 Poster: A snowHead
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Just back from the PdS  .
Normally we use one of the super transfer minibuses, but decided this year that we'd like a little more independence,so hired a car. Great advice on here - thanks - so we went with Argus, which was fielded to Sixt. Great little Fiat 4x4.
The only pain is the bit between the hire desks and the actual cars. Luggage on trolley, walk to desk, sort out documents, trolley to bus stop, luggage off, onto bus, luggage off. Carry luggage through huge car park to farthest end for car. And reverse a week later. A complete pain when you have loads of kit and small children.
Is Geneva the only airport where it's a bus to the car hire?
Perhaps we need wheeled bags!
Think we'll go back to the luxury of trolley to minibus next year!!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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It is not that far to walk with trolley direct to the cars(signed) so you would not have to load and off load trolley .It is also possible to drop everyone and luggage at the departures and then continue on with the empty car back to the car hire drop off .
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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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| Quote: |
Is Geneva the only airport where it's a bus to the car hire?
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No, I'm sure it's not - I remember doing the same in Nice. Dropping everyone off at departures then taking an empty car back, as suggested by brock, is a good way to go. And the reverse on arrival. brock,
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I suppose that's a much better way. First time doing the car hire so we didn't really know how far the bus journey was going to be. Thanks 
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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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Common enuf in big airports to have the car hire remote to the airport. The premium car hire companies may have a collection point nearer than the cheaper car cos.
As Brock as said, it can be better to get your partners to wait at departures with luggage, while you fetch the car
If you use a sat nav, good idea before you set up, is to save the car hire drop off point in your Sat nav. That way, when you return , you pick your destination as the car hire drop off , and not the airport
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I hired a car at GVA (Swiss side) last week and found it to be relatively painless. Certainly compared to some of the stories you hear. Having got my luggage it must have only been 20 minutes or so before I was driving off. But to be fair I was alone and it was a Thursday evening - I'm sure it would be more difficult with kids in tow and at a busier time, but as others have said just leave them at arrivals/departures.
I was with Europcar (booked through Holiday Autos) - snow tyres and chains provided.
The only problem I found was finding the drop off point when returning the car. Though that was probably more to do with me being a numbnuts than anything!
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P.S. No idea why the europ-car bit above became a dodgy link? Not my doing, honest!
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I was alone and it was a Thursday evening
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the only way to travel. 
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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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pam w, it certainly was! Very last minute trip - I decided to go/packed/booked flight/booked car/booked accommodation and was in a taxi to the airport within 40 minutes. The effort was rewarded with a great week's skiing and plenty of snow! A bit odd doing a solo ski trip, the first time I have done it, but was well worth the effort.
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| Billy M wrote: |
| P.S. No idea why the europ-car bit above became a dodgy link? Not my doing, honest! |
it's a sponsored link
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Plenty of airports have off-site car rental collection. GVA is at least walkable to P51 (although perhaps not with ski luggage and kids in tow). It used to be much more convenient prior to the move to P51, but those days are long gone.
On a related note, has anyone booked with a broker such as Holiday Autos or Argus and ended up with a rental company which isn't located in P51?
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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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Lyon is a schlep on a bus as well (well it was last time I was there but there was a lot of building going on)
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Grenoble has a very short walk to car hire pick up. Most convenient. 
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You know it makes sense.
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There is a bus at Lyon to the car hire which takes a fair bit of time and is fairly infrequent. However at the French side in Geneva it is just a very short walk from the car hire desk to the car. They even have a cafe next to the car hire desk in case you have to wait and it happens to be open.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| Quote: |
On a related note, has anyone booked with a broker such as Holiday Autos or Argus and ended up with a rental company which isn't located in P51?
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Yes, at least three times. Twice with a company that met me as I came through Customs, signed up the paperwork and then took me out to the drop off car park. Had to return to that same place, problem being that I was early and had to wait around for an hour before he arrived. Second time same procedure except that the car was somewhere in the depths of the airport.
On another occasion the car was at a hotel beyond P51 on the other side of the road. Had to call for the hotel's courtesy bus. All takes much longer than you think it will.
I still use brokers but I only book through companies that I know have a desk in the airport and cars in P51. May be a bit more expensive but far less hassle.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Chris Mason, thanks. Which broker did you use when you ended up collecting your car somewhere other than P51?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Dare I say the French side is very convenient, think we only had to walk about 30metres from the desk to the car!
