The best rental prices are: http://www.autoeurope.com/index.cfm?aff=bonjourparis

and now, cars come with a free GPS. I can't even imagine how many miles I might have saved.....when I was lost and then some!!

Will do. The trip (business) is still up in the air, but I hope to know one way or another next week.

Ellen....OUI. It also won't hurt if you confirm the process when the opportunity occurs.

I'm going to rent a car from AutoEurope. In order for BP to get credit (and for me to get a discount?), do I access it through the BP Marketplace and make the reservation on line? Just want to make sure I'm doing it the right way - for BP and me!

Jean:

I am delighted. Now that AutoEurope is giving our premium members an added discount, they're really the best around. If you find a cheaper rental, they will match it.

What many people don't understand is that AutoEurope has a 24-hour help desk in the US and will arrange emergency service. You don't need to speak the language or put up with myriad problems. I know. AE bailed me out of a pickle. I might be standing in the middle of an abandoned road!

We just confirmed our rental with AutoEurope (the agency is Europecar, as usual) for next October, getting a nice daily-special rate and another 5% off thanks to BP. That brought the cost for 8 days' worth of a Renault Scenic down to just over $400--not bad!

Also, please note that the selection of cars varies from location to location. We ordered our car through Autoeurope, and the place we went to was a National at Porte Maillot, across from the convention center. Depending on what you want, you find defferent selections at different locations. We checked about 4 different locations around the 16th to get what we wanted, a Citroen 302, which was out and they gave us a C5 for the same price.

Please please -- always use the AutoEurope site on the Bonjour Paris MARKETPLACE.

http://www.bonjourparis.com/marketplace/portal/index.html

We have a special relationship with them that includes that if you find the car for LESS $$ on the Internet, they'll match the price.

If their Site is slow, it's because AutoEurope is NOT a secret.
They allow you to pick up and drop off a car ANYWHERE in France.

Check their airfares too! Jean -- specify a car and stand there until they give it to you. Once you get the confirmation number and paperwork from AE -- THEN call them and be firm - and get the sales' agent name and number!

Kathy - glad you were able to get the deal you wanted on Avis.

For our second week in Europe, we will be driving through Benelux, catching a town just over the German border where my mother-in-law's cousin was killed in WW II, and spending a night or two in Alsace. I just rented a Grand Renault Scenic, a minivan with room for all 6 of us, through the Avis link on BP. We have one week rental picking up at the Gare Montparnasse right across the street from our hotel and dropping off at CDG before our flight out for only 327.19 Euro. This was fully one-third of some of the other prices I was quoted!
Kathy

Karen,

What we're hoping to get is the Renault Scenic that we had last time around. The other cars in the class aren't bad either, but Bob really likes the Scenic for visibility. We reserved last spring with Europcar, then discovered that the AutoEurope price was better--and the car will would be coming from Europcar anyway. So I've been able to check out the fleet at Europcar instead of using the AutoEurope site.

BP Chuck,
Karen gave me a link a while back that got me to their London office, and that is where I got the idea that its some sort of gizmo that goes on the dashboard. Actually, I would prefer it to be permanent, like the ones here in the states, and better still, has a voice system. One problem with all nav systems is that the European inner cities have short distances between streets, and it can get off (really, the update rate on some systems is 4-8 seconds, which is the real problem). All I need is for the GPS to be off a street and have me going the wrong way down a sens unique late at night. Doubly true when you are in a traffic circle that you know, and it tells you to exit one spoke later than the one you should have taken (my test was the traffic circle in Boston). When it gets closer to my departure date, I will try the website again. Hopefully it will run faster than a 14 K modem this time, given that I am on cable modem.

Last time I was in France, about 8 years ago with the family, I reserved a Renault Espace from Europecar. When I got there, they didn't have any, so they offered a larger Renault van, which turned out to be a real dog. It must have been a converted delivery van, with one of those long stick shifts coming vertically out of the floor. I stopped at several agencies, telling them that I thought the throwout bearing was worn, and it wouldn't shift properly. Their response was that it was perfectly fine, and Americans didn't know how to operate manual transmissions, and why was I abusing their car. I turned the car in at Clermont-Ferrand, and they stuck me with a big dropoff charge. My telling them I learned to drive a manual on the hills of San Francisco went right over their heads. The only satisfaction I ever got was the look on their faces as the Hertz people dropped off a new Espace at the Europcar office.

Right--but what I'd like is being able to click on "fleet" and look at the cars right off the top, which you can do at most other rental sites. That makes it easier to specify the class of car required instead of guessing the category.

Gee, I just checked and here's what I found. There was a photo of each of the rental cars.



