Originally Posted by
Red Scorpion
I used to work in Switzerland, so rented cars sufficiently frequently from them that I knew all the staff, and even got a Christmas card from!
The staff are very friendly and helpful.
It's not a huge operations (people in CH use the rail system as it is so good), so there are rarely significant queues at the desk. There is no separate Gold desk or area, it is all done at the same place. It is now a franchise location, so you will not get reward points.
The rental car garage is part of one floor of a poorly lit multi-storey car park at the airport. Almost all of the cars are dark grey or black, and they all seem to be surprisignly scratched. You absolutely must check the damage (which is hard because of the lighting) against the damage report given to you when you collect the car, as Hertz will do so when you return it.
I was last back there in the summer and compiled this list of what I saw parked up, or out on the road.
A: Seat Mii and Skoda Citigo
B: Ford Fiesta, Opel Corsa, Mitsubishi Colt, Mazda 2 and Toyota Yaris
C: Toyota Auris (old and new model), Ford Focus, Mazda 3
D: Toyota Verso, Ford C-Max
E, J and W: Skoda Octavia Estate, Hyundai i30 Tourer, Kia Cee'd SW
L: Mercedes Vito
M: Toyota Avensis Estate, Opel Insignia Estate, Hyundai i40 Tourer
N: Volvo V70 d5
P: Volvo C70
Q: Ford Kuga (old model)
R: VW Golf 7 Automatic
S: Mercedes E Class 4-matic
V: Volvo V40
T6: Mercedes ML
Y6: Mercedes S350 4-matic
Unknown: Opel Adam, Citroen C4 Grand Picasso
There are quite a lot of the "Collection" cars listed on the website that were not in evidence. They tend only to have these in summer months, so don't bank on getting one of these. By November, all cars will almost certainly be on winter tyres.
I think the biggest disappointment would be anyone who saw that the sample Group C is an Alfa Giulietta and they ended up with an Auris!
You can tell any Swiss rental car from their plates. Hertz, Avis and Sixt plate theirs from the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden (a tiny canton, so you rarely see any other cars from there), and they each have an allocation of numbers, viz:
Hertz: AI 3xxxx
Avis: AI 2xxxx
Sixt: AI 6xxxx
EuropCar plate theirs from the Vaud, so they start VDxxxxx.
You will find that cars are expensive (blame the Swiss exchange rate which strengthened when the 2008/9 credit crunch afflicted the rest of the world), and make sure you have appropiate insurance cover for the car. They do offer policies which wipe out the excess but this is very costly compared to the basic (but the excess is quite high).
High end cars such as Mercedes E Class and the like cannot be taken to Italy. There is no problem taking any of the less prestige stuff anywhere. As well as having the Swiss Vignette (needed to travel on motorways), most of them now have the German "UnweltSchuetz" which is needed to enter some German towns and cities. They do not usually have the Austrian Motorway Vignette, but you can by these once over the border for a small number of days.
Fuel is cheaper in Switzerland than all surrounding countries.
Unlike the rest of Europe, most of Hertz' fleet are petrol engined models. They do have a relatively larger number of automatics than in most European countries, but if you cannot drive a manual car, be careful in what you reserve.
Be warned that there are lots of speed cameras all over Switzerland, many of them hidden. They are set to almost zero tolerance, so if the limit is 50 km/h, then if you are doing 52, you may well trigger the camera. And don't imagine you can get away with it as a non resident!
Hope that helps - feel free to post further questions.