 Poster: A snowHead
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Sorry - know this has been asked before but I'm rubbish at doing searches... cant find it.
Who is likely to do a good deal for 4 days car hire from Geneva?
Also - what are the implications of French/Swiss sectors? If we are travelling in to France do we hire from the French sector.
Thanks
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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for most destinations (inc those in france) it's much easier to drive from the swiss side and also much easier to find airport on way back!!!!!
car hire is usually more exp from swiss side but in winter car is equipped with chains and snow tires
hire on the french side and you'll have to pay extra for winter equipment also will need to purchase a vignette to drive on swiss motorways if you want an easy journey to the main resorts 3Vs, Tignes, La Plagne etc and also the Mont Blanc area resorts such as Chamonix
holiday autos seem to give good value, i usually check prices for fra and swiss side then decide if the saving is worth the extra hassle involved in an fra hire, generally not for short breaks!
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brian
brian
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jayne durham, only about 12 million times !!
Try this link and www.carbookers.com and www.sixti.com
Easiest is to use the Swiss side (for travel to either France or Switzerland) but the French side can sometimes be significantly cheaper but bear in mind that for French side hires:
- navigation is harder in and out of the French side (but far from impossible).
- you have to pay the Swiss motorway toll (about £18 ) or stay off the motorway
- snow chains are likely to be a paid for extra
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I've never bothered with the French side as the route into and out of the airport seems far too convoluted, although the main reason I always use the Swiss side is that the rental cars always come equipped with winter tyres, significantly reducing the number of times I need to fit chains.
I normally check a range of car hire prices but invariable use Holiday Autos (using the Virgin One Account discount code), eBookers, or Travel Supermarket as one or other of these will offer the cheapest price. Other people have reported good prices with SixT and Hertz recently had a good deal on week-long hire of Merc B-Class cars but sadly that has now ended.
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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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Brian beat me to it with the Virgin link (which I think was his original suggestion anyway - cheers Mate!). One thing to add, if you do book from the Swiss side don't pay the supplement for winter equipment as this will come as standard (only once have chains not been included when I've done this, and I have a spare paair in the apartment for occasional use).
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| rob@rar wrote: |
| One thing to add, if you do book from the Swiss side don't pay the supplement for winter equipment as this will come as standard |
Hope I'm not hijacking this thread by asking if this is definitely the case? I have car hire booked through holidayautos on the Swiss side at Geneva and they told me that snow chains would be an extra payable locally.
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snowshine, our last Holiday Autos booking included snow tyres and chains.
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Helen Beaumont, thanks, that's a weight off my mind then!
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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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snowshine mine as well
i think that winter tyres are required by law in Switzerland so they have to fit them!
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brian
brian
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snowshine, Holiday Autos are just a broker, the car will actually be from Europcar, Hertz, Budget or whoever.
Swiss hire cars have to have winter tyres and snow chains supplied, but the rental company can itemise a separate charge for them if they like. I've only had to pay extra once and I think it was Budget, they called it a "winterisation" fee.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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jayne durham, Usual thing I say - sorry for repetition - If you have lots of tesco clubcard vouchers going spare - you can get a deal through Avis which is really cheap - ie £1 of vochers = £4 of hire. Unfortunately only in Europe.
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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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snowshine, if booked at Geneva, it is almost always Alamo/National, dependent on your car type, and they include winter tyres and chains.
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Thanks everyone. Stoatsbrother - I never thought of Tesco for car hire... Have just used some tokens for eurotunnel following Helen's extolling their virtues!
Sadly the small print says car hire with Avis has to be minimum of 7 days and we only want 4 days this trip.
I never thought about the fact that hiring in France means you dont have a vignette - good job I stopped hubby booking in haste last night. Not sure which route he usually takes.
Dont think I will need winter gear in September! but useful info for later this year.
Will try the names and websites mentioned
Sorry Brian - I did start by saying I knew it had come up millions of times I just couldnt find it!!!! 
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You know it makes sense.
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Er - Rob - what is the discount code your link included? Knocks about £15-20 off the price! Will it let me book on this link or is it your own code??