Cars available for pick-up in Paris, France at Paris Charles De Gaulle Apt.
A 3-day rate is shown below. (16 Aug 2004 @ 8:00 - 19 Aug 2004 @ 8:00).
Citroen C3
Manual
Economy
2 Doors
USD 160.85 Basic
USD 203.98 Inclusive

Renault Clio Diesel
Manual
Economy
2 Doors
USD 160.85 Basic
USD 203.98 Inclusive

Renault Clio
Manual
Economy
2 Doors
USD 165.05 Basic
USD 232.22 Inclusive

Citroen C3 with ac
Manual
Economy
2 Doors, A/C
USD 165.66 Basic
USD 232.22 Inclusive

Renault Clio with ac
Manual
Economy
2 Doors, A/C
USD 166.84 Basic
USD 232.22 Inclusive

Renault Megane diesel with ac
Manual
Compact
4 Doors, A/C
Free upgrade one car class
USD 182.38 Basic
USD 262.21 Inclusive

Peugeot 307 with ac
Manual
Compact
4 Doors, A/C
USD 183.60 Basic
USD 262.21 Inclusive

Opel Corsa
Manual
Economy
4 Doors
USD 193.75 Basic
USD 220.20 Inclusive

Renault Clio Diesel with ac
Manual
Economy
2 Doors, A/C
USD 200.21 Basic
USD 238.21 Inclusive

Renault Scenic diesel with ac
Manual
Midsize
4 Doors, A/C
USD 207.49 Basic
USD 305.37 Inclusive

Renault Laguna diesel with ac
Manual
Midsize
4 Doors, A/C
USD 212.30 Basic
USD 304.23 Inclusive

Citroen C5 with ac
Manual
Midsize
4 Doors, A/C
USD 213.49 Basic
USD 304.19 Inclusive

Peugeot 307 with ac
Manual
Compact
4 Doors, A/C
USD 220.30 Basic
USD 268.20 Inclusive

Citroen C3 with ac
Automatic
Economy
2 Doors, A/C
USD 228.91 Basic
USD 269.40 Inclusive

Ren Megane wagon diesel with ac
Manual
Compact
4 Doors, A/C
USD 249.01 Basic
USD 292.21 Inclusive

Citroen Xsara Wagon Diesel with ac
Manual
Midsize
4 Doors, A/C
USD 249.01 Basic
USD 280.20 Inclusive

Citroen Picasso Wgn Diesel with ac
Manual
Midsize
4 Doors, A/C
USD 250.44 Basic
USD 310.21 Inclusive

Opel Vectra with ac
Manual
Midsize
4 Doors, A/C
USD 256.18 Basic
USD 310.18 Inclusive

Citroen Picasso wagon with ac
Manual
Midsize
4 Doors, A/C
USD 256.18 Basic
USD 311.40 Inclusive

Citroen Picasso wagon with ac
Automatic
Midsize
4 Doors, A/C
USD 292.06 Basic
USD 322.20 Inclusive

Renault Scenic diesel with ac
Automatic
Midsize
4 Doors, A/C
USD 292.06 Basic
USD 322.20 Inclusive

Renault Megane diesel with ac
Automatic
Compact
4 Doors, A/C
USD 306.42 Basic
USD 340.20 Inclusive

VW Passat wagon diesel with ac
Manual
Midsize
4 Doors, A/C
USD 306.42 Basic
USD 340.20 Inclusive

Mercedes A 140 with ac
Automatic
Economy
4 Doors, A/C
USD 322.20 Basic
USD 346.21 Inclusive

Kangoo Express 3.0 m3 cargovan
Manual
Economy

USD 471.00 Inclusive

Renault Laguna diesel with ac
Automatic
Midsize
4 Doors, A/C
USD 392.53 Basic
USD 448.20 Inclusive

Renault Laguna with ac
Automatic
Midsize
4 Doors, A/C
USD 501.60 Basic
USD 659.40 Inclusive

Explanation of Rates:


Guaranteed Best Rates and Service! Auto Europe guarantees the best rates and service available. We will beat any major competitor's rate that offers a car rental with comparable service, location, terms, and surcharges. If you have found a better rate than the one we have quoted you after you have sent us your request, please complete our Guaranteed Best Rates and Service form.

I used autoeurope to book my flights and they did give me the best prices. They were also helpful in booking a hotel near CDG.

Jean, I am not sure I understand what you intend to say?

Karen: I do not mean it as a complaint that the navigation system is not removable and can not be used for walking tours (Side Tours). I think it would be too complicated, hurt the calibration, and would also make it too easy to steal.

BP Chuck

Something else to pass along, Karen: it's a pain not being able to look at the fleet before getting into the date process. Or am I missing something?

Joe and Chuck:

I'm sending your comments straight to AutoEurope. They assure us they have the BEST prices anywhere. For that matter, if you find ones that are LESS expensive, they promise to match it!

Stay tuned.

Oursdor, The navigational systems that I have seen or used were built in fixed into the car and can not be removed.

BP Chuck

I surfed into the autoeurope site to check out their rates and such. The website is rather slow and user-unfriendly, so you have to have some patience. One of the patience-trying aspects is that it won't let you choose some pickup/dropoff sites, even if the hours you choose are compatible with their times of being open. One of the tricks I found is that an office maybe listed several times, and you have to (slowly) step through all combinations. The prices are compatible with the big rental companies, and you can get a Navagation system that you place on the dashboard for an extra $99. Not sure if that means you can take it with you when on a walking tour. They also have quite a few places in Paris to pick up and drop off a car throughout Paris.

If you're looking to rent a car (or do many other things) please access our partner:

http://www.autoeurope.com/index.cfm?aff=bonjourparis



Their prices are right and the service is excellent. It's nice have a FREE emergency number to call if you run into problems.

AutoEurope has a three day minimum rental period. However, the cost is often less expensive than renting a car for two days through another rental agency.

Another major bonus: If you specify, you can pick up the car in one place and drop it off in another IF it's in France. And there's no extra charge!


http://www.autoeurope.com/index.cfm?aff=bonjourparis