Car rental agencies with reasonable drop fees

The only advice is to pick up and drop off within the same country. That will save you a ton. Train between the two , and a new rental in the second country.

I agree with Kim. Dropping the car in another country will be very expensive. Take a train instead.

what Kim said

across the board dropping a car in a different country will eat your lunch

I have always heard that different-country drop-offs are exorbitant--after all, they usually maintain their own fleets. You can try Autoeurope, but the train is probably going to be a better bet.

You have to pay for the cost of sending the car back to Italy from Paris, and that will cost a bit. The obvious answer is to take the train across the borders.

Where do you plan to visit? Venice to Paris is a long way, like San Francisco to Seattle, and that is best done by plane.

@ Lisa

Out of curiosity how much is the fee you have been quoted?

Regards Ron

We will be driving up through Germany then over into France. I have had to drop cars before and don’t remember the drop fees being this bad. Some of the drop fees were around$1000.00. We do have 4 people traveling together and I like the freedom of the car in Bavaria.

A quick look on expedia found the one way fee between $600 (Avis)-to $900 (Europecar).

Definitely would motivate me to look at alternatives.

Rental car fees period are outrageous after Covid, not just drop off fees. And that is true in the US too. My wife just paid almost $100 a day in Portland, OR. Find a way to rent and return in each country separately and you will save a bundle.

@Lisa and others

Say I wanted to hire a car and return in Washington DC for 6 days from Hertz. First week of July 2023. Nissan Rogue quoted to me is $750USD pay by CC at pick up.

Should I wish to go from Washington DC and drop off at O’Hare Chicago, 6 days later, same time of year, the quote is $1164 USD. Distance circa 1,150kms, similar to Venice – Paris. Hertz says drop of fee is included in base quote, not clearly given. Simple arithmetic gives $410USD drop off fee. Fair enough. It is lower than Joe32F blog quotes. US unskilled wages and overheads are really low, cost of relocation, if needed, is consequentially lower.

Took the time to go to the insurance options. Now understand the hyperventilating over insurance. Need an LLM from an Ivy to get one’s head into all the exceptions. One of my mates probably took great delight and pleasure in writing them. So much for simple English in law. I have empathy for anyone navigating this minefield. And in my above quote, in case of a crash, I am limited to 1MIL USD for contingencies. Would not like to be waiting at a traffic light behind a Ferrari F40 and be double rear ended into it by a unlicenced stolen car with an unlicenced, high on methamphetamine or similar, driver who does a runner. I suspect the average punter would be in big trouble covering the additional cost of repairs.

In the circumstances, and on balance, comparing hearsay of $1,000(USD?) with actual quote of $600(USD?) (thanks Joe) and my quote of circa $410USD, continental Europe v USA appears not too far apart. Except the USA is one country.

Regards Ron

We do have 4 people traveling together and I like the freedom of the
car in Bavaria.

Wanting a car in Bavaria does not mean you have to rent a car for the entire trip.

I agree with Badger, either you going to stop somewhere far from a train line between Venice and Paris or there are cheaper and faster options.

Would not like to be waiting at a traffic light behind a Ferrari F40 and be double rear ended into it by a unlicenced stolen car with an unlicensed, high on methamphetamine or similar,

The odds of stumbling simultaneously upon a rare Ferrari car and a drug-addict at the same traffic light seem to be surprisingly slim in Anglo-saxon countries.

With the cost of car rental and fuel prices, not even adding the drop off fees, this might be an option.

Train to Munich, pick up car. Drive Bavaria, continue to Stuttgart. Drop car. Train to Paris.

The odds of stumbling simultaneously upon a rare Ferrari car and a drug-addict at the same traffic light seem to be surprisingly slim in Anglo-saxon countries.

Have you never been in Knightsbridge when the supercars with super rich playboys arrive for their annual June July August visit? One or two of them have been found with illicit products, and the Ferraris tend to be lower down the pecking order from Bugatti Veyrons (one got into a bit of a problem a year or two ago) and McLarens.