Netherlands - Germany cross-border car hire

bairn7

Hi all

I'm heading to the Netherlands for a week next week. I intend to drive around and visit a few places in Germany also, finally dropping of at the same place that I'm picking up.

I don't know why by I didn't expect an extra charge for driving into Germany. I booked through atlas choice (dollar) and finally got around to reading the small print which mentioned that fees may apply. On contacting them, they told me that there would be a one off charge of 50 euros, almost doubling the cost of the rental.

Is anyone aware of any rental companies or third party sites that don't have such a charge?

Thanks

eDicky

What is the charge associated with?

Was there any question or mention of cross border travel during the booking process?

Obviously_the_best

Sixt will I think, as long as you're driving certain vehicle brands. You can see in the terms on their website.

Johnmcl7

Where did you hire a car from in the end? I'm looking into hiring a car from Amsterdam to drive to Spa and I'm a bit lost as I rarely hire cars, I've looked at Sixt but they have an 800km limit (it's around 300km to Spa) although that might be ok in balance.

John

skint_chick

We usually end up going with Hertz when we hire cars in Europe because you can take them to Netherlands/Belgium/Germany/Austria/Switzerland and the mileage is unlimited. You can usually get cashback through Quidco too. I'm in their loyalty programme and even though I only hire once a year or so it makes it so much quicker. Last time I hired in Switzerland the guy on the desk didn't even seem to care about seeing my driving licence!

eDicky

I find it hard to understand the idea of charges for crossing mainland European "borders", when in effect there aren't any and people drive around between countries without even thinking about it.

I often hired Dutch cars and drove all over, as far as Vienna, without any mention of limitations or charges. There's never a question or interest in where you intend to go.

Maybe it's just a way for some of the lesser firms to add extra charges to their attractive prices, for no valid reason, but knowing that Brits are likely to get sucked in.

On the drive to Spa the Dutch-Belgian border is particularly non existent, dating from Benelux.

dirk84

Sixt is always good!