Renting a Car in Europe

I am so confused about doing this. We are staying at Schloss Grubhof and plan to rent a car from Munich (round trip). I thought about renting through National, since my husband has a corporate contract with them, but they can't answer many of my questions regarding insurance. Also, do we have to get a special license before we go? Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated. We have a family of fourr plus luggage, so I think our only choice is to get a van. it seems like the full sized vans are actually less expensive than the minivans.

Jackie,

Be very cautious if you rent a vehicle and choose not to buy CDW with the intent of using the coverage offered thru your credit card. I rented from Thrifty at Hearhrow last may and the rental agency would not accept my Capital One Visa CDW insurance without a written statement from them stating what specific coverage was covered fro that rental. Of course I couldn't contact Capital One from London and had to pay an additional $250 to purchase CDW from Thrifty. Lesson learned: get written insurance provisions before leaving the good old USA. Even better, spend your money in the USA.

Tom

I have always used credit card coverage and never had a problem, so it did not even occur to me to take a written statement along. While that is probably very rare, it is still a very real problem if it happens to you.

Generally, in western and eastern Europe, you can drive on your US license with no problems. An International Drivers License is just a waste of time and money. It is just a translation of your US license anyway.

As to car rentals, I would check the two big US rental car consolidators, www.europebycar.com and www.autoeurope.com I have always found the best deals through them.

Schloss Grubhof is a great resort. I have traded in twice.

You need to check in each country to see if an international drivers license is required. I know we had to get one for Spain and I understand that in any country where English is not the primary language it's a good idea. They aren't that expensive so it might be worth it for peace of mind.

Austria driving

Hi, You do need a special permit or pass driving in Austria. I believe you can get it where you rent the car but I would certainly ask first about. Otherwise you could get fined !

The sticker referred to is not an international drivers license. It is a tax sticker that is necessary to drive on the autobahns in Austria and Switzerland. In one of these countries, they are generally purchased for one month periods and the other annually. If you rent a car near one of these countries or in one of these countries, there is often already one attached to the windshield bought by a previous renter that is still valid. In that case you do not need to buy another one. If you have the bad luck to rent a car without one already there, just buy one as you cross the border. In either country, you can drive the non-autobahns without the sticker. The stickers are not that expensive, but I don't recall the cost.

Every time I have driven in Austria or Switzerland, I rented the car in Germany, and except on one occaision, I have had a valid sticker for at least one of these countries, and on a couple of occaisions, both, already on the car. If you don't have one, stop at the first turnoff after crossing the border, and if there is not a sign, ask where you get one.

As to an international drivers license, I had one once and did not see any need to ever renew it or get another. There may be some place that it is necessary or useful, but I have yet to find it!

Carolinian said:

As to an international drivers license, I had one once and did not see any need to ever renew it or get another. There may be some place that it is necessary or useful, but I have yet to find it!

Click to expand...

Once upon a time we did find one useful, when we had committed an inadvertent parking violation in a small town in Italy (entering a town and parking, where it turned out that non-residents were not permitted to even enter the town with an auto) - and had to deal with an upset police officer with whom we couldn't effectively communicate. That int'l drivers license seemed to calm him down, and he didn't ticket us, whereas for a minute I wondered whether we'd be arrested! So we usually travel with one if there's a possible language barrier.

We also drove the autobahn in Austria without having heard about that sticker til after the fact, luckily didn't get stopped. So there are all sorts of ways to get in trouble! (And yes, we once pd a chunky parking ticket in Spain, plus blew lots of time, due to our ignorance of parking symbols and rules.) My advice, which I wish I would follow, is to have a guidebook or website printout w/all the parking and driving rules and symbols in it, and study it before you go.

My experience with the traffic police has been in the Czech Republic. I have rented cars a number of times in Prague, with Czech plates, and was never stopped, but the one time I drove through the country with a car rented in Germany with German plates, those German plates seemed to be a magnet for the police, a total of five times in two days. What calmed them down was seeing an American passport. Once they found out I was American, whatever offense they had in mind disappeared. I suspect if my passport had matched my plates, I would have gotten a ticket for some version of ''driving while German''.

I'll be arriving in Munich on April 1, then train to Prague, Budapest then back to Munich. The question is, when I want to rent a car from here (USA), the car rental form wants my flight # of arrival?, but I am not renting until 2 weeks later...suggestions?
Also, best place to rent cars in Munich?...airport or off-site?
Thanks

When I have rented in Munich, I have gotten the best prices with www.europebycar.com and it was for airport pickup.

we spent a month in Europe last summer and did several rentals -found our best prices through carrentals.com and had no problems. agree with C about the stickers- I was glad to know about it before I got there and found it very east to get the sticker when we went into Austria. I disagree concerning the international license- we always have one even though we have not needed it. For peace of mind we get the international license through AAA for a nominal fee - like $10.00 I think and as I was told - as long as you do not have any problems, life is good but if you do have complications - the small fee is well worth it to have the international license.
When we did our first rental - we opted for automatic transmission and by the second rental we downgraded to stick and saved a ton of money - I guess Americans get lazy about that but I actually had lots of fun buzzing around using the manual. Enjoy - you will have a great time

One thing for sure to remember when driving in Germany, is to watch the speed limits! My brother lived there for many years and warned us about this the first time we went, and we were sure glad! People think because of the autobahn rules it is a free-for-all in Germany. BUT.....when you're on a road (not the autobahn) and approaching or going around a town and there is a speed limit posted, slow down and make sure you're going exactly that speed. I was shocked at the number of "speed traps" we saw on the non-autobahn roads. Germans are very, very serious about their rules, including posted speed limits.

Do study the German/Austrain road symbols before you go (Rick Steve's has them in his guidebooks) because a few of them are not real intuitive.

