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Car Hire - Winter Tyres -Anyone been charged at the airport?
 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead

Has anyone rented a car and not ticked the box for the winter snow pack (ideally GVA / Swiss side)?

What happened when you turned up to collect?

Were you charged at the airport?

If so - how much? Or does the charge depend on the car class?

Thanks,

SM
latest report
latest report
 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person

Can't comment on GVA, but when a group of dry slope instructors went away for a sneaky snow w/e in Mayrhofen, we flew into Munich. We picked up 4 ford mondeo estates that had all been pre-paid. When we dropped them off and checked the receipts they had added €30 to each CC used by each driver for winter tyres. Not a major issue and had to be paid (we were trying our luck anyway Happy ). We just split the €30 between each of the 4 adults in each car and all was good. This was all with Avis.



IMHO, just be prepared for it, or ask up front.
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snow conditions
 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?

shockingmoment wrote:
Has anyone rented a car and not ticked the box for the winter snow pack (ideally GVA / Swiss side)?

What happened when you turned up to collect?

Were you charged at the airport?

If so - how much? Or does the charge depend on the car class?

Thanks,

SM


We hire out of GVA on a regular basis - I would say that I have always been able to get a package that includes winter tires, some seem to try add it as a hidden charge. We find Holiday Autos, Car Hire 3000 and Expedia are good for keen prices - they are consolidators not hire companies in their own right. Also you need to decide about taking the crash waiver or not (usually about 40 - 50 euro) - you never need it until you need it, and then it will be costly without. Hope this helps.

Ian
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snow report
 You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.

Ian / fishslice - it does help - thanks.

HA charge £38 for the privilege of snow tyres that used to be included on the Swiss side. I just wondered how keen the likes of Avis were at the airport.

€30 is cheaper than the standard HA quote so might just take the chance!

Got an annual CDW policy - a lot cheaper than the HA offering and lasts for a year.

Thanks folks.
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latest report
 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Ian

shockingmoment wrote:

Also you need to decide about taking the crash waiver or not (usually about 40 - 50 euro) - you never need it until you need it, and then it will be costly without. Hope this helps.


Hope you can excuse the shameless plug but I hated the excess insurance rip off as well - and we set up a comparison service for excess insurance providers - with the cost running from under £2 a day - its proved so popular that Martin Lewis now recommends us and we are offered 'exclusive' discounts by the insurers for our customers.

I also hated the fact that the extra cover cover at the airport nevers covers windscreen damage etc, whilst these policies do.

www.moneymaxim.co.uk/compare-car-hire-excess-insurance

We get massive positive feedback about this so hopefully its useful!
ski holidays
ski holidays
 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.

I used Quercus insurance for my annual policy CDW excess insurance and euro cover.
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snow conditions
 brian
brian
Guest
shockingmoment, it varies by provider. Winter tyres are included in Avis/Hertz/Europcar/Budget prices, not with Alamo (the provider most often used by HA), not sure about Sixt.
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snow report
 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!

Just to confirm:

I just hired through HA at Geneva for the weekend, dropped the car back yesterday. and the provider was Alamo.

I got banged 36CHF for the 'winter pack' - car had snow tyres and a box of chains.

They also tried to pin me for some light scuffing above one of the front wheel arches, that was there at time of pick up and looked to be indicated on the conditon chart at the time we collected. I disputed this and they checked back on the chart from previous hires and agreed that the 'damage' was already there. I found their charts very hard to relate to the specific position of scatches etc on the vehicle, especially in the poor light of the underground hire car parking area.

There is aways a temptation to skip over the vehicle inspection on arrival - don't!

I am hiring from Hertz ( through Expedia ) in 3 weeks time from GVA, it will be interesting to see if they charge for the winter pack or not.
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latest report
 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.

Thanks.

HA charge £37 for the winter pack. I'll leave the box un-ticked and pay the £25 direct at the airport. I like living on the edge. You should see my skiing.....

We always check the car over. Rented one in Aus last year - looked like it had been through a demolition derby - nothing marked on the inspection sheet though.... Marked it up - took it back, she shrugged and said ok. Got her to initial it and kept a copy.
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snow conditions
 brian
brian
Guest
shockingmoment, from Alamo's website the "winterisation" fee is 9 CHF/day + tax = 67.79 CHF for a week, about £45.
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snow report
 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

I keep posting this suggestion on these threads:

Take photos in the car park before you drive away.
Take photos in the car park when you drop it back.
Digital photos cost nothing and might save you a load.
snow report
snow report
 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.

shockingmoment,

Thats interesting - have you ever had a position where they didn't have any chains?

Last year in Bologna I had booked them, they didn't have any but reimbursed me for some we agreed I would buy en route (cost €65).

Having just booked Geneva (Fr) it is a pain to have to look through every deal to find which brokers / car hire forms charge what, but some were quoting £90 pw - so decided to 'fix' my price at around £45.
ski holidays
ski holidays
 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

Got my answer.

Alamo - charge 9CHFs a day if you pay at the airport. So. HA a bit cheaper.

Thanks all
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snow conditions



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