Renting a car at CDG - Any recommendation of a certain company

Well, most major car rental companies have offices at the airport in CDG, so to start with, I suggest you look at a consolidator / broker like Autoeurope, through which you will find the rates for the various companies for your dates. Autoeurope then handles payment.

The differences between the big names Avis, Hertz, Europcar... are slim. Sixt is a slightly smaller name, from whom I always have great service and great cars, but typically at a slight premium. Conversely, some folks including my parents report issues with Firefly (the slightest damage comes with hefty fees), and Goldcar gets universally bad reviews but I don't think they operate in Paris yet.

EDIT: so if you haven't rented yet I STRONGLY agree with the suggestion you got on your other thread, to drop the car off in Annecy rather than CDG, and take the train back. Autoeurope lets you pick separate pick up and drop off locations. The extra cost you may face will be smaller than the cost of gas and tolls from Annecy to CDG (the latter being about 100 USD).

We always book our cars for Europe at AutoEurope. Will you return the car at CDG too?
We usually pick up and drop off in different locations. If the website doesn’t answer all of your questions, call them in Portland, Maine. They are very helpful. Automatic transmission costs more than manual/ stick shift.

Thank you very much for the advise.
I have no issues handling stick shift. I drove a stick shift for many years. I'm more worried to be with no cruise control.
I like to be with a car so I will return the car at CDG and hope that the drop off is smooth.

We rented from Hertz at cdg last summer and our car had cruise. We rented through Autoeurope. They have great rates and full coverage is reasonable.

I travel frequently for work and always use Hertz since I'm Gold status. I was able to rent here in the states and they were expecting me at CDG.

Our Peugeot had a 6 speed, cruise and a state of the art navigation system that was much better than our 4 year old Garmin. It's not hard to get to the rental office and leaving the airport was easy. We returned it at Gare du Nord before our Eurostar to London.

yair,

Are you planning to rent the car right after arrival from an international flight from the U.S.? The general consensus is that it's not a good idea to drive in a jet lagged state, a practice which has been compared to impaired driving.

You may already be aware of this, but for driving in France an International Driver's Permit is highly advisable. You may find this helpful - https://franceintheus.org/spip.php?article376 . While you may never be asked to produce it, this is the official information posted by the Embassy of France in the U.S. Note that an IDP must be used in conjunction with your home D.L.

Hi from Wisconsin,
I think you might find getting out of CDG and onto the road you want more difficult than returning the car. You have to find your way out. There are no personalized sign posts saying, 'Bob turn left'. Upon returning the car, there are sign posts showing where to go to return the car and they start early in the approach. There is a You Tube video of a car return at CDG. Not a bad view.

If you know where you are going in France you might consider taking the train to the first city and renting there with return to CDG. And I don't recall a 'dead head' charge for a drop off different than the pick up when renting in France.

Call Autoeurope and ask them what is possible. They have been extremely helpful to me over the years. Very informed. And then will find you rentals at good rates that are cancelable until 24 hours before pick up.

wayne iNWI

We always use AutoEurope. You’re actually dealing with a US company and paying in dollars. Your car pick up, of course, may be with any of the major companies, but most likely will be with EuropCar or Hertz. The best pick up and drop off location depends on your itinerary. CDG is ok, if it fits your plans. It isn’t any more complicated than any large US airport, so getting on and off the property is no real problem. But, I don’t recommend getting off the plane from the US and jumping behind the wheel. I’ve done it a few times, and after the last time, I swore I’d never do it again. I was only going about 90 minutes up the road, but it was really hard (and no doubt dangerous). If you’re picking up the car after a stay in Paris, I’d just pick it up at any convenient in-town location. I’ve used Les Invalides and Gare Montparnasse in the past. Paris isn’t particularly hard to drive in, although I find a GPS very helpful for navigating there. It will help you anticipate which lane to be in. If you use one, set the voice to American English if you’re not fluent in French. The mangled pronunciation from the GPS will match what you hear in your head when you read a street sign.😆

Hi all, I have a question for those who used Europcar at CDG through AutoEurope. AutoEurope confirmation only says Terminal 2 at CDG. Europcar has offices at 2d and 2f. Does it matter which office you pick and return the car?

Does it matter which office you pick and return the car?

Since your reservation will be in the Europcar system, either office should be able to pull it up when you present your voucher. However, if there is an envelope with your name on it and the keys inside (which I have found often to be the case), that will, of course, only be at one of the offices. I would think that AutoEurope will be able to answer your question.

I have always used Europcar and always been satisfied with price, cars and service.

Let me try to advice you. My advise would be to contact Europcar or AutoEurope and ask for their advise.

With that advise you'll be better prepared to rent a car--and then you can advice others.

Advise is a verb. Advice is a noun.

Just wanted to post an update on my case. Before I left I checked on Europcar website with the Europcar confirmation number listed on the AutoEurope voucher and it said terminal 2d. When I arrived at 2e, I walked to the 2f office thinking they would either give me the car or tell me to go the other office but with no questions asked they gave me the car. I returned it back to the 2f lot in the end. Hope it helps with others.