Other Car Rental Programs/Partners (ie. Alamo, Enterprise, Sixt) - Best way to get around europe for 3 people..

Hi Guys,

Were taking a trip in August for about 3 weeks, route would be ZUR down to ROME and over to BCN. I was looking at renting a car but am a bit discouraged by the one way "drop off" fee over $550. So it seem like a car is too pricey to do a road trip in Europe unless you drop off within same country.

Is there any way to get around this drop off fee? Any suggestions... Looks like the train might be easiest to get around?

Thanks for any help!

The "international drop fee" is present because European rental cars work differently than in the US. Hertz, for example, has several corporate locations in France, but Hertz France is a separate operation from Hertz Germany.

European Union rental car law within a country is similar to the rental car law within Florida- you can not be charged a higher daily rate that takes into account mileage when doing a one-way between two cities within the same jurisdiction: in other words within Florida or within the same European country.

European Union law requires that Hertz France allow their cars to be driven into Germany, and vice versa. But, because Hertz France and Hertz Germany are separate, they can not keep cars returned to them belonging to the other. Hence, they have to pay an employee to drive the car back to the owning nation.

Based on this information, I suggest calling the pickup location to ask if they have any cars that need to go "home" and will they take away the drop charge.

Note, however, that this will usually not work in the US, because Hertz California is the same operation as Hertz New York, for instance. It's still the same country. Hertz Canada, on the other hand, is a different operation with slightly different rules.

I told Hertz California that I've seen they have a lot of cars from the Northeast, and can they remove the drop charge if I take one "home." The answer: A resounding no: "It doesn't matter where the car came from." So I might get a car registered in CA, registered in AZ, or even registered in NJ- it wouldn't matter, I'd still pay the higher daily rate for the transcontinental drive that takes into account the high average daily mileage.

Just wondering how one would get from Rome FCO to Termini Station. THX

I told Hertz California that I've seen they have a lot of cars from the Northeast, and can they remove the drop charge if I take one "home." The answer: A resounding no: "It doesn't matter where the car came from."

I believe it's due to California's barbaric emission laws... you see, we delude ourselves into thinking we are better than them. So cars from other states are not worthy on our pristine smog-free roads.

I highly doubt it. I've seen many NY/NJ/PA/MD cars in SFO, and a couple CA cars here in NY. I've also seen very many AZ and NV plates in SFO, but never one of those here. Likewise, I've seen a handful of NJ cars in ORD, and once in a while a car from IL here. ORD usually has a bunch of cars from elsewhere in the Midwest, but only once have I seen a car from MO, IA, and NE around here.

I was told by the agent it's due to the fact that this is a randomly circulating corporate fleet, so they give out whatever they have, wherever the renter wants it to go. The cars are registered in the state where they were first pressed into service, but Hertz Corporation owns all of them. No car "needs" to return "home," and most likely never will be.

Once in a while, I'd see cars from AZ or NV. It was about five years ago when I really wanted the Park Avenue, and there was one there with AZ plates in LAX, the agent said no because it was AZ plated. I wound up with a CA-plated Cadillac.

Were you ever able to rent the cars with non-CA plates in CA? Maybe rules have changed recently - and it was a few months ago when I got a NV-plated car in SNA.

European Union rental car law within a country is similar to the rental car law within Florida- you can not be charged a higher daily rate that takes into account mileage when doing a one-way between two cities within the same jurisdiction: in other words within Florida or within the same European country.

I think you got your info mixed up there.

I don't know any laws on this, but I do know that

i) the vast majority of car rentals in Europe come with unlimited kms (I certainly haven't seen any Sixt location imposing any kilometrage limits)

ii) (again mostly based on what I've seen with Sixt, because that's where I rent from) the in-country drop-off charge tends to be the same whether the drop-off station is 10km or 800km from the rental station.

Given the above, I don't think I can see any way of your legal info being accurate (though, as I said, I don't know the law/directive and thus stand to be corrected if you have an appropriate reference).

I certainly would not want to be lugging 3 weeks worth of baggage around with me on public transport - unless the trip is of the backpacking variety

This may be a viable alternative to conventional rental car for you http://www.renaultusa.com/travelpartners.asp Looks like you'd save a little by picking up at GVA and dropping off in Toulouse or Marseille - neither is much of a drive from where you want to start/end, and can easily get a train to/from those cities from your arrival/departure points.

Once in a while, I'd see cars from AZ or NV. It was about five years ago when I really wanted the Park Avenue, and there was one there with AZ plates in LAX, the agent said no because it was AZ plated. I wound up with a CA-plated Cadillac.

Were you ever able to rent the cars with non-CA plates in CA? Maybe rules have changed recently - and it was a few months ago when I got a NV-plated car in SNA.