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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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rob@rar, The occasion when I had to go to a hotel was booked through Holiday Autos, last April. I can't remember who I booked through on other occasions, but I think it would either have been HA or Auto Europe. HA now shows, as part of the inclusions (winter tyres, free cancellation etc) whether it is an 'Airport Terminal Pick Up'. If it doesn't say this I have always assumed that it is somewhere other than at the terminal. This is something HA have only added in the last year or so, I would imagine after moans from customers. HA doesn't show the name of the company you are hiring from until you've completed the purchase so you have to rely on this. AE does show the name of the company and I've always worked on the assumption that the likes of Hertz, Europcar, Avis, Alamo etc are going to have a desk in the terminal.
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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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Bus to car hire ... Heathrow and Pisa spring to mind
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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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Just an update. We once again hired a car through Argus, this time ending up with Avis and an Opal 4x4. We invested in wheeled bags, which was SO much easier than carrying big bags through the car park with children. Also Avis is quite close to the bus stop. Sometimes it's just about having the right tools for the job!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
Is Geneva the only airport where it's a bus to the car hire?
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No. At Lyon you get a bus that drops you off at the various car hire offices where you pick the car up.
I have used Argus a lot at Geneva and usually it is just a sort walk down the stairs or a lift to pick the car up. I really like the little cafe where your passengers can sit while you get the keys.
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For GVA it is sometimes worth going to the '.ch' landing page of the various car hire firms at P51. I've found that sometimes there are cars and rates on offer at, for example, www.sixt.ch that weren't presented on the www.sixt.com or .co.uk route. Avis.ch was another where we found a Nisan 4x4 that simply didn't appear on the .com site. And for larger groups, I noticed that the .ch sites sometimes have minivans that you don't see on the .com version. Of course, websites are notoriously volatile so this may not apply any more, but if I book at GVA I'll still give at least a couple of .ch sites a go just to be sure.
The Gevea Airport (www.gva.ch) wepages list the car hire firms in the terminal: note, these mostly take you to these '.ch' landing pages.
http://www.gva.ch/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-72/
The site also has access maps etc which as mentioned, can be useful on car hire return.
Last edited by Then you can post your own questions or snow reports... on Mon 16-02-15 14:44; edited 3 times in total
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Now that's a blast from the past
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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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@msej449, now that's a handy hint - thanks. 
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| johnE wrote: |
Now that's a blast from the past |
I see that my flared trousers have also come back into fashion .............
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@snowfraise,
The car park is only about 400 m or less from the rental desks and if you have your luggage on trolleys it is actually pretty straightforward to push it along the pavement. Less of a hassle than unloading and loading off the bus in my experience though on the way back I drop at the kiss and fly departure.
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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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Thanks @T Bar, we were sorted this year thanks to new wheeled bags - I was just updating an old thread. Just a thought though - do they let the airport trolleys into the car park? It was going like a fair when we dropped the car off on Saturday and trolleys would have caused chaos.
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| snowfraise wrote: |
| Thanks @T Bar, we were sorted this year thanks to new wheeled bags - I was just updating an old thread. Just a thought though - do they let the airport trolleys into the car park? It was going like a fair when we dropped the car off on Saturday and trolleys would have caused chaos. |
Yes they do you go into a lift from the road and once you have unloaded you can take the trolley along to a depot and get your coin back.
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You know it makes sense.
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And as an aside, the corridor between Arrivals and the Car Hire desks has a Post Office about half way along on the right, including a PostBank ATM. If you want to get some cash, your UK Debit Card should work in the PostBank ATM and the rate is usually reasonable. This may be your last chance to get cash before you arrive in the resort and the rates up the mountain generally won't be better and may be worse than here.
If you're skiing in Switzerland and, like me, are old-fashioned and want to send a Post Card, you can also buy the requisite CHF 1.40 stamps here.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Be carefull if going to Euroland. The Swiss machines usually only give you CHfs. Need a Swiss card to get Euro's.
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Poster: A snowHead
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We always hire on the French side and there is no bus xfer involved. You just get the elevator down to the car park under the rental desk.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Quote: |
If you're skiing in Switzerland and, like me, are old-fashioned and want to send a Post Card, you can also buy the requisite CHF 1.40 stamps here.
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That is 1 pound for the stamp alone
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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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but it costs 97p to post a simple, light, letter from the UK to France - so no different, really.
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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 are these 10p stamps in my wallet not a lot of use then?
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