I booked a car through AutoEurope for 11 days in Ireland next month. The price was very high, but we wanted an automatic with zero deductible insurance. I received an email from AutoEurope this morning that said there were “special deals in Ireland for those who act fast.” I checked online and found our exact rental company, vehicle, dates and pick up/drop off, etc. was $810 less than we paid. I called and the gentleman I spoke with gave me a price $100+ over what I saw online. After I pressed him on that he reduced the price to what I saw online and they will refund the difference. The moral of the story is to keep an eye on your reservations. It might save you some money.
Posted by
Niagara, Ontario
1677 posts
AutoEurope twice refunded me a price difference. I never bothered with the $20 or so differences, both were $100 or more. $800 can buy you quite a few pints of Guinness and bowls of lamb stew.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33819 posts
that sounds like a RESULT!
Posted by
Los Angeles, CA
46 posts
The car rental prices are unreal. We are leaving the US in 2 weeks and will be in Europe for a long stay .l have been looking for weeks. Anyone have any ideas ? Thanks, Susan
Posted by
OP
Sacramento, California U.S.A.
10600 posts
@Susan, where are you going? Where do you need to pick up and drop it off? How many people? Automatic or manual? What are your dates?
Posted by
Paris
7300 posts
Aren't Autoeurope reservations cancellable up to 48 hrs before pickup date anyway? In which case, you could probably just have cancelled the original reservation and booked again at the new price. I've done it before (long time ago though).
Posted by
Florida
3 posts
After postponing for 3 years, our vacation started with a visit to family in England flying out on June 6th. On June 4 we were notified that our car lease in France with Citron was cancelled. The lease through AutoEurope was to begin in Marseille France on June 11 for one month.
Our initial payment was $1,621.60. After getting notified by email that the lease was canceled, we called Customer Service. We had no choice but to accept a rental car (from Alamo through AutoEurope) and pay an additional amount. Now the cost was $2,786.51.
We had no choice. We couldn't cancel the entire vacation of a family rental house for one month. All the vacationers had paid in advance!
If that's not bad enough our brother in law got his car with Europcar for about $850 for a 3 week rental. Yes, he had to pay a surcharge when he got to Marseille of $1,000 but still a better deal than we got.
Luckily, we ended up with a Ford Focus that drove well and had a GPS and Air Conditioning. However, the cost of this experience stings!
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10621 posts
A positive outcome for Andrea, negative for Lady Di and LA Susan. Post-pandemic, mid-war, it's a crap shoot.
LA Susan is finding prices sky high because two weeks from now is the highest demand of the year. The reason is that city dwellers who don't own cars, rent for July and August vacations within France and Europe. July vacationers are returning, while August vacationers are heading out, making two weeks from now the highest demand of the year. It's unlikely prices will decrease for July or August rentals. You might want to avoid any autoroute driving from July 29-31.
Leased cars are new cars, all from a dealer called TT, whether you lease from AutoEurope, Renault USA, or other contractors. Since they are new cars, the companies can lease only what rolls off the production line. Just like in the US, supply chain problems can lead to a lousy a situation like Susan's. I hope the rest of the vacation has no more hitches.
Posted by
OP
Sacramento, California U.S.A.
10600 posts
Bets makes some very good points. I arranged our August rental in Ireland and September rental in Scotland many in advance, especially since I wanted an automatic and we needed something for 4 people so there was less flexibility. Balso, I called to change it because I knew it was the car we wanted and there was no guarantee they would still have it available for a month from now. I booked our car in France for October just last week. Yes, it’s still several months ahead, but I know rental car supply is low. It’s just for two of us and we are getting a manual transmission so I knew there would be more options. I’ll be keeping my eyes open for a lower price on that one as well.