Originally Posted by
Flying Lawyer
Let me tell you what I do with Sixt: I generally rent a car without winter tyres. As soon as I got the keys (and we have got winterly conditions) at the counter all I do is a quick check whether or not there is "M&S" written on the key ring (in most cases there is). If so, I got my winter tyres for free. If not, I simply turn around and tell them I made uo my mind and would prefer a car with winter tyres. If have paid for winter tyres only once in my life....
definitely a good idea when renting at an airport, as they commonly have a large spread of cars with and without winter tires.
Better donīt try this at smaller stations, as they often have just one car to offer and canīt switch to another car with winter tires, especially if there is i big demand due to winter-weather.
I also had a situation a few weeks ago at CGN with SIXT, where it was real close with my gambling on switching cars to one with winter-tires. I had to wait 30 minutes for the first returning car with winter tires, as the actually had 0 so equiped cars available because of an surprisingly snowstorm.