 Poster: A snowHead
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This is a topic that no doubt has come up time and time again but with the new rules having come in regarding EU citizens not being able to take Swiss registered cars out of the country it leaves us with hiring from the French side. We've done this before and had no problems but this time (Xmas coming up) we have a slightly different agenda. Booked an apartment in Thollon Les Memises and are planning to go touring so we were hoping for the more winterised cars that the Swiss hand out!
So, any tips? We don't hire cars very often tending to do self drive and get massively confused re the addition of extra insurance etc too. Last time we hired a car in Geneva they'd run out of snow chains, had to buy them at a service station and then broke one due to inexperience putting them on.
Thank you 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=126088
Should sort it for you.
From Snowdave I the above link. Another datapoint - collected my Avis car a Gva Swiss side on Friday night. Had a chat with the guy about the new "rules". He said that all of the car hire companies at Gva had now concluded that they were nonsense, there had been no problems and there would be none. He implied that there might have been an unofficial conversation with the border guards "they will telephone us if there is a problem, we all just carry on as before".
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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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Haha, yes I'd already read that, descended into a meat based chat after a couple of messages lol. My in-laws ended up having to be assigned a German registered vehicle when they hired from the Swiss side last month though.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Given my recent experience and conversations, I've continued to book all my cars at the Swiss side, for transport into France. That's at least half a dozen rentals next winter.
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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 off to Geneva in October & hiring through the French side. I'll ask for their comments. Seems we are stuffed either way:
1. Hire on Swiss side and 'forget' to tell the rental company. Are we still covered by the rental company insurance and my personal car hire excess insurance if we have a crash? When I have asked the rental companies they have used weasel words - "the car can be driven in France." I know that - the questions are can I drive the car in France, what are the implications of doing so and what happens if there is a problem?
2. Hire on the French side, who I doubt would be able to cope with the numbers and do not fit winter tyres as standard.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@halfhand, thanks, that's reassuring. I booked a Swiss car for a June trip - snow tyres not an issue but it was far cheaper than the French side for the same period.
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I rented two cars this year - one on the French side and one on the Swiss during the summer. The Swiss side was cheeper during the summer, the French during the winter. The French side was amazing since we only had carry on bags and booked seats at the front of the plane we were off, through immigration and at the car hire desk very quickly, there was no queue. The service was quick (I have just returned from Venice so know what s l o w service is like) and the car downstairs and waiting. It was probably less that 30 minutes since touch down. We arrived at Les Arcs over an hour early. The Swiss side was slower needing a shuttle bus to pick the car up, but no hassle, no problems at the border etc. Now all we are waiting for is the speeding fine to come through from the camera in France. I think the days when you could rent a car in Switzerland and chearfully ignore all speed limits in France have long gone.
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We're hiring from the Swiss side and driving in to France for the lads trip in January. Hire company levying a charge of 45 euro for winter tyres, which are fitted to their cars as standard in winter 
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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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@halfhand, yes, that's a hoary old one. I whiled away a spare hour waiting in Geneva for a late plane, a couple of years ago, going round asking the hire desks about this. It seems that on some of the local "price list" there is a winterisation fee, compulsory in winter, but that for overseas hirers it's generally bundled in the price given to them.
Was about as clear as mud.
Reports here on snowheads from people trying to get arsey and say "OK, I'll take a car without winter tyres" suggest that's not a good route to go down if you actually want to go anywhere.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@halfhand, which hire company, and direct or agent? I've not found any doing the winter tyres charge on a direct booking, but plenty of the agents negotiate rates ex winter tyres/steering wheels/seats/whatever else they can leg you over for.
@johnE, the swiss side pickup place is only 5 mins walk. I view it as a personal challenge, even when travelling with the kids, to beat the shuttle bus over there! I think the walk from baggage claim to car rental parking is the same distance on French or Swiss side, by the time you've faffed with the various escalators, corridors, lifts etc.
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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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@AllyK, Re Insurance. Before you go Google 'Car Hire Excess Insurance' and buy separately. Then make sure you don't tick any of the boxes on the car hire! Saves a fortune. I pay £50 for 1 yr, worldwide.
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@Matt1959, does that cover include USA? I've paid £50 for Europe-only, and covering the USA for that price would be good.
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You know it makes sense.
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| Quote: |
I think the walk from baggage claim to car rental parking is the same distance on French or Swiss side, by the time you've faffed with the various escalators, corridors, lifts etc.
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To the desks maybe but not to the parking
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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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| rob@rar wrote: |
| @Matt1959, does that cover include USA? I've paid £50 for Europe-only, and covering the USA for that price would be good. |
Yes - worldwide! Insurance4carhire
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Poster: A snowHead
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@Matt1959, I've also used insurance4carhire but be careful about ticking no boxes because it only covers the excess, it doesn't provide CDW, so you do need to make sure you've paid for that. Last year one of the online agents was renting cars without CDW then trying to sell an overpriced policy of their own.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@snowdave, One of my guys found a company called Zest. Cheapest baseline cost but things are starting to ramp up including 45 euro winter tyres charge.
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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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@snowdave, a useful warning about the CDW - thanks.
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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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@halfhand, zest is an agent rather than a rental company which explains the extra charge.
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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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Anybody have an update on this situation? After a flurry of articles on the subject back in May/June, everything seems to have gone quiet on this topic. The general consensus seemed to be that it would all sort itself out in the end, but want to be sure before booking anything.
I have to decide ASAP between flights to Geneva or Grenoble for 3V in March.
Geneva flights currently £200 cheaper for a family of 4, and nice to have the reassurance of proper 'winterised' car - but don't want to end up having any problems or stress when I get there.
We've flown to Geneva and rented a car on the Swiss side for the drive to French alps lots of times, and it honestly never even occurred to me that this could be a problem.
