Online travel website vs AutoEurope

I use kayak.com. It'll pick up auteurope and everything else. I've never found that travelocity, etc, even come close.

Just returned from Scotland where we rented through AutoEurope. When I returned home, I found an unexpected charge of around $60 on a two week prepaid rental serviced by Europecar. Turns out, Auroeurope, unlike direct rental companies, does not include "road fees" in their quote. The claim that it is disclosed in the agreement verbiage.

Autoeurope US and Autoeurope EU and UK use different rental "practices". We have used AE US for most of our EU rentals, and have never had an added fee tacked on, that was NOT disclosed in the original contract. We love them, and find that a phone call to them in Maine gives you some excellent prices/ and info. We used AE EU this time and had added fees. The fact that they were going to have "added fees" was disclosed in the contract; but the amount for dropping off the car at another site was not disclosed. We used AE EU because we could get complete insurance coverage for a lot less than we could thru AE US; but we had to pay $100 EU for a "fill-up the gas tank and bring it back empty" fee, and a $38 EU fee to drop the car off at a different location. (thu the rental carrier "Gold Car", which we will not use again, nor will some of our fellow travelers in Spain. All the AE contracts disclose the daily approx $3 "road fees". As far as I remember, we have always paid this at the end of any trip to the EU. Mike, do some shopping, and then take a good look at your contract!

thanks for the info....with regard to insurance coverage, I had read some older posts on this and there was a significant portion of car renters using their AMEX credit cards for the rental and paying the extra $25 IIRC, for the full coverage insurance on overseas rentals. The main themse was that it was cheaper and provided the best protection vice VISA or using your US car insurance policy.

If you book through AutoEurope you pre-pay in USD. If you need to cancel or make a change there is no problem.

You'll want to get a quote from Sixt as well. For whatever reason, Sixt has always had the best deal when we've gone to France. In several rentals I've had no complaints. I'm one of those who uses Amex Premium coverage and think it's best.

No doubt, things change from year to year and location to location. We've always checked out the options and have always come out best using the Costco Travel website. No extra charges for 2nd driver, no drop fees for returning to another location. In France and Italy, Avis have seemed to be the best options. This year we rented in Brussels, as that's where our mileage fares took us, and again Costco/Avis beat all the competition. In fact, when we picked up the car at the airport, the attendant said he didn't know if he'd ever seen a better rate. Again, depending on where you start/stop, things could fluctuate depending on what their inventory of cars is and demand. But I'd advise checking out Costco. Our comparisons always come out in their favor.

Yes, AutoEurope is convenient in that you can call them in the US. However, I found that the information was inconsistent. I called to see whether I would need an IDP. I was told that I would. I called later on another matter and asked again. This time I was told that I would not. In fact, I did not. The road fees may well be disclosed in the terms and conditions. However, when one is comparing the price quotes, they are NOT. I have also found Sixt to be very good. Will have to check Cosco next time. I always check USAA and find that their discounts are generally not competitive with Sixt.