Car rental Le Havre

[jkocpa]

We are hoping to rent a car in LeHavre to drive to the Normandy beaches. Our problem is that our cruise is in LeHavre on Sunday, May 8. Does anyone know of any car rental agency that is open in this area on Sunday? We seem to be striking out trying to find one.

Thanks.

Judy

[moyaroo]

:-( Sunday and car rentals in Le havre just won't work. Alternate plans need to be made.

[catllar]

second that - everything closes on Sunday.

[Hlitner]

This just drives us crazy! We have actually booked (and not booked cruises) based on where ships will be located on Sundays and Mondays (particularly in Italy). On our last visit to Le Havre (last spring) we noticed that the local Rent a Car dealer had opened s place right inside the new cruise terminal. It' s difficult to understand why they would pay a fee for that location and be closed when there is a ship in port. But after all, we are talking about the French (not much different in Italy).

 

Hank

[jkocpa]

Now you all have me worried. After I posted this I managed to find Europcar which did take my reservation for a car on a Sunday in LeHavre. Their office is at 51 Quay Southampton in LeHavre, so it sounds like it is close to the cruise pier, if not right at the pier. Do you think I will get there and find it closed? We have a written confirmation of the reservation, did not have to pay for it now, said to pay in full when we pick it up. Hmmmmmmm.....should I worry?

Judy

[moyaroo]

Call them I tried for a June 21 reservation and it gave me this message

 

 

Pick-up location closed at this time. We advise that you contact the station. An "after hours" charge has been added in the total rental estimate to cover exceptional opening costs. Please see Terms & Conditions to assess your liability until station opening.

Click here to see insurance-included prices

 

 

It then let me choose a car and go to the booking page. CALL THEM it looks like the booking program is not with the program.

[catllar]

I love my adopted country, but they are stuck in a commercial time-warp - very frustrating when you can see all that potential business they are not getting. We have some friends (English) who started a car rental business in the dordogne - they are open for business on Sundays and they are wiping up! Shame it's a bit far from Le Havre!

[RichYak]

I was able to rent a car on a Sunday from National Car about 3 years ago. I don't know if that agency still exists, but it was about a 20 minute walk from the port.

 

They did hit me up for the additional Sunday fee when I showed up to pick up the car. After the trip, I disputed that charge and had it removed as their website showed that they had Sunday hours. They didn't open just for me.

[cruisnfool]

Can you rent a van from Lehavre to Paris......there are 7 of us.....would this be cheaper? Thought maybe we could park the care in Paris and use the subway to get around. Is this a crazy idea?

[Bollinge]

The in-terminal rental agency is "Rentacar"

 

http://www.cruiselehavre.com/pdf-con...A_Car_2011.pdf

 

However, the same company offers cars for half the price at their downtown office:

 

http://www.rentacar.fr/

 

Good sites for car rental comparisons are:

 

Carhire3000.com

Holidayautos.com

Travelsupermarket.com

Expedia.com

[jgwmetis]

I put this phrase into Google maps. Terminal Croisière, Quai Roger Meunier, Le Havre, France

off to the right you see an inside picture of the terminal. You can see that only Rent-a-car has a desk.

[Hlitner]

Can you rent a van from Lehavre to Paris......there are 7 of us.....would this be cheaper? Thought maybe we could park the care in Paris and use the subway to get around. Is this a crazy idea?

 

Not totally crazy but you would need to reserve a large van in advance. Having driven in Paris, I would advise that it is not the easiest place to drive a small car much less a large van.

 

Hank

[John Bull]

Here's a recent thread (on "ask a cruise question") which covers exactly the same problem.

With affirmative answers :)

Including vans. :)

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1856271&highlight=normandy

 

JB :)

[lamchops]

Now you all have me worried. After I posted this I managed to find Europcar which did take my reservation for a car on a Sunday in LeHavre. Their office is at 51 Quay Southampton in LeHavre, so it sounds like it is close to the cruise pier, if not right at the pier. Do you think I will get there and find it closed? We have a written confirmation of the reservation, did not have to pay for it now, said to pay in full when we pick it up. Hmmmmmmm.....should I worry?

Judy

 

We rented from them last november and it was a Sunday as well. They bring in a clerk that works till about 9:30am to handle the cruise crowd. At the end of the day you drop the car off at a nearby hotel and leave the keys with a clerk at the counter. I think there was a surcharge for the Sunday rental. We had a wonderful day driving to Bayeaux and visiting the "Canadian Normandy sites" as there were no tours available for us.

[roamer1]

Has anyone rented a car from Rentacar in Le Havre. I'm there on 7 and 8 of September, on the Celebrity Infinity, and have spoken to them on the telephone, but they claim they are not receiving my emails. If anyone has the email address I would be very grateful (the branch that brings the car to the cruise liner).

[Mrs Booboo]

We rented a car from them this past June; it worked out really great. Here is the email address we used:

 

le_havre@rentacar.fr

[roamer1]

Thanks for that - we are now in touch. May I ask if you paid for extra insurance? They are quoting me a total cost of 180 euros, including insurance, for two days with an excess of 1000 euros if the accident is my fault. I believe it is possible to take out insurance in this country (U.K.) to cover such exces charges when renting abroad. Anybody have any information on this.

[John Bull]

Thanks for that - we are now in touch. May I ask if you paid for extra insurance? They are quoting me a total cost of 180 euros, including insurance, for two days with an excess of 1000 euros if the accident is my fault. I believe it is possible to take out insurance in this country (U.K.) to cover such exces charges when renting abroad. Anybody have any information on this.

 

 

We pre-booked a car rental for a single day port-of-call in Cadiz, subject to a similarly-high excess.

We bought excess cover for the day on-line at

http://www.carhireexcess.co.uk/

for about £2 :)

If the vehicle is damaged you will be charged the excess by the hirer, you then claim that back from your excess insurer.

I have no idea what their claims payment record is like.

 

BTW, there's plenty of other ways the hire company can screw more money out of you, we're wise to most of them - particularly hire full / return empty fuel scams.

But a couple of weeks after the hiring, another 7euros was taken on my credit card - an add-on for "rail station collection" (their Cadiz office was in the rail station). Since it's mandatory for all hirings from that depot it really should have been in or with the quote at the outset and payable at the time - but that means we'd know about it before paying & might look elsewhere. No mention on the website, only on the confirmation after booking & even then buried in the small-print where we didn't see it. Not charged on-the-day, it's so much easier to charge it later knowing that the punter isn't going to take action to try to retrieve 7euros, even though failure to disclose prior to booking is probably illegal under EU law.

Live & learn. And still cheaper than taxis to/from their competitors' depots.

 

JB :)

[roamer1]

Thanks JB, useful information, we will take out insurance for the excess in the UK.

[DanL]

We pre-booked a car rental for a single day port-of-call in Cadiz, subject to a similarly-high excess.

We bought excess cover for the day on-line at

http://www.carhireexcess.co.uk/

for about £2 :)

If the vehicle is damaged you will be charged the excess by the hirer, you then claim that back from your excess insurer.

I have no idea what their claims payment record is like.

 

JB :)

 

The above company appears only for EU folks but this is one I plan to us on upcoming trip that is available to US residents

http://www.worldwideinsure.com/car-hire-excess-insurance.php

 

Any comments on them would be welcome.