Hire car in Munich or Salzburg?

A snowHead

Hey Forum goers

We are planning a trip to Kitzbuhel and have the option of flying to Munich or Salzburg. Obviously Salzburg is closer but the hire car prices are much more than in Munich, we're talking 430ish vs 250ish. We're happy to do the extra hour or so driving to save the dosh but are worried about cross border fees and vignettes etc. So can anyone tell me what extras we will be charged for Munich compared to Salzburg and whether the vignettes are covered in the latter?

Thanks in advance.

A snowHead

@klang180, vignettes are covered in salzburg prices. But only about €10 to buy. Cross border charge about €30 usually from Munich.

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If you fly to Munich you buy the vignette at a motorway service station before you cross into Austria. €10 for 10 days. it is an easy drive from the airport in Munich on the motorway South via round Salzberg to Kitzbuhel. There is about 1.5 hours each way extra so you can decide if the € 180.00 is worth the extra time. You are not on autobahns in Austria and the speed limits are enforced ( as I found out to my cost)

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@klang180, which companies? Watch out for Sixt who have started not including CDW so it looks cheap but not by the time you include it

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Rental cars from Salzburg will automatically have winter tyres. Cars from Munich don’t always. Also, Salzburg is a much easier and quicker airport to transfer through and the nearest service station for filling up before drop off is much closer than at Munich.

After all it is free

@Austrian Seagull, to be fair the Munich petrol station is pretty close...maybe 1km on the outskirts of the airport.

Personally I would suck it up and use Salzburg. ... but that said that is very expensive. Are you looking direct or with e.g. autoeurope? Is it half term?

What's the difference in flight costs and timing convenience

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Have you checked how much it is to hire the car at the same time as you book your flights, ie via the airline ? I find this is often the cheapest way. Also, if you’re a BA executive club member, 2nd driver is free....

Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from Munich south to Kitz can be carnage.

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You know it makes sense.

Re winter tyres. Kitzbuhel is 900m. It's not as if you will be struggling up a mountain pass. The roads would rarely need winter tyres.

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Re winter tyres. Kitzbuhel is 900m. It's not as if you will be struggling up a mountain pass. The roads would rarely need winter tyres.

A snowHead

Winter tyres are a legal requirement in Austria in the winter months unlike France. All rentals will come with them from Munich or Salzburg. I have noticed the huge increase in price for rentals from Salzburg this winter. I have been renting for the same week for several years now and the cost seems to have increased by around 50% this year. Don't know why? Puzzled

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@Klamm Franzer, for my recent hire out of SZG, I was treated to a brand new Mercedes CLA estate.....suspect they have renewed the fleets this season, and are making us pay for them

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You are comparing the car hire costs of Munich v Salzburg but surely the flight cost difference is far greater, no?

I fly to Munich to travel to Maria Alm every year and always fly to Munich as the flight is prohibitively expensive, even out of HT time like this year, to fly to Salzburg. I think it was £400-500 vs £125 when I booked. No contest really

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Sounds strange that you can get summer tires in Munich

https://www.german-way.com/travel-and-tourism/driving-in-europe/driving/snow-tires-winter-driving/

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All Munich car hires will have winter tires, its the local law there too.

As far as I recall you can pick a route to Kitz that doesn't require Autobahn routes on the Austrian side of the border, so you can save on the vignette. If you decide you do want to run on autobahn's, you can purchase the vignettes in service stations German side of the border, you'll start seeing signage for them as you get close to the border.

If you do choose Munich have a look at the Buchbinder options on autoeurope - they have a 2nd driver at no extra cost.

The couple of times I went via Salzburg rather that Munich the car hire was so prohibitive I used coach transfers instead. If you don't plan to use the car once in Kitz then this may be another option to cost.

After all it is free

@Woosh, You cant it is (effectively) a legal requirement in Germany. Any cars hired at Munich airport during the winter half of the year will have winter tyres.

Personally I would pay the €10 vignette as there are some local issues with folk driving on the side roads to avoid the autobahns. You could come off at Kufstein Süd as you dont need a vignette for the first section past Kufstein but I would say better not to, go to Wörgl Ost.

Note and keep to the speed limits in Austria including on the autobahns (it is only 100km/h on the Inntal autobahn) and in any built up areas (50 km/h often not explicitly signed) unless you want grief and a fine.

As far as car hire goes, long and dull discussions if you search for them. Some of the cheaper companies seem to want to charge tourists extra money for travelling to Austria the bigger companies generally dont. Sixt's basic offer now does not include any CDW makes sure you take the cheapest one - €950 excess (assuming you have excess insurance) but they do not charge extra for going to Austria (as far as I know Hertz and Europcar dont either).

Do note that Saturdays southbound and Sunday evenings northbound from now until early March means heavy (often very heavy) traffic on the A99, A8 and A93. Make sure you leave plenty of time to get to the airport.

