One-way car rental through Costco

Do not see why there would be any issues. We picked up at CDG and dropped in Renne at the train station 3 years ago. I do not believe we rented through Costco, pretty sure it was Sixt directly. No drop charges in France if I remember correctly. Not where I can look at my notes.

I did a Costco rental last year in France, but it was not a one-way. I had no problems with the reservation because even though you use Costco, you are really renting directly from the rental agency (mine was Avis), but with a very nice discount. Take your Costco card with you just in case to get the lower rate.

hey hey meg
just to be on the safe side, read up about laws, rules of the road and signage. you may be wise to get an IDP which is a translation of your drivers license. AAA/CAA has them for $30 and 2 passports size photos per driver. look at the size of car, how much luggage it fits, be careful with storing luggage in plain sight, requesting automatic or manual, and the type of insurance you will get or if covered by costco agreement? have a wonderful holiday, just got back from spending time in annecy and paris.
aloha

Check with AutoEurope too. They are a broker based in US. We always book with them.

Just did a test rental on the Costco site. For a one way rental the drop off has to be an airport location.

Whether you can make a reservation and then change the drop off point with the rental car company is another issue.

I use Costco for US rentals but have never found them better than Autoeurope for rentals in France.

Autoeurope has the flexibility to find you the best rate. Avis and Hertz will always charge an in-France drop off fee. Sixt or Europcar have never charged me a one way, in France, drop off fee. I avoid Avis and Hertz when renting outside the US.

If you have a problem at pickup (or at any time during the rental period), Autoeurope has a free telephone number you can call and speak with someone in English. With Costco, you will be dealing with the local rental office where you may or may not have someone who speaks English. If there is a problem, contact Autoeurope and let them deal with the local rental company.

With any rental company, be sure to read the terms & conditions of the rental contract. Assume nothing. Check for taxes paid at drop off, fees for additional drivers, additional fees for airport/train station pickup, and additional taxes on vehicles with automatic transmissions (called the environmental tax). These items are generally not included in quotes so ask about them.

Insurance is another concern. I know of no US automobile policy that extends coverage to European rentals unless you have a separate rider of some type. If you have an American Express card, check into their $25 rental insurance. It is primary coverage and lets you basically walk away from damage claims. Visa/Mastercard have free insurance when using their cards but this insurance only reimburses you after you pay all claims. Anyone who has used included insurance will tell you it is paperwork hell.

additional fees for airport/train station pickup, and additional taxes on vehicles with automatic transmissions (called the environmental tax). These items are generally not included in quotes so ask about them.

I wonder if things have just changed in this regard. I usually rent though AutoEurope, and these items have indeed been extra, to be paid locally, which was always made clear. Now I'm about to rent again through AutoEurope, same rental company (Hertz), same location (Lyon Airport), and same car class (Renault Captur Automatic) as the last 2 years. Although the price is basically the same as the last 2 years, those items are included in the rate.

Have rented cars twice - Italy and France over the past years. Always have used AutoEurope. They are inexpensive if booked far in advance (it can always be canceled if necessary). In fact picked up car at Bordeaux train station and returned to a western sub outside Paris. AutoEurope has been great for us.

Although the price is basically the same as the last 2 years, those items are included in the rate.

It appears that for rentals made after February 8th of this year, AE quotes now include many of the items which were earlier paid locally at the end of the rental. One way charges, where applicable, are still paid locally but environmental taxes (on cars with automatic transmissions), road tax, and location surcharges are added into the quote. In the few scenarios where I could isolate these charges, quotes with the included taxes were always higher than the similar quotes without the add-in charges.

Other recent changes:

• not all cars are offered with unlimited miles
• rentals now require two credit cards
• cancellations must be made 72 hours in advance of pickup (this actually changed a few years ago)

Thanks everyone. I'll definitely check out AutoEurope.

We too have rented from auto Europe , many times. Always good prices, service ,and insurance options. Mostly the earlier you book the better the prices . However we always check the website now and then after booking because sometimes the prices go down or they run a sale. If so we just book again and then cancel the previous booking.

Auto Europe! We have use them since our 1st trip to Europe 20 years ago. For insurance I always use a Chase Sapphire card. Had to actually use it once. We were charged €950 for damage to our vehicle when someone backed into it (we were not there). Yes, it was a hassle. But auto Europe actually helped us out dealing with the credit cards benefits services which wanted Paperwork we did not have and would not have had under any circumstances. They sent me an email which I forwarded to customer benefits services and I received a check for the dollar equivalent of €950. For myself, I would rather go through the hassle and pay the fee to the car rental company for providing insurance. I read some negative reviews of auto Europe recently but it sounds like the people didn't get everything in writing when they purchased insurance through auto Europe. Or maybe they just read what was written. Or maybe they want persistent. Anyway, with the right credit card one does not need to purchase insurance from auto Europe or the car rental company. And auto Europe definitely had the best prices I could find. Have a great trip!
PS: thanks everyone who responded to this. I was wondering why we were not charged the road tax by Europe car this Sep. Guess it was included in the auto Europe quote.