Car rental in Europe?

"I don't want to end up paying for more than I need" Then you probably don't want to rent a car. Germany has the most extensive rail network in Europe (1/3 of the trackage on the western continent) and the second most dense, 1% behind Switzerland. Most places in Germany are easily accessible by train, or bus if not by train. Germany also has some of the lowest fares (regional passes and advance purchase discounts) in western Europe. For my last four trips to Germany since 2004 and my upcoming trip next month, I've gotten car rental quotes and calculated fuel usage using ViaMichelin, and I've saved hundreds of dollar on every trip by using trains and buses. And I've done the rental car calculations without CDW, although in actual practice, I would not go without that protection.

Hi Joy. Many people use the free insurance provided by their credit card (contact your card company to get details); others buy add'l insurance from rental company or third party. See great info on this site - click on Travel Tips / Plan Your Trip / How to rent a car in Europe.
Enjoy your trip!

Unless you are very clear about your credit card insurance, I would not rely on it. There have been postings here of horrid stories when the credit card insurance disappeared. The Am Exp has a surcharge policy that is very good but you have to sign up for that prior to using the card.

Somebody once wrote in her to say that card company had denied her reimbursement for collision expenses on a technicality (she didn't have enough available balance on the card or something). I checked with my card company a few years ago, and the fine print said I would have to pay for the damages up front, and they would only reimburse me if 'I provided them with any and all documentation that they requested'. Can you image, you are back in the US, and the card company says they want some esoteric piece of documentation, and the car rental company in Europe doesn't understand what it is, and you are making long distance calls to Europe to try to convince them to send it? Remember, card companies don't make money by paying claims.

I think the best deal available now is the insurance provided by American Express. It's available on only some of their cards (and not available in all states). The card we used was a Costco Amex card. If you have the card, and enroll in the option, any rental car charged to the card will be charged an additional $25 or $30 (depending on the option you choose) and give you full CDW on your rental. We rented a car from Europecar all April. Amex didn't add the $25 charge so I had to call to have them add it manually. We didn't end up with any scratches (which is normal for us) but it's good to have coverage that is affordable. The other option to consider is leasing. My experience is renting is cheaper for small cars, leasing works out better for family size cars (CDW is included in the price of leases). As always, know the details of your insurance. Most of the time you are required to report the damage right away and can lose your coverage if you don't do your part (file a police report of an accident, for example).

Lee's excellent point about required documentation holds for Amex as well. To support a claim, you may have to provide such items as a police report - even if no other vehicle was involved, copies of repair bills, photos of the damage, etc.

Joy, You might find it helpful to have a look at This Website. They offer a free download of a Rental Car Guide, which answers a lot of questions. Happy travels!

I've always relied on my credit card, but fortunately only had to use it for one minor incident (a blown tire when I hit the curb while returning it). And I learned all about the documentation issue described by others. Ultimately I couldn't get the document my credit card company requested: a repair bill or other evidence of how the charge was calculated. I eventually gave up trying to get it (even Kemwel's intervention with Europcar didn't help). But if the amount was significant enough, I would have persisted. Hopefully I won't have to do so in the future.