Traveling by car Ger., Czech, & Aus. Cross country permissions?

We have started renting cars through booking.com. We usually rent in Croatia and have driven into Slovenia and Italy. The extra charge is usually under $100. We haven’t had any problems.

Hi. We have done trips like this several times; it's not a problem. Each rental company has policies; i.e. a list of countries you may take car into; drill down under rental policies on their web site to view. The countries you list will be in the 'allowed' category; just let them know when you pick up the car; there may be a small extra fee. If you want to rent from Auto Europe, call them and ask
Have a great trip!

Written permission can mean nothing more than confirmation on the normal paperwork that comes with the car. When I rented from Sixt in Munich in 2019 they didn't even charge, but these days it's an extra fee. BUT do you definately need to use the rental desks at the airport? I didn't need the car on the arrival and second days, I got it from an ordinary local office and it was about 15% cheaper - same company and car and probably brought from same main depot!!

I have never asked for (or received) written permission from the company to cross borders (although there may have been something in the paperwork I missed). Regardless, you should be good as long as you let the company know that you will be crossing borders just so they're aware.

I always rent with AutoEurope and have never had any problems with that. You do want to make sure that the car has a vignette emissions sticker on it (at least for crossing into Austria—not sure about the CR), but most of them probably will.

You do want to make sure that the car has a vignette emissions sticker on it

What you need for both countries isn't an emissions sticker, but a vignette for the highway tolls or the electronic version of it. It's best to buy it online as soon as you know the rental car's license plate number. Otherwise, you can buy it at the border or at gas stations shortly before you cross.

https://shop.asfinag.at/en
https://vignetteczech.eu/

For those a little confused and wanting to know what their money is doing when it leaves their purse -

The French Crit'Air sticker shows the pollution level of the vehicle and in areas around France it allows entry into restricted areas, mostly around cities and built up areas

The German Umweltplakette performs much the same way in Germany.

Both the German and French stickers are colour coded and reside permanently on the windscreen of the vehicle, have to be paid for and are non-transferrable between vehicles.

The Swiss and Austrian and Czech Vignettes are instead of tolls, nothing to do with the environment. Swiss and Austrian ones can be non-removable windscreen stickers or can be purchased online and linked to the car and number plate. Austrian ones can be for as short as a week (about 10€) or durations up to a year. Swiss ones come only in one time length, from December of the previous year, through a whole calendar year and through the January of the following year, all that for only CHF 40. While it costs more than the Austrian vignette, the Swiss vignette is a great deal for folks driving there for any length of time.

Thank you, everyone, for the replies. They have provided the clarity I needed, and I will post an update once I return from vacation.