 Poster: A snowHead
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OK, I've tried searching, and seen all kinds of contradicting info.
Can anyone with recent experience of Geneva car hire give me some idea of a) Reputable company to hire from that won't charge 15 different added fees when we get there b) Includes winter tyres and snow chains in the pricing c) who is cheap for a "normal" car (i.e. Focus size or bigger) d) Don't take the proverbial with imaginary damage etc.
I've seen some stuff about the hiring from Switzerland etc threads, not worried about that but are the rental desks and dropoff a pain in the backside from the Swiss side? We are flying in on BA to the normal arrivals hall, and nobody is going to want a 20 minute walk to find a desk etc.
TIA.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Walk to the desk from arrivals hall is 2 minutes (if you walk slowly). From there to the car park is a short shuttle bus ride or a 5 minute walk.
Cant help with a recommendation - they all seem much of a muchness to me.
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@Digger the dinosaur, Recent experience is that Alamo/National/Enterprise (all one company) have the longest queues. Avis, Hertz, Sixt, Europcar & Alamo all have desks in the same area and their cars are all in the same car park.
All have winter tyres, snow chains are an extra, no problems for me with them finding damage. Go through one of the booking engines to find the cheapest and then see if it's the same price to book direct. Over the past few months, I've found, Holiday Autos, Ryanair & booking direct has been cheapest.
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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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Not specifically rented from the airport, but had 20+ rentals with Hertz in Switzerland and never had a problem. This included plenty of times when I'd drop a key in a 24 hour box, and I never had any issues with damage. Worth signing up to the loyalty programme even if you only do one rental. Probably not the cheapest up front, but factor in additional costs and shouldn't be much difference.
Also, don't take out the excess cover - get this separately as it's a lot cheaper. I'm currently with Questor, who cover Switzerland.
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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 used rentalcars.com. It tells you who the provider is and if winterisation fee is included. I buy separate insurance for the excess from icarhireinsurance.com for Europe.
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Thanks all, got a shortlist going, finding a comparison of cost (with/without chains/excess/late collection?) is a joyous activity, but I'm getting through it.
Is Flizzr (currently cheap even with £35 chains cost) any good?
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I do not use intermediaries. Yes, they often get a better-than-usual deal, but a lot of the complaints across the various forums arise predominantly from booking indirectly i.e. 'I booked through greatcarhire.com but when I got to the {x} desk found that {problem}. There are a fixed set of companies at GVA and one way or another, you're hiring only through them.
What I do is to land on the .ch pages of the various companies via the GVA website (as opposed to the UK .com or .co.uk pages) at http://www.gva.ch/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-72/
You sometimes (but by no means always) find there are offers on here that you don't see via the corporate or UK website. These seem to be mainly at the low-end, 4x4s and vans. So if it's a largish family or group and you want a van, then it's definitely worth tryng this route first.
Sometimes this seems to work well, other times, it doesn't seem that there's much difference between the rates on offer. Last trip we hired at just under £30/day all-in from Hertz, including winter tyres and chains and vignette and full cover via hertz.ch But they are by no means always the cheapest.
If you're a member of a professional body (such as the Institute of Directors) or similar, or your employer uses an agency, that may be worth looking at. I sometimes get a 20% discount via my IoD membership. When I worked for a big US Corporate, our travel agency was happy to organise private car hire at good rates and the right (personal) insurance cover. It also costs nothing to join Hertz Gold Club and sometimes this gets you a special offer rate. You can also by-pass the 'ordinary' customers and go straight to the Gold Desk.
I'm not saying you shouldn't do some costings via intermediaries, but also try out a couple of .ch at least. I usually take a look at hertz.ch and budget.ch and as I said, joined Hertz Gold Club since it free and sometimes offers a good rate through the members portal.
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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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Never had any problems with the broker Autoeurope - used them about 10 times:
- Decent prices.
- Free cancellation or changes up to 48hrs before rental.
- Prices include snow tyres and snow chains.
- Quidco cashback too.
The car supplier can vary with each booking but, as I've said, we've had no problems.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Tend to use Avis these days as get the BA Agios points and extra driver for free. We also have excess cover. Had our first ever problem with them in Jan, after +12 years of hiring from GVA. Husband returned the car, agent delayed coming over for sometime, then went straight to the front tyre dug a pen in and claimed the tyre was damaged. Husband disputed, was told to go to the desk. Disputed the damage, was told don't worry no charge will go on the card. 3 weeks later get a letter from an outfit in Geneva claiming nearly 800 euros for a damaged tyre. Avis refusing to discuss it as they say have handed it over and no longer their problem. 
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