Car rental information

Standard advice here (well, from me anyway - it's one of my FARQs - Frequent Answers Regardless of the Question) is to reserve through Autoeurope. They book rental cars with a variety of agencies and have locations throughout France. Their website is easy to use and they have a 1-800 number for their office in Maine which is open 24/7. Very reputable.

Another vote for Autoeurope.com

Three votes for Autoeurope.com.

Thanks for the info. What is your advice as to super CDW insurance? The deductibles without it seem rather high.

Super CDW = total peace of mind. I always buy it. (If you have an American Express card, you can add premium no-deductible rental car coverage for only $24.95 per rental. Go to the Amex website for details.)

It's best to reserve your car here in the States. Check prices online for AutoEurope and Kemwel. You can also send an e-mail to Gemut for a quote. AutoEurope will give you a lisit of locations to pick-up and return your car in the city you want. It is always more expensive to pick up your car at an airport or train station. This is because these locations are not only easier to get to, but they are open more days and hours. You can save money by picking your car up in a downtown location, however, you'll need to get there. You can search the locations on google maps to determine what is your easiest option. In ref to prices, I will check the website often for better rates. If you reserve a car and you see a better rate later on, you can call AutoEurope and they will draw up a new contract. Also, other car rental companies will beat/meet other rental companies prices. It's worth asking. Dropping your car at Nice should be no problem. You will not incur drop off charges because it's in the same country. Purchase a good Michelin, or similar, map here before you go. Yes, you can get them in France, however, you might as well start off on the road with a good map. These maps will also have the road signs that you will need to be familiar with. Study these signs on the plane. We request a diesel car because they get better gas mileage. The cars are also stick shift unless you request an automatic, in which case these cars are a lot more expensive to rent. However, it's sometimes worth it. To be continued...

As for CDW (collision damage waiver) insurance, we used to use our gold (or similar) credit card to cover us in case of an accident (check with your credit card company). However, on our last trip we decided to get better coverage. We purchased a travel insurance policy from Travel Guard. It was reasonably priced and covered us completely for the five weeks we rented the car. Enjoy driving and exploring the country.

Trish Denise gave great advice. One more note is that European rental car locations do NOT have the same wide range of hours of those in the US. Especially on weekends. Especially if you are renting from from train station locations. So be sure to match your itinerary to the pick up and drop off times. Also available are GPS units. Suggest you make sure that you get one in ENGLISH and have someone who is savvy and able to learn a new model quickly. There have also been suggestions on the Helpline for you bring your own from the US with a Europe option. Not sure if you are dropping the car off at the Nice airport or rail station. There are many one way streets near the station. Or maybe you can find a rental car location on the outskirts and find another way to the train? Great area to have a car. Provence is awesome. Bobbie

Definitely reserve ahead. Also, check Sixt which has had the best deal for the times and places we've rented in France including Nice airport. The Amex 1st-dollar coverage mentioned by Tom is good; we use that instead of other cc coverage to eliminate deductibles. Michelin Provence French Riviera 527 map is very good; it shows the small roads in sufficient detail for getting around easily. Having toured the area with and without GPS, I recommend it. Navigation is much easier. We take our Garmin which works well in Europe. But get the map as well for trip planning and backup.

We just returned from France......brought our own GPS/Garmin and bought the France memory card here. It worked great. We rented through Hertz here.......and probably paid too much, but we really enjoyed our trip!

For your insurance... When I buy travel insurance I primarily do it for the medical coverage, but some plans also include auto insurance. Check insuremytrip.com to compare policies.

For three or four days, you will be better off dealing directly with a major company, as you would do in the states. Any savings with a middleman, such as Autoeurope would be minimal for that amount of time and would be offset by the small-but-real risk of miscommunication between yourself, the broker and the rental car company. The fewer people involved, the less chance of error. It is as easy to rent a car online as it is to purchase airline tickets online, and you have a record of the transaction, which also reduces the risk of error. I only deal with the large companies because they have more locations and they seem more interested in preserving their reputation, compared to some smaller outfits. You can save by renting in advance. Europcar, for one, offers discounts for advance payment, and Sixt offers some good deals as well. Hertz is also big in Europe, as is Avis, but on a smaller scale. I stay away from Budget and Thrifty, especially Thrifty, because of the number of complaints about them on other forums.

There are times when a middleman can be a good thing. A few years ago I had a Europcar rental through Autoeurope. Europcar made a mistake with my bill, incorrectly charging me for an extra day. Autoeurope went to bat for me and got the problem resolved.

Autoeurope.us is awesome. Use their website to fiddle around with pick-up locations, and watch the difference in prices. Rent before you go. Don't be afraid to use them for a quote, even if it is for just a few days. Their support is fantastic. Bring your own GPS. Use your credit card for super CDW, or buy a travel insurance policy that includes it, or rent your car thru Autoeurope.eu (and the cost will be 20 to 30% less, and come with complete insurance!)