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Car hire from Geneva

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
What's the difference when hiring a car from Geneva airport to go to Chamonix. I am getting 2 choices 1x geneva fra & 1x geneva swiss to choose from & both have different prices. Surely a car hire from geneva airport is a car hire from geneva airport? Or am I missing sum ut??
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Yep there are lots of threads about car hire Geneva airport and the pros and cons of each side surggest you look them up in forum search as they are almost too many to mention here
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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?
Basically one is priced in Swiss Francs as you hire from the Swiss side (the main side) and the other is in euros as you leave from the French side of the airport. Given the exchange rate chf/Euro the french rates tend to be lower at the moment. Hiring from the french side involves a rather more complicated and convoluted entry and exit from the airport which I have never done. The swiss side is dead straightforward.
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@depthjunkie, That's because there's a Geneva airport in France and a Geneva airport in Switzerland. They happen to share the same buildings and runways but technically the border runs through it. All due to some shenanigans after the last European dust up.

Beyond the logistics, Swiss cars will have snow tyres and motorway vignettes. Vignettes not essential for getting to Chamonix. (Edit: But essential for achieving the 1hr transfer time - if you have to avoid the motorway count at least 30 minutes extra driving plus dicking around on return as well).


Last edited by You need to Login to know who's really who. on Wed 2-12-15 8:09; edited 1 time in total
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
When I included the cost of snow tyre and chains (included as standard from the Swiss side) the cost netted out. I booked through an aggregator, but the car is ultimately being fulfilled by Avis.

Rich
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You'll need to Register first of course.
So basically I am better booking from the Swiss side. I assume it makes do difference to being able to drive in France insurance wise if I get the car from the Swiss side?
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
@depthjunkie, Full disclosure - this will be the first time in 25+ years that I've hired a car, I normally rely on transfers. I made my decision purely based on economics and perceived convenience. I guess time will tell... I'm but sure that there are others on here with more experience.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
depthjunkie wrote:
So basically I am better booking from the Swiss side. I assume it makes do difference to being able to drive in France insurance wise if I get the car from the Swiss side?
No, there shouldn't be any implications for driving in France (or Italy) when hiring forms he Swiss side of GVA.

I've always hired on the Swiss side. Once I took in to account the cost of adding winter equipment (so I get winter tyres) the French side was rarely that much cheaper, and with the added inconvenience of avoiding the motorway to get to the French side of the airport (especially on the way back to the airport) I've always felt that the Swiss side is the better option.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
The only advantage of the French side is that the cars are right under the terminal - not down the road (walk or short bus ride) as they are on the Swiss side. Though the last twice I rented cars on the French side (in summer) there were a lot of road works making for some convoluted twists and turns on the way out. But at least you're in the car by then.

Other things being equal, go Swiss in winter.
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Yeah...go Swiss...turn right out of the car hire car park, then go straight on for about a mile through the traffic lights to a big T junction with a huge sign pointing to FRANCE. Turn left at the junction then filter and turn right onto the motorway, also signposted France. Pretty much straightforward to get to Chamonix thereafter. Madeye-Smiley
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Thanks all, re-booked from the Swiss side
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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.
Though I have hired from the Swiss side I now always hire from the French side since the Swiss side is about 40% more expensive (£78 versus £108 for my next weekend hire). It is really easy to get to the French car hire - no need for a shuttle bus and if you have no checked baggage really fast to get airside.
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
@johnE, but did you want snow tyres and a vignette?

Your saving almost all evaporates if you make the mistake of arriving at the Bardonnex douane sans vignette, running a little late...
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
@under a new name, having been made pay a complulsory CHF10 per day for 'winterisation' last weekend on the Swiss side as I had booked via Auto Europe, don't be so sure that they always include snow tyres !!
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
@alti - dude, they may charge for them but I'd be astonished if you got a car without them by not paying...
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Quote:

I'd be astonished if you got a car without them by not paying...


you woudn't. You'd pay or go without the car. I;ve posted about this elsewhere - after a couple of complaints of this kind I whiled away an hour at Gva buy asking. Very confusing - lots of different answers. Really, given the vast cost of a ski holiday, the differences aren't that great.

I'd not rent a car without winter tyres in the ski season, though I tend to rent French in summer.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@pam w, if a cost is compulsory, it's part of the price surely?

I'm reasonably sure that the car rental brokers run very close to the letter of the law regarding price advertising. I'm fairly sure car hire as an industry is broken anyway.
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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?
Quote:

if a cost is compulsory, it's part of the price surely?

well, that was what several SHs have argued, to no avail.

What I gathered in my informal survey is that there is a standard "winterisation" charge for local hire (it was listed separately on some of the leaflets) but that when there are rentals from abroad it's often bundled in. Because car hire, through consolidators, is not a product with a set "price" I suppose it's difficult to argue with loads of unread small print to complicate matters.