Hmm. That's weird. I know sometimes cars can't be given out because they need service, which has happened to me several times. (when I had an upgrade coupon, grrr :td:) I don't know why they wouldn't give out an AZ or NV vehicle otherwise. As you said, they gave one to you at another CA airport. Another poster once mentioned getting an AZ car in PHL that wasn't in good shape. It sounds like maybe the car you wanted just came in from a one-way and the computer says it needs to go for an oil change.

I saw guests at my San Francisco hotel driving rental cars (barcode stickers on the rear window) registered in AZ, NV, NJ, and MD. In NY, I've been given cars from across the country. At my hotel here in Miami, I just saw two TX-plated rentals, one from MA, one from NJ, one from CT, and one even from MN and IL.

As for the European system, I'm no legal expert, but that was just what I heard on this forum in another thread.

And let's not forget those special one-way deals, FL driveout and AZ, NV to CA. I'm doing the FL to NY trip right now. I'm very curious to see what type of car I'll get tomorrow and where it originally came from. Perhaps I'll get the ugly bright yellow Aveo from MD I just walked past. Who knows.

Likewise, I'm sure the one-way from AZ and NV will result in cars registered there piling up in CA as intended. I might be doing San Francisco to NY in a couple of weeks. I'm curious what car I'll get, and where it came from. (for amusement of course)

There is no way round this drop fee. (EU law requires open and fair competition, but it has nothing specific to say about rental car mileage charges or drop fees)

A car hired in a mainland european country can be driven to another EU country - but will always have a massive drop fee if you do not return it to the original country. The car has to be returned, or re-registered. Both involve big hassle and cost for the rental company.

Also, driving from Rome to Barcelona is not much fun. 1400km. As a comparison, you can get an easyjet flight from Milan to Barcelona for about EUR25 (handbaggage price - you pay extra for baggage).

Sorry for the late reply. Indeed, as a European I've stumbled upon this difficulty myself. It even applies between bordering Central European countries, where a mere 100 km between cities in different countries can mean an absurd one-way fee... Multinational rental outfits would be wise to get around this for a lower fee. Anyway, to the case in point.

The best way to somehow get around this is to pick border cities to the furthest possible extent. In your case, were you to say take a train from Zurich to Geneva where presumably you can rent a car as if in French territory, then travel to Italy as you wish and return the car in the nearest French city to Barcelona, that would probably be Perpignan.

I once reserved a similar rental plan: to travel from Brussels to Portugal, I would:
1) take a fast train ( TGV, 35 minutes) to the nearest French city, Lille
2) rent a car in Lille and return it in Biarritz in the French Basque country near Spain
3) take a train from Biarritz to Irun in Spain (30 minutes) and travel from there to Vigo near the Portuguese border
4) take a bus from Vigo to Porto (1h30).

If you're a party of 2 or more, only one person needs to do the "dirty work" of course and can then go back to pick up the rest of the people as you progress from country to country.

Depending on your type this might sound attractive ( I must underline this would mean something like a 600 eur saving on an original 900 eur quote for a one-way rental) or lunatic. You judge :)

best, Pedro

What I would like to see is a list of European rental locations on or very near borders. I know of Geneva and Basel on the French/Swiss border. Any others?

Eurail is still your best bet money-wise, with occasional rental in certain destinations...

http://www.eurail.com/eurail-passes

ip202659's suggestion could work but involves a lot of ifs and buts resulting in extra charges, so for more adventurous types... :)

.....

Hi Guys,

Were taking a trip in August for about 3 weeks, route would be ZUR down to ROME and over to BCN. I was looking at renting a car but am a bit discouraged by the one way "drop off" fee over $550. So it seem like a car is too pricey to do a road trip in Europe unless you drop off within same country.

Is there any way to get around this drop off fee? Any suggestions... Looks like the train might be easiest to get around?

Thanks for any help!

It might help minimise the drop-off fees if you started and ended the car hire in one country; in this case, France. This may not be as inconvenient as it may appear at first as two of the three main Swiss airports, Geneva (GVA) and Basle (BSL/MUL) have French sides (Geneva Cointrin is right on the border with a sealed road coming under the runway from France to a French terminal and Basel airport is actually Mulhouse airport; well inside France and closer to Germany than it is to Switzerland). Basel is little more than an hour's drive from Zurich.

The only small downside is that, unlike a Swiss-registered car, a French-registered car would probably not be supplied with a Swiss motorway vignette but that is only a very small additional charge.

All major car hire companies have both French and Swiss counters at both GVA & BSL/MUL so you can easily hire a French-registered car at either airport. As to the drop-off, Barcelona is not far from the French border, so you could leave the car in (say) Perpignan and take a train from there to Barcelona. Unlike America, European trains are a reasonable, safe, reliable and comfortable means of transport.