 Poster: A snowHead
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Many of the prices being mentioned for the French side are impressively cheap, but I would urge you to check the desk opening times directly with the rental company before you book.
I don't think the opening times on the comparison sites such as rentalcars etc. can be relied on. Also check that the opening times you are looking at are for the dates you are booking for, rather than the current date.
There are several online reviews where people have turned up to collect their car with a pre-booked evening collection and found the desks are already shut.
For example, one reviewer had a 5pm Saturday booking and arrived to find the desk closed at 4pm.
It's possible that the reviews are false or due to Covid hours etc. - if so it'd be great to hear back from other snowHeads who use the French side and collect at relatively unsociable hours.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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“Geneva Airport” which I assume is the French side as it shuts at 2000.
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Heroic assumption?
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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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Yes, as I said earlier, I'd be very suspicious of those "£57 for a week" quotes.
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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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| pam w wrote: |
| Quote: |
“Geneva Airport” which I assume is the French side as it shuts at 2000.
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Heroic assumption? |
Well it’s not the Swiss side as that closes at 2230, so unless there’s a third Europcar office at the airport I’d say it’s a pretty good guess.
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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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Yes, I've managed to find that now - listed as "Geneva Airport France" but nothing less than about £300 for a week.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| pam w wrote: |
| Yes, as I said earlier, I'd be very suspicious of those "£57 for a week" quotes. |
Not sure there should be reason for suspicion. The booking says "From the Arrivals hall, go up to the Departure level and turn right. Follow the signs for 'Secteur France'. Cross the customs on the right.
Pick-up location
Aéroport de Genève, Genève, France, 01210"
The open hours are 8am - 8pm and my pick up would be around midday anyway.
I've just searched again on Europcar, prices from around £15 a day in January, so still decent
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I guess there'll be lots of extras, including even basic (i.e. compulsory) insurance and driving across border. Does sound really cheap though. Nothing like that available when I'm looking in March/April. Basic around £36 a day.
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If you are planning anything other than a straightforward pick up or drop off straight after arrival or departure be aware you can't transit between the French and Swiss sides without a boarding card for that day. Last time I was hanging about waiting for my lift in the French car park there were five people (two couples and a solo) trapped on the French side having dropped off hire cars with no way out other than trying to get a taxi company to come round to collect them.
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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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What a pain! The system for that transit has changed a lot over the years.
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@pam w, it certainly has! I suspect it's to do with the ongoing rebuilding project.....if you're arriving French side to catch an international flight you have to go into the airport through baggage reclaim and back out through customs to get to the check in/bag drop area.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I once had to pick up someone with no "papers" for Switzerland (Zimbabwe passport). I'd had to get an "attestation d'acceuil" from the local Mairie for him. Their baggage was in the international baggage hall but he wasn't allowed to go and get it.
It was all very complicated and I can't remember the details. I took a chance and drove out straight into Switzerland and through Bardonnex but we might have been turned back at the border and I had the route through St Julien ready. Sometimes that little "Alice through the Looking Glass" passageway between the two parts of the airport has been really easy to just walk through. But at other times, not. I did that dance through baggage reclaim and back out once, with a party of 12 of us in 3 French-hired cars, flying out international. We were late for our flight and the whole thing was a nightmare - I had to run out of the customs hall, leaving the others to manhandle luggage, several kids and my disabled mother, and all the way to easyJet check in, waiting to be shot in the back the whole time. That passageway seemed to be closed on that occasion, many years ago.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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That sounds like madness! They've got rid of the glass corridor (I used to find that like a mirror maze on the pier!) it's been replaced with a wander through the arrivals duty free shop or a single security station which gets you through to the gates if you're checked in with hand luggage only.
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