Please can anyone give us information about renting in Paris..are there rental surcharges for renting from any airport or train station? What about returning at Paris CDG airport...any surcharges? We will use public transport in Paris and rent for the rest of our Europe trip through Germany, Austria and Switzerland before returning car in Paris CDG and flying out.
Can anyone suggest a reliable rental agency that does not levy last minute charges that bumps up the price? Do rental companies post local deals and coupons like US based Hertz, Dollar etc..that give discounts with AAA membership? I have read comments good and bad about Europcar, Europebycar.com, Kemwel, AutoEurope...it is so confusing. I wish we could lease, but our rental is only about 10 days. Please post any suggestions, website links that may help us...thank you for your help!
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
I can say this... if you're mostly staying in Paris, DO NOT RENT A CAR! That being said, I've had good experiences with Sixt.
Posted by
Pensacola
9110 posts
What Tom said.
I use kayak.com and take whatever they toss at me and have never had a problem with anybody. I think almost all airports have a surcharge if rented from there, not sure about returning. I've never seen surprise charges. Additionally, what I find at kayak is better, for example than using Hertz.com and a discount code. France often has a minimal drop fee if dropping at different office from where picked up.
Test it three ways. Check price of picking up and dropping in town, picking up and dropping at airport, and combination of the two. Then factor in price of getting to airport from town.
Posted by
Sacramento, California U.S.A.
10555 posts
How long will you have the car? If you need one for at least 17 days I strongly urge you to look into leasing a car rather than renting. I did this through Autoeurope. You get a brand new vehicle and the cost is all inclusive, so there are no added fees or costs. You would still have to pay for the cost of the vignettes from Austria & Switzerland. You can pick the car up and drop off anywhere in France with no additional charge.
I suggest you pick up and drop off at an airport. My original plan when I arrived in Paris was to drop off in town. HUGE MISTAKE! Especially as I had never been there before.
Autoeurope is great to deal with, whether leasing or renting. To lease, the arrangements need to be made a couple of months in advance. Check out their website, www.autoeurope.com, for details.
Sounds like a great trip. Have fun!
Posted by
Austin, TX, USA
7 posts
Hello Ania - we usually travel via American Airlines and so we book a car thru the American Airlines website - we've found to to be among the best prices.
You MAY be able to book thru the website even if you aren't traveling with AA.
We usually find that Hertz (booked thru the AA website) is the cheapest.
We recommend taking a train to wherever you want to go outside of Paris, THEN rent the car in the destination town. it'll be cheaper.
Bon voyage,
Terry & George
Austin, TX
Posted by
Boston
4132 posts
Where is your next destination after Paris? If it is in France, you might consider arranging to pick up your rental there, saving a day to two on the rental and some hassle related to driving out of Paris.
You do not need to return the car to the same location where you got it.
If it is in Germany, and you can arrange to fly home from Frankfurt instead of Paris, you might try the same trick at your first German destination.
The biggest surcharge that you have to worry about is for dropping off in a different country than pickup.
Posted by
OP
dc
11 posts
Thank you for your input everyone. We are looking forward to a fun trip...also, has anyone used a booster car seat for a 7 year old in Europe...can we use the US booster seats or do we need to rent one in Europe?