Rental car question

Are you also planning on driving in the Czech Republic? I think you need to be clear on that in your RFQ to avoid any last minute surprises. Then get prices for both ways to see the cost implications.

We will not be driving in the Czech Republic. The quoted price for pick up in Austria and return in Germany is a good price, I just wasn't sure if that included any fee to return the car in a different country.

My guess would be that it does, but I believe they have a US phone number you could call and ask them directly.

When I have received price quotes from Auto Europe, the price difference between different drop cities was clear from the first price quote, not added on later.

This past September I picked up a car at Heathrow and dropped it at Edinburgh. There was a drop off fee. When I booked with Autoeurope, they told me the quote did not include the drop off fee, that I would be told what the drop off fee would be when they sent me confirmation that I had a car, and that I could cancel if I was not happy with fee. (You can cancel at any time for free with them up to "x amount a days before the rental" I don't remember how many, but it will be on your information). When I printed my confirmation, it said that my drop off fee would be "approximately 50 GBP and would be paid at the time I dropped the car off in Edinburgh. When I picked up the car, they said the drop off fee was 45 GBP payable at drop off. When I dropped off the car, no one said a word about the fee, but when I got home I saw that my credit card had been charged 45 GBP.

To sum up, my experience has been that there is always a drop off fee if you drop off in another country and that IT IS NOT included in the your initial quote. (I believe they don't include because they don't know what it is until they book the car for you. I was told exactly the same thing in 2012 when I picked up a car in Lille France and dropped it at Orly airport Paris. In that case, there was no fee because I was in the same country. However, they did not know that until the car company confirmed the reservation).

PS If you want to know for sure, go through the motions of renting the car with Autoeurope. Before you confirm and pay, you can hit the "terms and conditions" link and it will tell you exactly what is and is not included. It is a good idea to do that, because there can be other things not included as well. I know both France and Great Britain have daily road fees that will show up on the credit card after you get home. I have not rented in Germany since 2008, but I do remember I was charged something after I got home and I believe it was a road fee. (I remember it because when the charge showed up I thought I had received one of the "dreaded" traffic camera tickets and the rental company was charging me the fee for releasing my information to the authorities. I was relieved a couple days later when I got the a receipt from the auto company about the charge)

Different companies do things differently, so your best bet is to ask them. Barring that, do a dummy booking for the same time period, returning to your starting point, then compare the quotes.

We rented in Spain through the guys at www.gemut.com prior to our trip. They have all the answers about renting cars in Europe...

@Connie. London Heathrow to Edinburgh is not an international rental, they are both in the same country. Your £45 was just the normal price of a drop-off at a different location. International drop-offs can cost a lot more.
P.S. The correct abbreviation for British pounds is GBP, NOT GPB!

Re: "I know both France and Great Britain have daily road fees that will show up on the credit card after you get home"
France has tolls for most Autoroutes, but does not otherwise have road charges.
The UK has some bridge and tunnel tolls, but otherwise the only road charging is the central London congestion charge, which you are supposed to pay on the day. If you pay later, it costs more

Chris

I stand corrected on the England car rental ..and always appreciate the typing police who correct my errors (not). As to the France road fee that has been my experience. I did a dummy booking for a 2 week car rental in France with Autoeurope and then hit terms and conditions. This is listed under them.

Road Fee of approx. EUR 3.15 (incl VAT) per day, maximum charge of approximately EUR 31.50 per 30 day rental period.

And for the record, I was charged this fee after I got home. Just saying. I was also charged this fee in 2012 when I rented a car for 3 weeks in France. Unless Autoeurope and France are just picking on me...there is a road fee.

When I did a dummy booking for England, under terms and conditions it said this:

Rental excludes VLF / Road Tax fee of approx. GBP 1.56 per day.

I do not pretend to be an expert on car rental, but I am more than happy to share my PERSONAL experiences in hopes it can help a fellow traveler.

@ Connie
It sounds like they are trying to pull a fast one by adding a surcharge for taxes, which should be included in the main price.

VLF (Vehicle Licence Fee), commonly known as Road Fund Licence is the annual fee you pay to register a car in the UK. The amount varies by engine size.
I imagine "Road Fee" is the French equivalent.

Very naughty. A sharp practice which should be reported to consumer protection. There is no general charge for using roads by the Km or day, apart from French Autoroute tolls, Central London Congestion Charge, and some spot tolls in the UK. All of which you pay for at the time.

Sometimes it is difficult to try and be helpful by pointing out errors, without sounding like the grammar police :-)
Those 3-letter abbreviations for currencies are, in most cases the made up of the 2-letter country abbreviation followed by the initial letter of the currency. So you have GBP, DKK, PLZ, USD, AUD, NOK etc.

Don't assume anything. I just rented cars in England, France and Germany. The cars in England and France were rented through Auto Europe, and in both cases the car company was Europcar. I would have to look at my paperwork to verify if it happened with the English rental, but I do know that in France I was charged an additional amount each day for "road taxes." I was also charged €40 more to pick up the car at a train station. Those fees were not part of the quote and had to be paid when we dropped the car off. I had to rent a car at the last minute in Germany, due to a rail strike. We had to get to Frankfurt to fly home. I used Europcar again. The price they quoted was the price I paid.

Chris-

It's all good.

PS I hope to get back to your part of the world soon! Absolutely love Switzeraldn (I misspelled it on purpose just to show no hard feelings :)