Hello,
I did find one topic covering this a year ago. Just checking for any possible updated info.
We plan to pick up a car from the Lille Europe train station and drop it off in Paris.
Do all car rental companies charge a drop fee for one way rentals? It seems EuropCar does not, but I wasn't sure.. it wasn't clear from the estimate I got whether it would be added afterward.
Thank you!
No, as far as I know they don't all charge a one way drop fee within France. I do know that Hertz does charge a €50 one way drop fee but I think even that depends on the location where you are dropping it, particularly in less popular out of the way locations.
It all depends. We paid a 50 euro drop fee from Lille to southern France last year.
If you're just planning a straight shot Lille to Paris you might consider BlaBlaCar as a less expensive alternative. I did a quick check on leaving Gare Lille Europe to central Paris on a random day in late July and the going rate seemed to range from 15.50 € to 21.50 € per seat.
Thank you!
We plan to take our time, stopping along the way, so BlaBLaCar may not be the best value.
I have rarely come across a rental company anywhere in Europe that doesn’t charge some form of penalty for not returning the car from whence it came, even using different offices within the same city.
Try two identical dummy bookings for your proposed dates from consolidator websites such as Holiday Autos, one returning the car to the originating office and another as a one way drop and you will notice that the prices are different. Europcar charges a one way drop fee as does Sixt for your route when I just tried this.
We plan to take our time, stopping along the way...
Good -- that additional information may help yield better targeted responses.
Have a great trip!
I've rented twice in France. Once from Europcar where we picked up the car in Colmar and returned to Tours. The other was Autoeurope where we picked up the car in Chartres and returned in Vernon. We didn't pay a one way drop charge for either rental. I believe on the websites for both companies, it says that there may be a drop charge but when we pursued it further prior to reserving, there wasn't a charge.
Thank you.
I've just reserved a one-way rental on Orbitz (Europcar) for a lot less than I expected (apparently without a drop fee), and it didn't require a credit card to reserve... Sent me a confirmation email stating the cost on arrival. The small print doesn't show a 'charges may vary' clause.
Is this a bait and switch? Has anyone else experienced this? Will I be charged some exhorbitant fee on arrival, or be told that the car I wanted was no longer available? I've not seen thus far where I can reserve without a prepayment.
Will I be charged some exhorbitant fee on arrival, or be told that the car I wanted was no longer available? I've not seen thus far where I can reserve without a prepayment.
I wouldn't expect any exhorbitant fees, but it's possible there might be fees such as the road tax or train station pickup fee, and maybe even a modest one-way fee (when I've paid a one-way fee in France, it's been pretty modest, and I knew the amount in advance). Check your voucher or confirmation to see what it says. I generally rent through AutoEurope, and the voucher clearly states what will be extra and approximately how much.
As to no prepayment, while AutoEurope always requires a prepayment (refundable in full up to 48 hours before the rental period), I do remember one time renting directly through Europcar and having 2 choices at the time of reservation: one price if paid in full in advance, and a higher price if reserved with payment to be made at the time of pickup.
