Hello, I am getting car rental bids form various agencies. Europcar has been the lowest and their web-site says the estimate includes ALL fees except CDW. Is this true? Or will I get charged for pick-up at a RR station, environmental fees, and road fee? They often add up to over $150. Last year Hertz charged me $174 more than the "final" bid when it came time to pick it up. wayne iNWI
Posted by
Chicago
2876 posts
Rent through autoeurope.com. They'll give you full disclosure up front of all their charges, and they'll show you what charges are excluded from their rates.
Posted by
Madill, OK, USA
19 posts
I've dealt with AVIS, Nova Car Hire (a broker in Ireland) and Europcar mainly when arranging a rental. The only time I was charged extra after returning was a road tax that AVIS hadn't included. Other than that I have no complaints. Your credit card issuer usually covers the CDW but you must be sure that they do. Check over the card coverage documents or call the issuer. If covered, you can specifically decline the rental company charge for CDW which is usually quite expensive. My preference for renting - Nova Car Hire. Be sure to reserve early.
Posted by
Bellevue, WA, USA
811 posts
i've never seen extra added with Hertz and autoeurope, not sure why you got charged. my experience with hertz was fine - got what i reserved, autoeurope upgraded me with a wagon because they didn't have the small car I reserved at the Bordeaux train station but didn't charge me extra.
Posted by
Westminster, CO, USA
194 posts
I have used capital one card in the past for charging rental and CDW , however capital one no longer covers the VAT portion of any claim, this can be upwards of 20 %. AMEX I believe now has rental coverage. Good luck
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10629 posts
Unless you are on a special program for non-EU residents, you'll be paying full European taxes if you rent directly from Europcar. You can still rent an Europcar vehicle if you use Autoeurope, but you won't be paying as much in taxes and you'll have a negotiated price. You prepay so the price is set. If all you are doing is reserving, then the price could change. You might have a couple of local taxes even with Autoeurope, such as a road tax, but not $174 worth, more like $10.
Posted by
Gaston, Oregon, USA
931 posts
Wayne. do like Tom says, and rent thru AutoEurope. ALL their fees are disclosed. Just go to their website follow the steps, and book here. Whomever you rent from should disclose all of this info in their contract. Rent here, and cancel the rental if you don't like the info in the contract, and then book with someone else. When AE proposed Hertz as their best option on one of my previous rentals, I objected, and they let me "upgrade", for a few dollars more, to another vendor.