Astronomic car rental prices in Germany -- any reasonable sites??

I think you got a GREAT deal for England. That's probably an unrealistic expectation to find that everywhere.

I have always found that car rentals in Europe cost more then in the US and I do rent the manual transmissions. Plus one or two day rentals are often more costly then weekly rentals.

Reasonable prices incl. VAT and all insurances should be around €60 per day for a Golf-size car (Golf, Octavia, Astra, Megane, C4, Focus,...). Try Sixt.com. When with Hertz or Europcar also ask for any kind of frequent flyer discount, AAA rate etc. When picking up at Freilassing train station a surcharge of 19% (!) may apply. It's always cheaper to rent from a standard downtown location.

I was having the same problem until I plugged in an extra day or two onto my rental dates. For some reason the price dropped...a weekly rate instead of a daily rate maybe? I don't know, but I ended up renting for more days than I really want, but I also plan to return it early for which there is no penalty.

Try this broker...carjet.co.uk

"Ideally I'd like to pick up a car in Freilassing near Salzburg and drop it at the Munich airport two days later"

You can get a Bayern-Ticket (all day on/off pass for regional trains in Bavaria, also valid between Freilassing and Salzburg Hbf) for €28 total for 2-5P. The Bayern-Ticket is also valid on buses of the RVO (Regionalverkehr Oberbayern), which cover a lot of ground south Munich.

I'd do my "wandering" on the internet before going over. You pay a lot of money to go to Europe just to wander around aimlessly.

As for places to go between Salzburg and Munich, how about Berchtesgaden, Herrenchiemsee, or the entire lake area south of Holzkirchen (Kochelsee, Teggernsee, Schliersee), all readily accessible by train.

Lee wrote: "I'd do my "wandering" on the internet before going over. You pay a lot of money to go to Europe just to wander around aimlessly."

There is no substitute for advance planning, but there also is nothing as luxurious as wandering without a plan. Luxurious because it arguably is so inefficient or even potentially wasteful of your time. If you are lucky, however, or if the gods of serendipity smile on you, you may just have the best experience of your entire trip. Of course, there is no question that it can be a big gamble.

Thanks for all the good tips above -- I will follow up on them. The costco.com discount code is interesting. I also didn't know you could rent a car at a weekly rate and turn it in early and still get the cheaper weekly rate. That is an excellent suggestion.

Also good to know about the additional charge to pick up a car at the Freilassing train station. Will definitely keep that in mind.

Lee -- I never wander "aimlessly", but yes, I do like to wander. I spend many many hours researching online and reading books. We're traveling quite a bit by train on this 4-week European trip and I am looking forward to that. I would like the few days in this area of Germany to be less pre-planned and having a car will allow us to be more spontaneous. Weather and crowds will make a difference in how we spend our time. Train, car -- either way will be fantastic!

If you do rent for a week and turn it in before the week is up be sure to check with the company you book with that you will not be penalized for turning your car in early. I rented once for 21 days and turned it in on the afternoon of the 20th day. I was told by the gentleman at the counter that by turning it in a day early I would have to pay extra. By renting for 21 days I got a better daily rate and by turning it in early I violated the agreement. After some polite discussion the gentleman behind the counter (Avis) did some creative computer manipulation and worked it out so I did not have to pay the higher 20 day rate.

First Andrea, I am the Andrea that lives on the West Coast, so you will need to move. Or change your name. :p

Okay, seriously, you will pay a large premium to rent in one country and return in another. I have rented through autoeurope.com and have been very happy with them. I was just pricing cars in Munich yesterday and found for a one week rental I would pay around $45 U.S. per day with insurance. That was not for the smallest car. You can go on their website and play around with dates, pick up and drop off locations, etc. If you are considering renting for a longer time to get a better rate you should make sure it's okay to drop off early. You can call Autoeurope (located in Maine) if you have any questions.

I also requested a quote from gemut.com. They promptly replied.

