I have been researching car rental prices for my 2 week trip to Provence in Oct. It looks like I will save quite a bit using autoeurope.fr over autoeurope.com- $477 vs 687. Since I do not speak French well enough to read the fine print I am hoping someone here can help me. On the US site the rental includes deductables of $875 and $1225. On the French site I cannot see that there is a deductable.

I guess my question is-

Is there a difference in insurance between the sites and if so, what is it? Also, any disadvantages in renting on the French site?

French

US

Thanks!

Oops- I guess the links will not take you to the exact pages I had opened. I'll see if I can figure out another option to reflect my findings.

Here's what the US site says-

Terms & Conditions

Auto Europe has arranged your rental with the car rental company shown on the voucher after your payment of the services. Auto Europe is independent, not an agent for any particular car rental company. This voucher confirms your reservation with the rental company. The voucher is not a rental agreement. When you pick up the vehicle, you must sign a rental agreement provided by the rental company and subject to local laws. Additional fees may apply for rental service beyond hours of operation.All rates are guaranteed in US Dollars.


YOUR RENTAL INCLUDES

* Sales tax as of Booking Date: 07-Aug-2008. Unlimited mileage and fire insurance. Liability Insurance for injuries or damages to persons or things outside the vehicle.
* Rental includes Collision Damage coverage Rental limits potential vehicle damage liability to deductible of approximately $895 USD.
* Rental includes Theft Protection for the vehicle. Rental limits potential vehicle loss liability to deductible of approximately $1225 USD.



RENTAL DOES NOT INCLUDE

* Insurance coverage for personal injuries to driver or passengers. Optional coverage may be offered locally for an additional fee
* Gasoline or Diesel. Rentals less than 5 days, client is advised to return the vehicle with a full fuel tank and to retain copies of gas receipts. Rentals 5 days and longer, client will be charged for initial tank of fuel, vehicle should be returned as empty as possible (no refund for unused fuel).
* Environmental Fee of approximately $8 USD per day (6 day maximum charge) for all automatic vehicles.
* Rental excludes location surcharge of approximately $42 USD for rentals commencing at an airport or railstation location. * Road Fee of approximately $17 USD.
* Local toll, highway fees or travel stickers which may be required by local authorities.



GENERAL TERMS

* Auto Europe does not provide insurance . Coverage is provided by the rental company, as indicated. Additional coverage may be available for purchase from the rental company. Insurance does not provide coverage for damage to windows, tires, roof , underside or interior of the vehicle.
* The local supplier will require a security deposit to be blocked on the primary drivers credit card for the duration of the rental. Contact Auto Europe for exceptions. Drivers license must be held for a minimum of 1 year (some exceptions may apply). Renter must present a credit card in their own name.
* Optional equipment is on a request basis only for an additional fee. Drop off charges, if applicable, are estimates only, and may change without notice.
* Reservations may be changed or cancelled without penalty by contacting Auto Europe before the expiration of the rental period.
* The rental invoice may only show the balance due on delivery. This assures that you will not pay unnecessary surcharges.
* Deliveries/Collections are available on a request basis only, for an additional fee. * Debit cards are not accepted locally.
* To contact Auto Europe toll free from France 24hrs / day , dial 00 800 223 55555
* Travel is not permitted between the mainland and the Island of Corsica. Travel is not permitted to Eastern Europe or any African country (i.e. Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, etc.). When traveling to Germany, the vehicle requires an environmental emission sticker. Please check with the car rental company at time of pick up. Vehicles may not travel on ferries and/or to Island locations without pre-approval from Auto Europe.
* Minimum driver age 21. Drivers age 21 thru 24 will incur a young driver surcharge locally Additional drivers sign on and pay a fee locally.
* All rentals are based on 24 hour periods with a 3 day minimum rental, a full day is charged for any portion of a day that the vehicle is used.
* Auto Europe strongly advises client to check if car is DIESEL or REGULAR GASOLINE at pick up .
* Rentals commencing or terminating at an "Altitude Station" will incur an additional fee locally.

[HOURS OF OPERATION]* OPEN Mondays-Saturdays 07:00 AM-midnight
* OPEN Sundays 08:00 AM-midnight
* OPEN Saturday 01-Nov-2008 07:30 AM-11:30 PM


I have read the above terms and conditions.


