Car rental

Depending on date and car class it can be fair or expensive. End of May Munich is very filled up by a lot of money, so likely fair when you booked late. Which car class?

Tip 1: check other firms such as Sixt, Avis, Europcar. Check also lower car classes.

Tip 2: renting cars at airports and main train stations is more expensive than in non-prominent locations. It is a daily surcharge.

Tip 3: use trains. Even with first class you will save tons of money. Journey planner: https://int.bahn.de/en

Tip 4: ensure driving permission for Germany: check validity of driving license in Germany evtl. plus IDP.

And..."insurance" can be a major cost (depends on multiple factors, but if you add "zero deductible" insurance it adds up quickly). How much of that $900 cost is "insurance"? What kind of car (did hubby book a new BMW or Mercedes or other high-end vehicle, or a small basic car that meets most people's needs)? What other "optional" things were added (GPS, etc.)?

Try another booking (without committing to pay) with the smallest car they offer, and with NO optional/additional items (including insurance). That might provide some insights.

You could price out taking a train from Munich to Fussen. The Bayern tickets make train travel quite reasonable. I did a really quick search and it appears there are car rentals in Fussen. I don't love to pick up cars in big cities and then have to drive, picking up in a smaller town can be less expensive and easier on the nerves. Perhaps you can get by without a car until you are ready to leave Fussen.

Try Autoeurope which is a consolidator with multiple car companies.

See if you have a credit card that you could use that provides zero deductible insurance on car rentals.

Hertz is usually more expensive than others. I rented a car for 4 days back in 2023 in Germany, and it was about $350, I think.

I would check AutoEurope. I've used them many times and have never been disappointed, They are a consolidator so will give you prices for up to 6 or 7 rental car agencies. https://www.autoeurope.com/

Be sure to carefully check any rental car insurance benefit that your credit card offers. I know that a lot of travel reward credit cards tout that they provide rental car insurance coverage for overseas rentals. I just received a popular travel rewards credit card a couple of weeks ago, and I read the rental car insurance policy. It covered only what they defined as “collision.“ And by collision, they meant damage to the rental car only. I do not recall if the coverage was zero or low deductible. But I do recall that it seemed like a good deal, except that they would not cover damage to personal property, or Personal injury to you, a passenger, or anyone else. They would not cover your potential liability to any other person for damaging their property, their car, or hurting or killing someone else. Therefore, the insurance coverage afforded by the credit card was extremely limited. And I suspect that like many American insurance companies, your own personal automobile insurance will not cover anything for a rental overseas. But again, if your credit card affords better coverage than the one I have, you could save a lot of money by refusing all of the rental insurance and relying on your own credit card. I would just do so only after a careful check, however.

If your stops on the "Romantic Road" are Rothenburg odT, you can get there easily by train too. That's all still covered in your Bayern Ticket - every regional train (not IC or ICE) in all of Bavaria, plus all buses and trams in the cities.

Just wondering if the "Romantic Road" is the reason for the rental, or is there something else we don't know?

I will say from personal experience neither Nuremberg nor Munich are anywhere for a car.

Prices are generally higher the closer it gets to the travel date. We reserve 6 months out and keep checking back and re reserving in the price goes down. That doesn’t help you now though. One unknown is which size vehicle you’re renting. The larger the vehicle the more expensive it is. Knowing the base rental price without insurance and drop off fee would have been helpful to make an apples to apples comparison.

The pickup location also affects price as do the insurance options you choose. Since you’re dropping the vehicle off in a different location, there’s a one way drop charge. Someplace on the reservation that amount should be noted.

My guess is the amount isn’t bad considering it’s including insurance and the drop fee.

Renting a 7 passenger van for 2 weeks from Frankfurt in mid June. $750. Expedia (enterprise). But one way rentals (if that’s what you have) can be much more expensive.