Isnt the autobahn in Austria free again until Kufstein South, same as it was until about 2015? If so no Vignette required

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@jafa, that's right. Which leads to jams caused by the hordes trying to exit the Autobahn at Kufstein Süd.

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Or hordes coming off at the service stations to buy vignettes. When I drive out in the summer, I usually come off at Keifersfelden, unless I feel as though Ill be using the autobahn while im there (usually not) To get to Kitz using a vignette isn't worth it, as the time coming off and driving the short extra distance to Worgl isn't really sufficient in a one off trip. As Samerberg Sue once said , take the back road from Kufstein on the west of the Inn and come through Langkampfen and Kirchbichl

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@jafa, I think the police are stopping people using the back roads unless they can prove they are staying somewhere on that route. The reason the Kufstein Süd thing was reinstated was because the locals on both sides of the border were completely fed up with the hordes passing through their villages every weekend. The situation was actually quite bad for them.

@Steilhang, That certainly was the case in the summer. Haven't heard about it for winter

You know it makes sense.

Thanks to everyone. I certainly got much more helpful advice than i ever imagined with my simple and somewhat ill-defined question, so thanks.

To fill in some of the gaps, the flights are the same price as we are using reward miles kindly given to us. As a result we can actually use Salzburg or Munich and it would be the same cost, the times are also fairly similar as well. I am however concerned about all the traffic you mention, particularly as we are looking at a Saturday. We could potentially take a different day but it just feels right o start Saturday and often allows more accommodation options, in our experience anyway.

As for winter tyres, it does seem to be the case that if you book a Munich based rental they do come with a "winter package" which would imply that they are ready to go for the mountains and thus takes this element out of the equation.

So bottom line is whether the extra distance and hassle of Munich vs Salzburg is worth the extra money. I suppose the only other consideration is that the person providing the miles can also get us Lounge access and whether Munich is massively superior but to be honest we're not all that bothered and would rather proceed through the airport quicker, which i assume would be the case at Salzburg rather than Munich right?

Thanks again to everyone, brilliant help.

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Another thought is that the cheaper companies at Salzburg are ones such as Interrent whereas in Munich the more established brands are hardly anymore. So it could be more of a risk to take a cheaper company and end up paying more in the longer run, although we would definitely be getting our own excess insurance don't worry.

A snowHead

Oh and in the interest of complete information it should be stated we're probably staying in Mittersill rather than Kitz itself as the latter is just too pricey and we prefer the look of Thurn Pass upload anyway.(chair rather than Gondy for a person who would rather avoid where possible, aside from the S3 that is).

A snowHead

Oh and i just realised we can get flights to Innsbruck too which seems to be in the middle hire car wise between Munich and Salzburg but does it really offer any advantages as far as any of you are concerned?

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@klang180, the so called lounge at Salzburg is a side room with a few bits. The airport is tiny

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Hello everyone

I know you are probably all bored of this by now but just a little extra info on the flight times in case that makes a difference??

Salzburg would be arriving 16:30 and departing on return at 13:25 or 15:30
Munich would be arriving 13:45, 15.05 or 16.55 and return 10:40, 14:40 or 17:45

Given these arrival times on our outbound would you go for Munich given it is a fair bit cheaper, winter tyres are included and we can arrive at the times above?

Realise it looks like I am trying to get you to make my decisions for me but you are very knowledgeable so worth knowing.

Thanks

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How confident a driver are you and how good a google maps reader is the non-driver. I travel to Maria Alm by going cross country which avoids any motorway blues but does take 2.5-3 hours. I spent 7 hours getting there via motorway one year, just through sheer weight of traffic. Not that Maria Alm is anywhere close to Kitz but I'm sure someone here could give you a non motorway route.

Either arrival time will make it difficult to organise ski hire and lift passes on the day as I think most shops close at 6:30 although clearly not a deal breaker as you have 2 weeks
Return from Munich, I would go 14:40 as you could have a nice lunch prior to flying. I find the airport very quiet on returns, even during HT. Arrival is another matter altogether however

Just an added fyi, supermarkets will probably be closed on Sunday (they are in Maria Alm and surrounding areas anyway) so you will need to do any shopping on your journey to the resort

After all it is free

@klang180, it is six of one and half a dozen of the other. The drive from Munich is straightforward but on busy weekends (not related to UK half term) there can be quite long queues of traffic though given you would be arriving in the afternoon that is probably not so much of an issue. Salzburg is a bit closer but the route is almost all on single carriageway roads through various small towns etc. Driving times are probably about the same (assuming no traffic or weather issues). I would probably tend towards Munich as there is a greater choice of flights and less of a risk of flight problems (though that is fairly small) but it really doesnt matter very much at all. If the cost of a hire car is an issue for your holiday and Munich is cheaper that's your answer.

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Hire car in Munich or Salzburg?

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