Here's the French site-

Conditions Générales

Auto Europe s'est chargé de votre location de voitures avec le loueur indiqué ci-dessus. Auto Europe est indépendant et n'agit pas en tant qu'agent pour un loueur de voiture. Ce bon de voyage n'est pas un contrat de location. A la prise en charge du véhicule, vous devrez signer le contrat de location du loueur de voiture et ce contrat est sujet aux lois locales. Le bon de voyage Auto Europe doit être présenté au moment de la prise en charge du véhicule afin de garantir le tarif préférentiel Auto Europe. Si la station reste ouverte pour vous servir en dehors des heures d'ouverture habituelles, des frais supplémentaires peuvent être facturés. Tous les prix indiqués sont guarantis en EURO.


VOTRE RESERVATION INCLUT

* La TVA appliquée sera au taux du jour de la réservation: 07-Aug-2008. Kilométrage illimité et assurance incendie. Assurance responsabilité civile qui vous couvre pour les blessures ou dommages aux personnes ou aux objets en dehors du véhicule de location.
* La location inclue l'assurance-collision en cas d'accident et en cas de vol. La location limite la participation financière en cas de dommage ou de vol du véhicule à une franchise d'environ EUR 960.
* Taxe d'aéroport pour les locations au départ d'un guichet à l'aéroport. * taxe d'immatriculation du véhicule.



[ N'INCLUT PAS]

* Assurance pour les blessures / dommages corporels aux conducteurs et aux passagers, il se peut qu'une couverture optionnelle soit disponible sur place pour des frais supplémentaires.
* Taxe locale, péages, ou vignette seront peut-être nécessaires pour les autorités locales.
* Des frais d'abandon d'environ €65 s'appliquent, si le véhicule est restitué dans une autre ville que celle de la prise en charge.
* Carburant, le client est prié de restituer le véhicule avec un plein d'essence et de conserver toutes les factures.



[ CONDITIONS GÉNÉRALES]
Auto Europe ne fournit pas d'assurance. La couverture est fournie par le loueur indiqué. Il se peut qu'une couverture supplémentaire soit offerte par le loueur pour des coûts supplémentaires.
* Auto Europe ne facture pas de frais de changement ou d’annulation de réservation si le client prévient * Auto Europe par mail ou téléphone au moins 48 heures avant la date et heure de prise en charge du véhicule. Le client sera facturé d’un montant correspondant à trois jours de location si la réservation n’est pas annulée ou si le client se présente en retard. Auto Europe ne rembourse aucun jour de location non consommé en cas de retour anticipé du véhicule.
* Le client et les conducteurs supplémentaires doivent présenter un permis de conduire détenu depuis au minimum 3 ans (des exceptions seront peut-être faites).
* Les équipements supplémentaires optionnels (par exemple barres de toit, siège enfant etc.) sont uniquement sur demande et payables sur place.
* Les livraisons/récupérations du véhicule sont possibles uniquement sur demande auprès du loueur moyennant des frais supplémentaires, payable sur place. Les cartes de débit ne sont PAS acceptées sur place.
* L'âge minimum du conducteur est 21 Les conducteurs âgés de 21 à 24 ans feront l'objet d'un supplément jeune conducteur facturé sur place. Les conducteurs supplémentaires s'inscrivent et paient un supplément sur place.
*** NUMERO GRATUIT DEPUIS LA FRANCE 00 800 223 5555 5. ***
* Les prix de location s'entendent par tranche de 24 heures avec un minimum de trois jours, même si vous n'utilisez le véhicule qu'une partie de la location. Auto Europerecommande fortement à ses client de vérifier si le véhicule est DIESEL ou ESSENCE lors de sa prise en charge.
* Lors de la prise en charge du véhicule, il vous sera demandé par le loueur le dépot d'une caution. Cette caution est constitué au minimum du montant equivalent à la franchise + un plein d'essence + TVA, bloqué sur la carte de crédit internationale du conducteur principale (les cartes de type Visa Electron, Carte Bleue nationale, Maestro ou similaire ne sont pas acceptées par le loueur pour le depot de la caution). Le montant est bloqué sur la carte de crédit et sera retourné en totalité à la fin de la location sous la condition que le véhicule soit restitué dans le meme état qu'au moment de sa prise en charge.
* Ce véhicule n'est pas autorisé à circuler en Europe de l'Est ou tout pays d'Afrique (c'est à dire Maroc, Algérie, Tunisie, etc.). Il n'est pas permis de prendre le ferry avec le véhicule de location ou de circuler sur les îles sans une autorisation préalable de Auto Europe
* Les locations de 5,6 & 7 jours sont calculés selon un tarif hebdomadaire, toute location plus courte ou plus longue est calculé sur une base journalière.
* Les prix de location s'entendent par tranche de 24 heures avec un minimum d'un jour de location, même si vous n'utilisez le véhicule qu'une partie de la journée.
* Attention: Tout comme la plupart des fournisseurs de voitures de location, l'assurance ne couvre pas les dommages aux vitres, roues, pneus, toit, dessous & intérieur du véhicule, frais de remorquage ou dommages causés volontairement ou par négligence.
* Si vous désirez circuler en Allemagne, vous nécessitez une "vignette verte" contre la pollution pour le véhicule. Veuillez vous renseigner auprès de l'agence de location lors de la prise en charge.