I've met people who got the wrong size chains and only found out during my informal "how to fit snow chains" tutorial, the night before a forecast big fall - which arrived. That was Europcar, Swiss side. And my BiL failed to get any chains at all (French side) then ignored my suggestion to buy some in a supermarket.

They missed their flight back..... rolling eyes

My most annoying car hire experience was renting in Glasgow. All paid in advance, had my full driving licence and the relevant credit card with me, but I hadn't read the bit of the small print which said I had to take my passport. No car. The chap on the adjacent Europcar desk, hearing the whole thing, rented me one, no problem. Except having to pay twice.

Or, equally annoying, a puncture on a mountain road at dusk in an Audi with no sodding spare wheel. That would have been a major drama if that had been a lone family, instead of part of a group with several cars to come to the rescue.

Hate hiring cars. I like to have my own, with everything I might need safely stashed.
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I think there is an interesting legal debate as to whether something that is legally required must be in the headline price. If you look really really really carefully you can find the 'compulsory extra' in the T&Cs.

Whilst they may be the right side of the legal line, I'm pretty clear they were the wrong side of the moral line.

Reason for pointing out is that I've always had in my simple mind that the price the Swiss side includes snow tyres and Vignette and the French side doesnt. The fact that the goalposts had been moved by one broker at least wasn't clear. It was however a good price and still was a good price with the extra but not the point really . . . . .
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
I am currently looking at hire prices for 8 days in Jan, Geneva airport to Ste Foy. I am getting a whole host of confusing quotes, particularly costs involved for winterisation and then snow chains on top of that! What's the collective SH opinion on transfer for 2 people, coach is working out slightly cheaper and more convenient than train but initial quotes suggest a small car may be roughly in the same ball park?

Or does anyone have any recent knowledge of hiring at the airport and offloading at Bourg St Maurice, then doing the same 8 days later?

Sorry if this has been covered before! Thank you.
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Personally I'd always prefer to rent a car if the price is much the same.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Especially with the good possibility, then, of being able to nip easily up to Tignes if it's still warm and not very snowy..... wink
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
We will already have one car in resort, another will actually be surplus to requirements, its just for the transfer it would be handy.

Anyone recommend a particular car hire company?
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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.
It is sometimes - not always - cheaper to rent via the '.ch' version of a car hire site rather than the '.com' or '.uk' and sometimes they have some extra 4x4s and vans available on .ch that don't appear on .com

I usually initially go to the Geneva Airport website that lists the hire companies and they are often .ch versions.

www.gva.ch/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-72/
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Also the GVA app can be quicker at getting departure gate updates to you, as opposed to the airline app. although I'd recommend using both.
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
A door to door private taxi is great, if you already have transport in resort for the whole party. But I'd rather hire a car than rely on coach/bus.
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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.
Just a little plug for Europcar..... I got stuck in a traffic jam on Friday around Lake Geneva and arrived at GVA with <1 hour until my flight left (last flight of the evening). I just missed the shuttle bus, and the Europcar chap with the clipboard grabbed my ski bag and ran with me from the car park to the terminal, ensuring I got my flight! I would have missed it otherwise. Compare to Avis who booked me a 4x4, then couldn't fulfil it, failed to tell me they couldn't fill the order, and generally didn't care at all.
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Quote:

the Europcar chap with the clipboard grabbed my ski bag and ran with me from the car park to the terminal

wow! I've found Europcar generally good too, though never tested their customer service quite to that extent....
ski holidays
 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
I know! Amazing! Without it, the 9 minute wait to the next shuttle would have meant I missed my flight. I've filled out a feedback form via their website but I'll write as well. Truly beyond what was expected!
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Wow thank you for the Eurocar recommendation! @dreamer75, Customer service is always important!

@msej449, Thank you, will look at that!

@pam w, Always a dilemma trying to balance convenience/reliability against cost.

Great information folks, thank you all.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
If you wish an additional driver I have found the Swiss side companies charge quite a bit more than the ones on the French side.

My last car hire, in Pisa, was a pantomime, with the clerk pushing hard for me to buy unnecessary insurance and the company 'Gold Car' charging me sixty pounds to put fuel in the car, on top of the price of the petrol. (Ok, it's not a ski resort, but they may sell elsewhere).
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Its the whole 'winterisation' costs which seem to be completely over the top. Basic car hire is reasonable but add on winter tyres & chains and ...... rolling eyes Decisions, decisions! Laughing
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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?
My friends confuse winter tyres with snow tyres. I fit winter tyres every year because they have a softer tread which grips better on hard pack snow, but when people ask to see them they look for metal studs because they have seen them in rally car programmes. I can't understand why car hire companies anywhere near skiing areas don't fit winter tyres from November to April, maybe some do, but charge anyway.

Further to my post about additional drivers. I booked a car on the French side with the intention of adding a friend on when I got to the booking desk. I received a text telling my that my hire company wished me to pick up from the Swiss side. When I arrived there the staff told me that they charge £15 per day although it was £4 on the French side. I think if I had paid for the additional driver when booking they probably would not have swapped me over.
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