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brian
brian
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jayne durham, It's a 15% discount link for users of the Virgin One Account. I've booked on it several times, no problem and I don't have an account.
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Poster: A snowHead
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jayne durham, just out of interest I used the link to compare prices at French side and swiss side for October. Swiss side was actually cheaper, but that may not be the case during the ski season.
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brian
brian
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Helen Beaumont, Swiss side was cheaper for us this summer as well. It's always worth checking both I find.
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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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We travelled to the Chamonix end of season bash (Which was was fantastic - http://www.chamonet.com/snow_report.php?id_snow_report=1912) from Geneva French side in April following hints on here about heading to the rail station. First of all you have to get to the French side of the airport. Okay if you have basic French and know where to find the premier etage. Wasn't too dificult to find signs to Chamonix avoiding the m-way but it was quite a difficult commute through very heavy traffic. Great views of Lake Geneva though and don't suppose we'd have seen it but for this. Think we would have failed with out having a driver and navigator with basic gps and good route map. Getting back into the Airport was much more difficult- you have to head for Ferney- Voltaire. Shows up great in Google Earth now. (enter 46.2500288486, 6.11891631958 )
It certainly wasn't worth saving £20 and next time we would go for Swiss side or at least French side and vignette. A good comparison would be to think if you would attempt to get across central london to get from Gatwick to Heathrow to save £20.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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WayneC,
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First of all you have to get to the French side of the airport. Okay if you have basic French and know where to find the premier etage
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I do speak French and still had considerable difficulty finding my way out! 
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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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Hire one of those new Renault McCanns....loads of room in the boot.....
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brian
brian
Guest
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I speak very poor French and had no trouble at all.
otoh, I did have a little trouble finding my way from GVA to the Bardonnex customs without using the autoroute, gps or come to that, a map Had to stop and ask a couple of times but actually seeing it on the map later we were more or less on the right road.
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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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Just booked my PSB car hire, using the One account link. It appears to be giving the discount today, got a cracking deal. I've just booked a Focus type as there's only two of us, and it was just £130 for 7 days.
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This is worth caps believe me: DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES BOOK FROM EUROPCAR ON THE FRENCH SIDE. They're a nightmare, they always overbook on purpose so you'll get there and wait for 90 mins minimum for your car. I asked every other desk on the French and Swiss sides and they all said it happens every Saturday.
Also if you hire in France and drive through Switzerland you'll get stopped and made to buy the Swiss motorway sticker which costs about £30 - I figured I'd get away with it but they stopped me 2 miles from the airport and made me give them the cash. When it comes to the Swiss and cars Jeremy Clarkson is right.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Helen Beaumont wrote: |
| ... using the One account link. It appears to be giving the discount today ... |
I always get a discounted price when using that link, and maybe 95% of the time it's the cheapest price I can get. Have you had times when it didn't offer a discounted price?
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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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| levart wrote: |
Also if you hire in France and drive through Switzerland you'll get stopped and made to buy the Swiss motorway sticker which costs about £30 - I figured I'd get away with it but they stopped me 2 miles from the airport and made me give them the cash. When it comes to the Swiss and cars Jeremy Clarkson is right. |
Surely only if you drive on the m-way
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rob@rar, it wasn't offering discount the other day, as I was checking it while talking to some of the PSBERS on MSN. It quoted me £168 for the car I've just booked for £135 . I think it may be when the site is being updated or something. I always check it against the normal H-A site to make sure, and they were quoting the same price, but today it is back to normal. It happened to someone else recently too. 95% of the time it is cheapest.
WayneC,complicated to avoid the Swiss motorway though.
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You know it makes sense.
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Helen Beaumont, thanks, I'll make sure I double check against their regular site from now on.
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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: |
costs about £30 - I figured I'd get away with it but they stopped me 2 miles from the airport and made me give them the cash. When it comes to the Swiss and cars Jeremy Clarkson is right.
