint-Germain), actual quotes from Avis on rental fees including insurance, viamichelin for fuel and toll costs, made what I consider to be reasonable assumptions for food, mass transit, admissions, and souvenirs (keep in mind I've lived in France for several years and I am pretty familiar with what stuff costs here), and a quote from trainline.eu to get back to Paris after dropping off the car.

The general itinerary was to fly to and stay in Paris for 6 days, take a taxi out to CDG to rent a car (to avoid driving in central Paris), and then drive over the subsequent 8 days to Strasbourg, meander south through Alsace, Bourgogne, and Beaujolais and on to Lyon's Saint-Éxupery airport to drop off the car and take a train back to CDG, with one night's stay at the Ibis CDG prior to the return flight.

Nothing too special -- just an easy 2-week itinerary.

The cars were the following:

Baseline model was the Renault Megane manual transmission with GPS and all insurance.
Comparison No. 1 model was the Peugeot 308 automatic transmission with GPS and all insurance (very similar vehicle to baseline)
Comparison No. 2 model was the bargain approach, a Renault Clio manual transmission with all insurance but no GPS

Considering all the costs and today's exchange rate from euros to USD of 1.17, the baseline trip cost was $6,150 for two people.

Comparison No. 1 with the automatic car, slightly higher fuel cost but everything else the same, was $6,202 for two people, or 0.85 percent higher than the baseline.

Comparison No. 2 with the budget small car, slightly lower fuel cost but everything else the same, was $6,008, or 2.3 percent less than the baseline.

In summary, all three options priced out at basically the same cost. There was very slight variance between the three.

The car quotes for a hypothetical 8 day rental were:
- Megane, mid-size manual = $586
- 308, mid-size automatic = $623
- Clio, compact manual = $449

Considering these costs, which are based on real quotes, I have trouble understanding the basis for the notion that automatics are significantly more expensive -- a notion that's repeated, by the way, on this very website in the car rental area, which makes the claim:

"You'll pay extra for a car with automatic transmission (about 50
percent more than the same car with stick shift)..."

I just don't see it. The data are inconsistent with that claim.

L’autre Bob,
I checked the prices using Autoeurope.com for a compact. It is indeed only about $28 difference for an 8-day rental. The problem is that so few automatics are offered that a customer has the choice of only one agency at that low price. The other two agencies charged about $100 more and offered only a sports model in the compact class. So bottom line is that everyone is right.

Debbie: AutoEurope is tried and true. I’ve never heard of the other.

We are in Avignon right now, with a manual Fiat 500 (great car) from Avis.

The base rate is $81, with fees, $497 for a week. The GPS has been essential (I also have Google maps on my ipad but need the GPS) and I bought the small insurance coverages but not the collision lass damage waiver which my credit card covers. There is a $76 fee for dropping of in Bordeaux. The bigger the car, the fewer oarking options you have. Also, (making gps even more essential) is that Avignon is a road construction horror right now, until the tram system is finished. Not at all easy to navigate. We rented at the gare, where you need to keep your eyes open. Good luck!

Also, the buses do not run in construction areas.

Bets,

Sixt is a common rental agency in Europe. I think it's German. It's been around since the early 1900s.

And, if your position is that "everyone is right" with respect to the claim that the cost between an automatic and a manual is significant, or that the ludicrous claim Rick Steves' firm makes on its website is accurate that "You'll pay extra for a car with automatic transmission (about 50 percent more than the same car with stick shift)..." then I beg to differ.

Those claims are not supported by any evidence I've seen: only by assertions by folks who provide no specific information supporting their claim.

Rental offices at TGV Avignon had a BIG supply of automatics.

My claim that everyone is right includes you, l’autre Bob, that you are right. However, so are the others if the only automatics available are sports models. I’ve never read the RS guidebook, so I don’t know what he claims, and I’ve also never rented an automatic.