I've only just stumbled upon the various threads (And press articles) about the chaos in May, and it's thrown me a bit.
Always booked through holiday autos, or some similar broker/agency - which obviously adds its own complication, compared to being able to speak direct to Avis/Herts/Budget etc. at the time of booking.
Always managed in the past to get the equivalent DIY flights, hire car and direct apartment/hotel booking for much less than any tour operator is offering the same accommodation as a package. But obviously the car hire is an integral part of that approach, and Geneva is (Or at least was) the most flexible (And usually cheapest) airport to fly independently to.
I don't fancy the stress of trying to navigate to the French side of the airport (And then back across to the Swiss side) with a family of four + luggage, when worried about an early flight time to check in for.
Just wondering if anybody had heard anything more specific since May/June, or had booked a car on Swiss side for this coming winter yet? I have googled the hell out of it, but no articles more recent come up.
I've read of some people booking direct with car hire companies, and them being able to allocate an EU registered car.
Has anybody asked similar questions of someone like holiday autos recently?
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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: |
I don't fancy the stress of trying to navigate to the French side of the airport (And then back across to the Swiss side) with a family of four + luggage, when worried about an early flight time to check in for.
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This is actually quite easy. It is not a problem.
There also appears to be no problem taking Swiss registerd cars to France.
When I last looked Swiss hire was coming out a bit cheeper than on the French side.
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@selly_skier, As i posted up-thread - I rented in July and it was fine, I have lots of rentals for this winter from the Swiss side (first one is in a couple of weeks) and I'm not remotely worried.
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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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I've not rented before at GVA however (and sorry for being dumb) how do you know when using online booking/searches for car hire if you are booking a French or Swiss side rental?
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@scoman, when you pick GVA airport you normally get both choices given to you - so you pick the one you want
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Interesting. The last news on this new regulation date back to June and nothing since then. Looks like it only concerns EU citizens not registered in Switzerland. I am certain that we rented a car this summer to go to France for a wedding when one of our cars broke and were not even asked where we wanted to drive it. Neither were we stopped at the French border because of our plates. Though rental cars in Switzerland use common car plates, so probably not that easy to spot.
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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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@never summer, Swiss rental cars are typically registered in canton Appenzell Innerrhoden (AI) because of tax advantages, so you can get a good steer of whether the car is rented or not (AI has one of the smallest populations at around 15,000).
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@under a new name, sometimes they are registered in canton Vaud too, though less common. Anyway, when we rented this July no-one mentioned anything so I guess the regulation only applies to visitors from EU, otherwise it would have been more publicized here.
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You know it makes sense.
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Just back from GVA. I rented from the French side & IMHO they do not have the desk / car parking / return capacity for the winter rush. A friend rented on the Swiss side and there were no questions about whether they intended to go to an EU country.
I have a booking with Hertz Swiss side in December, put 'going to France' in the comments and they have assured me that there are no problems. But then they would, wouldn't they.....
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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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Thank you Pam, easy when you know how!
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Poster: A snowHead
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@never summer, as far as I can determine, when the revised EU Customs Unions rules came out some idiot noticed the rules on car imports (which had not changed) and decided to apply them on a literal rather than functional basis so all the other companies did the same until a Nissan like reassurance was uttered.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Came up when I picked up a car today - essentially the car hire companies don't care but it's an EU law.
However, if you do get stopped and tell are driving to you own property in France, for example, you are OK.
Apparently no reported situations of anybody having been stopped/fined etc so far though
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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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@alti - dude, it's in the EU customs agreement. Not new, nothing's actually changed.
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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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I tried to book a car yesterday through Swiss airline's link, they took me to the hire company Sixt, where it said clearly that the car is not to be used for cross border travel for EU citizens. Presumably crossing a border would render the whole agreement, including insurance, invalid.
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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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IIRC the regulation applies to:-
1. An EU citizen
2. bringing into the EU
3. a car that is not registered in the EU
4. and that does not belong to him/her.
In such a case, the car may be deemed to be imported, and becomes liable to import duty. It seems that, in such circumstances, if the car is declared as a temporary import at the point of entry, the duty may be waived. If it is not declared, there is a risk that it may be taxed on exit, as the (temporary) import may be regarded as an evasion.
In practice, it is absurd to treat a hire car as being imported, as its owners will obviously want it back. Generally this has been recognised by customs officers. I asked the specific question when I hired on the Swiss side at GVA in May, and the answer from the Hertz staff was that I could take it into France or Italy if I wished: as far as they were concerned, the only difference it would make was that I would not be eligible for free roadside recovery. In 2009 I hired a Swiss car in Verbier for the sole purpose of taking it into Italy, while mine was being repaired.
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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've booked a few rentals at GVA with Dollar (via Holiday Autos). I emailed them regarding taking the car in to France and this was their reply:
| Quote: |
| There is no problem with you driving this car in France. You will need to inform the person at the rental desk at the time of collection that you intend to drive this car in France. This is to make sure you will be insured when crossing the boarder. There may be a cross boarder charge applied for this, please check with the person at the desk how much this will be. |
The T&Cs from Holiday Autos or Dollar do not make any reference to driving to France from Switzerland.
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Anyone got a Holiday Autos discount code? The old one used to work great but seems no more.
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@Dave of the Marmottes, sadly not. When Expedia (?) bought Holiday Autos the old Virgin One Account code stopped working. I book Holiday Autos through Topcashback and typically get a 6% or so cashback, which I convert to Avois.
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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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@planeurge, exactly.
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@rob@rar, that'll be the same holiday autos who told me last year that if I didn't take their overpriced CDW (rather than using my own) I wouldn't have third party insurance for the car I was renting as this was only provided if you took their CDW. I think they make any rules up as they go along.
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FAQ
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