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It costs a lot less than £30 - 40 swiss francs is around £18 I think - and you were lucky to get away without a big on the spot fine. But yes, WayneC, only if you drive on the motorway, but that is the easiest way in and out of the airport. There are lots of threads on this, but if you can get a car a lot cheaper on the French side (the difference varies, and is inconsistent) it's surely worth £18 to avoid the hassle of finding your way off the motorway. The cost of a round of drinks, and it gives you extra time at your resort. Why does everyone make such a fuss about it? I know one couple (sister in law, actually) who were too mean to buy one, and didn't have a map, and couldn't speak enough French to ask for directions when they got lost, and who missed their easyJet flight as a result. All to save £18.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| snowshine wrote: |
| rob@rar wrote: |
| One thing to add, if you do book from the Swiss side don't pay the supplement for winter equipment as this will come as standard |
Hope I'm not hijacking this thread by asking if this is definitely the case? I have car hire booked through holidayautos on the Swiss side at Geneva and they told me that snow chains would be an extra payable locally. |
Budget charged for snow chains in March this year on the Swiss side.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| gwaelod wrote: |
| snowshine wrote: |
| rob@rar wrote: |
| One thing to add, if you do book from the Swiss side don't pay the supplement for winter equipment as this will come as standard |
Hope I'm not hijacking this thread by asking if this is definitely the case? I have car hire booked through holidayautos on the Swiss side at Geneva and they told me that snow chains would be an extra payable locally. |
Budget charged for snow chains in March this year on the Swiss side. |
Did you book direct with them or via a broker such as Holiday Autos? As I understand it Swiss law requires all rental cars to be winterised from 1 Dec-1 May (not exactly sure about dates). So even if you decline the 'Winter equipment' option when booking the car you will more than likely get this kit anyway. I've hired around 30 times from GVA in the last three years; on every occasion the car came with winter tyres, and on every occasion except one it came with chains (although not always of the correct size ). I never tick the 'Winter Equipment' box, and only once (with Europcar I think) have I been required to pay locally for this stuff.
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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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on every occasion except one it came with chains (although not always of the correct size
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This doesn't surprise me. Much of the time they just seem to have a job lot on the shelf and grab one at random, even when booked in advance. The French side Europcar (complained about above) can't always provide them even when asked in advance.
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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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WayneC, That is correct but its so much easier from the Swiss side
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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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its so much easier from the Swiss side
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it's easy enough to get in and out of the French side, once you know how. I've had to do it a few times, either for big price differences (on three cars, on one occasion) or because of visitors who don't have the papers they need to get through Switzerland, and have to stick to France. But for anyone with the choice, I would always suggest the Swiss side unless the price difference is colossal.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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hd, thanks for that link. For going to a resort and leaving the car in a car park (or snowdrift) for a week, that should be great.
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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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We've never had to pay for the chains at GVa, they've always been in the boot. Ussallty have a car from Alamo booked through Holiday Autos.
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| pam w wrote: |
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its so much easier from the Swiss side
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it's easy enough to get in and out of the French side, once you know how. I've had to do it a few times, either for big price differences (on three cars, on one occasion) or because of visitors who don't have the papers they need to get through Switzerland, and have to stick to France. But for anyone with the choice, I would always suggest the Swiss side unless the price difference is colossal. |
Hiring from the french side is a bit like skiing breakable crust you wouldn't choose to do it,
but it's worth knowing how 
Have done it once, straightforward enough after mugging up on the route, but not worth it other than if you can save a load of cash (for reasons mentioned above) Last time I was at GVA I had to direct 2 seperate families in the swiss hire car queue to the french side of the airport (after they had been waiting patiently in the queue on the swiss side for at least 15 minutes 
Turns out the travel agent had booked the hire car for them from the french side (and presumably pocketed a fat profit in the process or just out of incompetance) Felt very sorry for them, (stressed parents, tired kids, suddenly having to work out how to get out of the french side, avoid the motorway etc etc.)
On another note, does anyone know an easy to find petrol station near the airport with easy directions (have got away with brimming the tank about 30miles out on the motorway, but got stung last time as it was a petrol car and it used too much fuel)
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FAQ
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