We have rented twice in Europe with Hertz, once with AutoEuropa, and 3 times with companies we'd never heard of.

We generally travel with 5 people + luggage (each is limited to one small sized rolling bag) and have never needed to get a van. Last year in France we had I think an Opel Zephyra (Zaphirra?)(Something like that) and it was completely adequate in size. The station wagon type vehicles have worked well for us and have kept us away from the vans which are expensive and a bugger to try to find a parking spot for and STICK OUT LIKE A SORE THUMB in many parts of Europe as well as sucking the gas (so expensive). Look closely at the company websites for how many people and how many pieces of luggage you'll have. Those guides have served us well. Also, it depends whether you will be moving from place to place each day (so you would always be travelling with all your luggage with you) or checking into one place for a week (so you would basically be driving only there and back with all the people and all the luggage).

carjet

I have found carjet.com a good source because most of their rentals are all inclusive. The CDW you get with your credit card is quite deceptive. First, I have had them ask about authorizations. Second, there is often the issue of excess over the deductible. Third, CDW doesn't solve for theft which in some countries is a problem. Finally, some countries (Ireland and Romania for example) simply don't allow the CDW to be used from your credit card. It is also generally better to rent before you go. These days another issue you get in car rentals and everything else ( I just got back from Ireland and Scotland yesterday), is hotels, stores and car rentals, etc ask if you want to be billed in the local currency or in dollars. CHOOSE the local currency if you have a credit or debit card that has little or no fee. If you are using one of the major cards that charges that ridiculous foreign conversion fee, then I guess it doesn't matter because either your cc company will rip you off or the store, rental or hotel will rip you off.

BTW I am glad to be back from the land of the $20 hamburgers and the $6 sodas. God forbid you are in a major city where everything is even more expensive. I don't care what you eat or do, the current exchange rates are terrible!! Even since my last trip to Europe before this (in November) the rates are really bad! I mean I knew this before I went so it was not a surprise-but it is a constant hemorrage of your wallet.

rental cars /try to PM Carolinian. Mailbox full !

Hi tried to PM Carolinian. Your mailbox is full !!!!

If you have an American Express Card and use it to rent you can add on additional coverage for either $20 or $25. This coverage would be accessed before your own insurance and there are many individuals on the Tug board who have used this. Hopefully, you will never need it, but it is a nice to know it is there. My son and his wife rented a car in Munich for their stay at Schloss Grubhoff (they loved it) and had no problems navigating Germany and Austria. The American Express Card won't cover you in Italy (but will in Iraq, go figure). We can't use it on our trip to Italy next month.

Linda,
Thanks for the tip about the American Express card. I checked online and it is very good coverage and only $16 ($75,000 no deductible) or $18 ($100,000 no deductible)for California residents . This is per rental period- not per day.

I noticed you have to reserve & pay for the car with your American Express card. So does carjet take American Express?

Jan

carjet

Click on their website and see if they take Amex. I think they do.

Their website wasn't very specific so I called them this morning and unfortunately they do not take American Express.

I guess I'm going to have to be satisfied with my Visa CDW coverage!

I was unsure whether to prepay or not but the lady on the phone said your car will be there whether you prepay or not as long as you get an e-mail from them confirming availability.

Jan

If using a credit card for your collision insurance, there are two other things to consider: liability coverage, of course, which can be arranged a number of ways, and loss-of-use coverage. This last matter is something I believe most ccard companies don't provide, and is the fee of around $80 per day the rental company probably will levy for the downtime needed to repair any damaged car if you don't buy their overpriced insurance.

carjet

That is why Carjet is such a bargain. Its insurance is all inclusive- not just CDW. When I used it last was 2003 and it was in 3 or 4 countries. Today they are in like 20 countries. I found it the answer to my needs. BTW you can pay for it with other cc and most of them have CDW also. I use my Plat mastercard and it gives coverage.

Jimster,
You are so right! I just booked an automatic at the Malaga Airport for nine days on carjet. It was 247 EUR. The insurance excess reads "none-all inclusive rates!" The daily buy-out value reads "none-all inclusive rates!). This is 123 EUR (approx 50%) less than booking it directly with a local and recommended car company for a similar vehicle. Plus I now have the insurance coverage!

I will say we tried the Malaga train station and the rates were higher + we were going to have a surcharge because they aren't open all day Saturday for the return. So if you are going to Malaga try both locations.

Thanks for the wonderful information!

Jan

Carjet

The only problem I had with Carjet in the Malaga airport is that it is such a good deal the line to get your car was exessively long. You might see if they now have some type of quick check in. Also as soon as you can after flight arrival I would go to get the car in order to beat the crowds. It is located down the first level and to your left or it was when I was there. Unfortunately I got there when 2 charter flights from Britain arrived at about the same time and I think everyone was using Carjet. Have a great trip!

Renting car in Europe

Rented in Munich Train station (Hertz), fast easy, bought collision only. Use of credit card was like an automatic insurance. Upgraded to an automatic. German roads and drivers were great. I had bought an International dr. lic. did not need. A car rented in Germany takes you in and out of 90% of the countries. Just Czech and Hungary or over to Great Britain was denied. Love those toll roads.
Roman

Nice post...Thank you very much!!......

Now that this 2008 tread has been resurrected, I would add that now I tend to find the best rates on car rentals through www.economycarrentals.com , a consolidator that contracts with the major rental companies.

If getting your ff miles credited on a European rental matters, I have found that Hertz, Avis, and Budget routinely FAIL to credit the miles and you have to go through the hassle of filing a request. Hertz and Avis then regularly award the miles. Budget is the most stingy of all, and sometimes fails to award the miles even after filing a request. On the other hand, Europcar always credits the miles and National usually does without having to file a request.