We are arriving Paris on June 7th and want to rent a car to travel east to visit friends in Annecy. I looked at autoeurope website and am confused about the insurance required and what might already be included by my insurance company or insurance provider.
Also, if someone has recommendations, I would appreciate it. We hope to rent a car at CDG airport, but, if it is less expensive to take rent one at some other location, maybe we should. Any ideas are appreciated.
It's always more expensive to rent/return a car at an airport. It's one of the MANY ways the airport generates revenue. That said, it's the easiest way to rent a car and the rental desk at an international airport always has someone who speaks fluent English. As to insurance, get CDW insurance. Yes your insurance will re-imburse you eventually but in the meantime you may have a substantial charge on your credit card. Also, some rental companies charge you a per day fee for each day your rental car is out of circulation due to repair work. You are not in a good negotiating position if your rental is damaged. With CDW insurance your credit card company will really go to bat on your behalf. Lets face it, VISA et. al. have loads more clout than thee or me.
If the timing is right, you could take a TGV directly from CDG to Lyon and pick up a car there. For more frequent service, go into Paris and take a TGV directly from Gare de Lyon to Lyon. You won't have to pay motorway tolls. The ride from Paris to Lyon will take less than two hours. If you book your tickets well in advance (up to three months allowed), you can get discount fares as low as €22 for Paris-Lyon (a bit higher for CDG-Lyon).
Or travel by train all the way from Paris to Annecy for as little as €33. Pick up a car there.
You should call your auto insurance, but it's unlikely they cover you overseas. Ours (Allstate) doesn't. What does is the credit card you put the car on, but you have to decline the insurance offered by the rental company to get it. Talk to your credit card co for details.
We used to follow Rick's old advice, which was, get the CDW, so if something happens, you can just toss the keys back and say sorry. But CDW has gotten much more expensive, and deductables have become much higher. I heard Rick say last year he is rethinking his earlier advice. On our last trip, we checked with VISA about their coverage, then declined the insurance coverage. The VISA coverage was good enough.
Oh and I would also get out of the Paris metro area before renting a car. I've been stuck in the worst traffic near CDG. Even smaller town train stations usually have rental car counters (and they're easier to get out of than bigger cities like Paris or Lyon)--look at the train route, and see what might work best. Unless you are sightseeing along the way I would probably just train to Annecy then get a car there if you need it.
Cheryl, I always heard the insurance coverage with Credit Cards is a hassle and if you are in a wreck could take a lot of time to straigten out...We always get trip insur (NOT trip cancellation) to cover CDW & medical evac in case of medical problems they fly you home on a private jet. It usually runs about $80-100 for us for 10-12 days depending on where we are going. Also, we rented at CDG and it was very easy to drive from there, whereas it was a nightmare driving into of Paris!!!!
The car rental companies have made some aspects of their business very complicated. I think it's always true that if you pick up a car at an airport, you pay more. However, we have often dropped off at an airport and have not been charged extra for that. You have to balance the additional cost against the time and trouble to travel to another location. I also think (anybody out there correct me if I'm wrong) that if you take the cdw, your cc insurance becomes secondary, covering only what the cdw doesn't pick up. We have had just one experience - - thank goodness - - to relate. We were charged on our AMEX bill for a cracked windshield, incidentally at what I thought was an exorbitant price. The amount was put on a kind of hold by AMEX, so no interest accrued, while they processed the claim. Eventually they informed us that our record was cleared of the charge. Very easy. That was about 8 years ago, so I can't give you any fresher information.
Hi, we're also doing very similar trip in July, going to Chambery...we too were planning to rent car at CDG and return there. Would love to take the train, but ticket prices I've found are much higher than what some have posted here. Can whoever posted about costs send links for the discounts and the tix for about 33euros (I think it was) and/or more info. For example, is that just one way? We'd really like to take the train while there, but every trip we've looked at looked like 500 bucks... We could also rent in Chambery or Lyon and return at CDG (any extra charges might be worth the having chance to take the TGV for us). Also would like to know, what is CDW insurance?? Thank you
On the credit card protection: CALL THEM first to see what you need to do. I know that with VISA coverage, if you take the CDW on the vehicle from the rental agency, your VISA protection is voided.
We rent cars at CDG and have never had a problem, but you do pay an extra airport fee. It is just easier to leave and return from there. We have rented from Auto Europe eight or nine times and have been very pleased with their service.