[ HEURES D'OUVERTURE ]* Ouvert lundis-vendredis 07:00-minuit
* Ouvert samedis 07:30-minuit
* Ouvert dimanches 08:00-minuit

I will just touch on the main points (not talking here to the small print!):

The .com quotes deductibles for collision damage as USD895 and for theft as USD1,225.

The .fr quotes both collision and theft deductibles as EUR960 each, which at an Internet quote of circa USD1.53 to EUR1.00 brings the deductibles to USD1,469.00

There are also differences in the charges "not included", but the French version does not specify the potential charges while the American version does.

I believe the assumption made by the .fr site is that you are a resident of France. Have you tried the .ca for a comparison? Refer to this on-going discussion in the Everything about Travel forum.

Hi Doru,

Thank you for your help. I'll read the discussion and check .ca.

When I rented from Autoeurope (I think it was .us), I called and talked to someone because I had found much better prices (even after calculating the conversion rates) on the British Autoeurope website. Autoeurope will match prices even from its sister sites so the person I talked to was willing to match the prices I had found. In fact, I think he got me a slightly better deal than I had found(no deductible - and it turned out we damaged the car so that was a nice upgrade). This doesn't really answer your question about the differences but I urge you to call and talk it through with a representative because whatever the French site promises, they may be willing to match it.

quote:

Originally posted by cathtuscany:
When I rented from Autoeurope (I think it was .us), I called and talked to someone because I had found much better prices (even after calculating the conversion rates) on the British Autoeurope website. Autoeurope will match prices even from its sister sites....

That's very interesting, because a few years ago that wasn't true. I did the same thing in 2004, but the US rep first of all was quite surprised to hear that there was a difference, and then said they would not be willing to match it. He said something about it perhaps being due to different regulations in the EU about prices. But it seems they must have now changed their policy.

- Roz

My rental was last summer so I probably arranged it late spring of 2007. I had the impression from the Italy forum that it was the case that Autoeurope would match any price. I am not sure it is always entirely true because my agent did explain that some of the sister company rates came with different levels of customer service and other differences. However, ultimately he did match the best price I had found (actually, he beat the best price I had found). It may be, however, that it was just lucky that he was able to find as good a deal among the research he did. He found my price on (I think) Autoeurope Latin America. FYI, I think I paid about $1400 for two weeks use of a minivan in Italy, no deductible. They also did not charge more for renting from one location (Rome) and returning to another (Florence).

We always use the UK site and did again for our upcoming trip in two weeks. I talked with the US site after getting the UK quote and they would not match it. We have saved quite a bit of money over the years using the UK site.

Sharon J

Hi-We just booked last night using the UK site for the first time. The biggest saving came from the $50 fee for picking up at a rail station which was included in the UK rate and not in the US (or Canadian) rate. This was going to be a big portion of our rental cost since we are only renting for 3 days so it's a nice savings.