 Poster: A snowHead
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@alti - dude, that's been reported before. Very annoying. With an hour to kill at Gva some time ago I went round the car hire desks trying to establish whether winter tyres were an extra. There seemed to be a different system for those booking locally - who paid a winterisation fee - and those booking from the UK who paid an all-in price. It was thoroughly confusing!
The difference between French and Swiss car hire varies a lot - sometime relatively insignificant.
Last time I tried to walk from the French to the Swiss side of the airport you had to go via the baggage hall. That's confusing too and might have changed (it was summer 2014). Alice in Wonderland. But Swiss to France is just through the dog leg corridor, as before.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@pam w,
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@pam w,
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Last time I tried to walk from the French to the Swiss side of the airport you had to go via the baggage hall. That's confusing too and might have changed (it was summer 2014). Alice in Wonderland. But Swiss to France is just through the dog leg corridor, as before.
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Basically you are correct, if you want to go from the French side to the Swiss side you have to go through customs, which is why you end up in the baggage hall. However, if all you want to do is get a flight there is another, almost deserted route along little corridors and a secrutity check with no queue at it. It is staggeringly fast - only a couple of minutes from dropping the hire car off to being airside.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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So should I expect Keddy by Europcar to sting me for cross border charges when I pick a car up from Friedrichshafen on Boxing day?
Holiday Auto's have not charged me for it or offered it to me.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I'm in and out of Genava quite a bit at the moment. Last weekend we hired a car fromthe french side to drive to the alps.
The french side is east to find when you leave the baggage hall.
Go left. Up the escalator. Turn ritght an follow the corridor to the border point. Its all well signed.
Coming back is very easy. Drop the car at the french side. throught the french border and then use the single security scanner point that you will walk past. That takes you up into the airport shops and will only have one or two people there compared to the hordes at the swiss side for security.
The cafe on the frenh side is being refurbed as are the ones in the airport
The car was with Sixt and due to snow we asked at the desk for one with winter tyres. That wasnt the car we ordered and we had to decide on what car we were happy with. As we were moving furniture, we ended up upgrading to a 9 seater people carrier winter tyres from a Megane estate without, which cost us quite a bit more. They did offer us a straight swap for a BMW 1 series with winter tyres but that wouldnt have been much good.
Warning lights came on the dash almost straight away so back to the garage where the Sixt lady came out to help us and to find another vehicle. After a few calls she found us an E class estate with winter tyres for the same money as the people carrier which I thought was a result particularly as it had the swiss vignette on it so no avoiding the motorway at Bardonnex each way.. It was alo a much better ride that the people carrier.
The next trip we have a car from the swiss side so it will come with winter tyres and the vignette. Modeo estate size car or equivelent so lucky dip really
The issue will be how much they want for snow chains, probably the price of a new set, and the cost of breakdown cover in France 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Been back over holiday auto booking system and nobody in their right mind would mind would see that winter tyres were extra. You have to go to an info screen to find it. Very dodgy.
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I just looked at a hire car in Innsbruck and they wanted over 75 Euro to hire snow chains!!! Chains cost half that to buy!!!!
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the cost of breakdown cover in France -35 sf
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Chains cost half that to buy!!!!
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some chains cost a lot more - but probably the ones they are offering are pretty basic.
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Auto europe hide these cross border and other local fees in the terms and conditions. you have to tick t&C box just before you pay. So after i have selected car as dont often know rental company, i jump forward 2 pages ( i think) and read t&C which detail these charges. You can then add to rental cost to get a true comparative as some companies have zero cross border charge.
Re winter tyres, at munich every car i have had whether winter or summer has the tyres on anyway. So seems to be standard practise.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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It's just a racket and a lottery. You need a car when you're at the desk and they know it. The business model of most, if not all, hire outfits is based on extras and spurious damage charges - they make nothing on the rental itself. I'm sure this has all been documented before. Although to be fair, I always hire in Switzerland, and never leave Switzerland, but I have never been asked where I am going with a view to charging me a cross-border fee.
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FAQ