Lisa,
CDW stands for collision damage waiver. When you rent a car in the US, you are given the option of paying extra for that coverage through the rental agency or declining the coverage. I always decline it because the credit card I use to secure the rental provides that coverage for me. It's the same in Europe. If your card provides CDW coverage, you are free to decline it. However, in some countries (Ireland, for example) most credit card companies exclude that coverage so you'll need to get it through the rental company.
First, don't buy your tickets through Rail Europe if you can help it. Their fares are inflated. Second, it's true that the standard fares for TGVs in France are fairly high. Booking well in advance (up to three months allowed) at www.tgv-europe.com will get you the best fares. To keep the site in English and to prevent being bumped to the Rail Europe site, choose Great Britain as both your country of residence and the country in which you will retrieve your tickets. If you get a Prem's fare (like the €33 fare I mentioned above), you print the tickets yourself. Those fares sell out quickly so it's best to book ASAP. For all other fares you can pick up your tickets at any SNCF station or boutique in France, even though you originally chose Great Britain.
Wow, Tim! Thanks for advice. Of course we're looking on the Eurorail websites...Thanks for the tip. You're sure about the GB pickup thing? I'll have to see if we can get the prems prices. There is just another week or so before we can book tickets. I may
have to contact you again if we can go that route and cannot get prems tickets.
We'll need to check cc coverage regardless, because we will still rent a car while there,but trains open up possibilities as far as where we spend our 2nd week in France, so thanks!
Did anyone ever mention good rental companies?? I did know about manual transmission and diesel. We'll be needing a larger vehicle (up to 7 passengers). Do they also come in manual and diesel?
Yes, I'm sure. It says so right on the site. The tgv-europe site is a multi-language site operated by SNCF, French National Rail. One of the options is to have your tickets mailed to you. However, SNCF doesn't mail tickets to North America so you'll be diverted to Rail Europe if you choose the USA as your country of residence. And if you choose France as the country in which you will retrieve your tickets, you'll get a booking page in French.
As I said, you can book up to three months in advance. For example, if you want to travel on 15 July, you can book as early as 15 April. However, since France is six hours ahead of your time zone, booking after 6:00 p.m. on 14 April would allow you to get tickets for 15 July.
Rick Steves recommends Auto Europe--and so do I. AE is a consolidator that finds you the best rate from among the companies with which it has contracts. If you find a better rate on your own, AE promises to either match or beat it. You can book online, but it's a good idea to call their US toll-free number and ask about any specials that don't appear on their Web site.
Lisa, Tim is giving you some excellent advice. I used the www.tgv-europe website, and entered and printed my tickets on my home printer as a citizen of GB. Got some great prices!
We also use Auto Europe, and have found them to be really helpful. Their 1-800 people are awesome. If you do find a better quote elsewhere they will match it. And we bring our own GPS (won't leave home without it!), although AE often has specials with a free GPS. (check out the specials on the web site BEFORE you rent!)
It always costs more to rent your car at an airport, but does not cost more to drop one off at the airport.
We normally use our credit card for the CDW, but this time our trip insurance policy included CDW.
The car rental fees are very convoluted. I had to do a spreadsheet to compare rates & what's included. Whether you get the extra insurance with CDW depends, of course, on your comfort level for risk vs cost. I was sorry we got it on our last trip, it added A LOT to our 2 weeks (total it up, you'll be shocked). According to Rick, the deductions & exclusions make CDW not as enticing as in the past. Next time I'm inclined to just rely on the credit card or maybe check into that trip insurance idea.
Picking up a car at an airport out of city traffic is worth the extra charge for me. Sure avoids the white knuckles of unfamiliar city driving.
One thing we did that turned out to be a really good idea -- spending our first night at a CDG airport hotel. Nothing special but sure felt good to stagger off the plane (evening arrival) & fall face down on a bed, then pick up a car in the morning & hit the road refreshed.
Sue, we are going to stager out of the plane into Paris at noon, without any sleep for over 24 hours, then we will try to navigate the RER and subway to our rental apt in Paris.
But we never hit the sack early...if we do that, we can't get our "clock re-tuned" for EU time.
So we will go shopping for the apt, take in some sights, have an early dinner, then pass out!
I would never try to rent a car and take a drive just after I flew over the Pond. We can't sleep on the plane, and if we caffinate ourselves on that first day, it also wipes out our "clock re-tuning".
