Thrifty - can I drive into the UK with a German rental?

Not sure if this is the correct forum, but here goes...

I'm contemplating renting a vehicle for two weeks from DUS and driving to the various European cities I want to visit. It's appearing to come out cheaper than intra-Europe flights for two people and gives us a lot more flexibility.

I'm confused a bit by the thrify terms:


Driving is on the right side of the road. Vehicles may be driven into other countries when arrangements are made with the rental counter at time of rental.

Vehicles may not be driven into the following countries: Russia, White Russia (Belarus), Ukraine, Romania and Algeria. *** It is Strictly forbidden to go into operational zones (war zones) and areas of conflict.



So can I take a rental from Germany into the UK?

Also I'm not sure what kind of fuel economy to expect from economy cars such as the Opel Corsa, Ford KA, VW Fox, etc. Curious what people are used to getting in reality.

Based on the terms you posted, I wouldn't foresee any problems with taking your rental into the UK. The "arrangements" to be made at the rental counter will probably involve some sort of capped mileage (kilometerage?), similar to how rentals in the states are usually unlimited within, say, neighboring states, but if you go outside of that area, your rental converts to a restriction such as 150 miles per day with 25 cents per mile above that.

Best to call on this one, though, to be sure. If possible, call the office in DUS directly rather than the main reservations center in Tulsa (800-THRIFTY), which won't know any more than you already do. If the DUS office number isn't listed on your reservation, perhaps 800-THRIFTY can give it to you. (When you do get it, remember you'll need to preface the number with 011-49 from the US (and drop any leading 0s on the number).

One alternative to intra-European flights: did you look at rail travel at all? And depending on the length of time you'll be there and the number of places you'll be visiting, a Eurail pass might be a good deal. Otherwise, look into some of the discount carriers, too (airBerlin, Centralwings, easyJet, HLX, Ryanair, SkyEurope Airlines and WizzAir--I'm not sure what airlines you looked at when looking at fares).

Not sure if this is the correct forum, but here goes...

I'm contemplating renting a vehicle for two weeks from DUS and driving to the various European cities I want to visit. It's appearing to come out cheaper than intra-Europe flights for two people and gives us a lot more flexibility.

I'm confused a bit by the thrify terms:



So can I take a rental from Germany into the UK?

Also I'm not sure what kind of fuel economy to expect from economy cars such as the Opel Corsa, Ford KA, VW Fox, etc. Curious what people are used to getting in reality.

i suggest you get a Sixt rental car.

there are some countries you cant go with some car types. but you can call sixt reservations and usually uk , france, etc is no problem

dp

Also I'm not sure what kind of fuel economy to expect from economy cars such as the Opel Corsa, Ford KA, VW Fox, etc. Curious what people are used to getting in reality.These cars are really small - if you are from the US, you will be surprised. Fuel economy is very good though, I would say about 5-6 l/100 km, so that's around 40 mpg. It will be worse if you mainly drive in towns, or if you drive a lot on the motorway at speeds above 130 km/h.

For a two-week rental, when you will be spending a lot of time in the car, I suggest you move up at least a class and get a compact car like the VW Golf, Ford Focus, Opel Astra, Citroen C4, Peugeot 307 or a Toyota Corolla. Fuel economy isn't much worse than for the cars you listed.

If the price isn't too much higher, I'd probably get an Intermediate like a VW Passat, a BMW 3-series, a Mercedes C class etc. Try to get a Diesel, it will save you quite some money for your fuel bill; fuel economy is much better, and Diesel is usually cheaper than petrol in Europe.

Finally, I have not rented with Thrifty in Germany so far. I had quite a lot of rentals with Sixt, though, and was always very happy.

SmilingBoy.

And, one more thing: Don't overdo it in terms of number of cities you visit. Distances in Europe are not as much a in the US, but it does add up.

I suggest you spend at least two nights at each destination, and 3-4 if you want to visit larger cities like London, Paris or Berlin - otherwise you will be spending most of your days in the car, and you will only have seen the roads of Europe.

SmilingBoy.

It might be better to leave the car in Europe before going to England.
You will have to pay the cost of transporting the car on the train through the Channel Tunnel or on the ferry. Also driving one the other side of the road might be a problem with a left hand drive car, whereas everyone in England drives a right hand drive.
The rental company might also want extra insurance for driving a foreign registered car in England.
Perhaps leave at Calais and pick up a British rental in Dover, or leave in Paris or Briussels and take the Eurostar and pick up a car in London. Another point is that there is a hefty environment congestion tax charge if you drive in the center of London I think about $12-14 per day.

My experience is that you will be required to return the car to a left hand drive country. Probably easier to drop it off at calais or a eurostar station and then pick another one up in the UK.