Sacramento Andrea -- I'm not moving, so I guess it's up to you! ;-)

I will check out autoeurope.com -- I didn't have good luck with their website last night. Kept getting caught in a loop I couldn't get out of.

Also will NOT assume I can get a weekly rate and turn the car in early unless I get that verified first.

And by the way, Freilassing is across the river from Salzburg but is in Germany, which would avoid the multi-country drop-off charge in Munich. Thanks to Lee for that tip!

Hi Andrea (West Coast),

For a car rental, I would suggest www.gemut.com. 800-521-6722

We rented a car in Germany or last 2 trips ('07, '09). Very helpful and very good rates. Last year we rented for 11 days and returned it a day early. A technicality due to our arrival being delayed 5 hours.

We were supposed to pick up at 10am but picked up at 3pm due to the airline delay. We returned it at noon, which was 3 hours berfore the next "day" would have begun. Although we were billed for our original rental (10am to 12noon, 11 days later), Andy Bestor at Gemut got them to credit our credit card for the "extra" day.

Basically our 24 hour day started at 3pm instead of our original plan of 10am.

I would get a quote from them and see what they have to say.

Paul

Also check with www.EuropebyCar.com. You can try bargaining with AutoEurope and EuropebyCar. They will match or beat each others prices. These companies really want your business and are in competition with each other. Good luck!

If you haven't already I would take Lee's advice and check with Gemut and/or Autoeurope. Ask for a rate and if it is higher then tell them the rate you got though Avis. They would match or beat it if everything is the same. An advantage with Gemut is they will quote you a rate in U.S. dollars and gurantee to hold that rate for you. You can rest easy with giving your credit card to either of these two. A couple of things to think about. "If you pay for the rental in Europe, the rate will be guaranteed not in US dollars but in local currency, so you won’t know the exact amount in dollars until your credit card bill arrives". "If you wait until you get to Europe to pay for your rental, most credit cards will charge a 3-percent foreign transaction charge". Also, if you have a dispute at the end of the lease or find out after you get back home additional charges show up then you would have to deal with the rental company yourself and your chances of convincing them to refund an overcharge could be difficult. With Gemut you would just turn it over to them and due to the volume of business they do with rental companies they would have more leverage to get your refund on an overcharge. I had this happen twice and the Bestors handled the problem for me. There is also no cancellation charge if you change your mind and decide to use public transportation. Below is a link to an excellent and comprehensive report on car rentals. Lengthy but it covers just about every question you would have about renting a car.

http://www.gemut.com/Carrentalspecialreport7.pdf

Thought I'd post an update to my original question since I had such great luck by using some of the tips in the responses above.

I just booked a compact manual car with a/c ("Ford Focus or similar")from Hertz, using the AAA tab, and got a rate of 113 euros total for four days at the end of June, picking it up in Freilassing and returning it to the Munich Airport.

It was fascinating to watch the price change by adding or subtracting just one day. In fact I ended up getting it for a day longer than I really need because the price dropped considerably.

I tried just about every car rental agency in Freilassing and Salzburg -- repeatedly over a period of several days -- and tonight Hertz popped up with this great price. (I also didn't like the idea of giving anyone (Europcar) my credit card number in advance, so in addition I'm pleased Hertz is an agency that doesn't demand a card number up front.)

A great big "Thank you" to everyone who responded!

Did you get a quote from Gemut? Just wonder how it compares because common wisdom on this site seems to be that they have the best prices.

In 2007 I got a quote from Gemut for a car for one person (probably a hatchback) picked up in Munich, dropped in Würzburg, 7 days, for $273, which would have been €192 at the exch. rate at the time. Proportionally that's €110 for four days (if you could proportion it).

This morning I checked http://www.europcar.com for a week long rental in June. I was quoted one price at the same time that a friend in Germany was quoted a price that was $160 US lower. It might pay to wait until you are in Europe to reserve the car.

I also tried a 6 day rental vs a 7 day and the price went up slightly.