Hiring a car in Geneva

[alangla]

Hi All,

Wasn't sure whether to post this here or in GG, so here goes.
Some of SWMBO's family live in the Milan area & we're planning to visit later in the year. I've always fancied visiting Switzerland & crossing the Alps, so a cheap (amazingly cheap!) Easyjet flight to Geneva followed by a hire car seemed like the obvious solution.
Unfortunately, it seems that the laws governing taking Swiss registered vehicles into the EU have changed & it appears that it's now illegal for an EU citizen to take a Swiss registered car anywhere in the EU other than their home address. I've asked the hire company if I can have an EU registered car and I've also looked into whether I can leave Geneva airport via the French side rather than the Swiss side which I guess will mean I'll get a French registered car, but the choices of rental firm/cars on that side is rather poor.
Has anyone attempted to do a similar trip since the new laws came in on 1st May? How did you get on?
My first hint of complications came from here - https://docs.abgcarrental.com/location/avis/CH/CH/... - Avis's country-specific hire conditions covering Switzerland.

Edit to add - I've been looking of the FCO/AA/RAC websites for advice on this - pretty much all their advice is around taking your own car, not hiring a locally registered one.

Edited by alangla on Monday 20th June 13:27

[alangla]

Thanks - much appreciated.

Yes - I looked at flying back from Malpensa & you're right, the fees for a one-way hire are ridiculous & the range of options a bit limited so I'm going to drive back to Geneva & fly from there back to Edinburgh. Fares look to be considerably lower from there anyway (about £38 each for a single, so £75 return roughly)

[alangla]

Please do - I'm with Dollar via CarDelMar, so I guess it'll be OK - I've submitted the request for an EU reg car to CarDelMar, but they've not got back to me yet.

I had a look on Snowheads last night, but I couldn't find anything useful & it doesn't seem to have a search function - could you point me at any relevant threads?

Thanks all for all your help on this one, very much appreciated

[alangla]

Just to update this one, I've had to change the booking as Dollar/Thrifty now have a policy that cars can't be taken out of the country of hire, even though Hertz (same group!) allow you to do so. I've rebooked with Alamo & been told that I'll get an EU car & that I can take it into Italy, but NOT France. Not entirely sure why, but it just means I'll need to replan my route a bit.
I've looked at hiring from the French area of Geneva airport, but the cars there appear to be significantly more expensive for some reason.
I'll let you know how I get on...

[alangla]

s3fella said:

Rent from the French side..

alangla said:

significantly more expensive for some reason

But, TBH, I'm starting to wish I'd not even thought of a drive through the Alps & just flown direct to Malpensa & got a car from there. Would have saved all this hassle.

[alangla]

Just to finally update this one - I ended up moving my booking to Budget. Spoke to their UK booking line after making the reservation online and they added a note on the reservation that I needed an EU plated vehicle. I also went to the desk on arrival in Geneva (I wasn't picking the car up for another couple of days) & checked that I could get an EU car, they said yes. When I went to collect I got a German registered Focus 1.0 turbo estate. Must have been the 140hp version as it went over the mountains as though they weren't there. Lovely car, dead easy to drive. Anyway, the car came supplied with a current Swiss vignette plus all the usual stuff like a warning triangle & hi-vis vests etc.
Covered 750km of enjoyable driving across Switzerland, Italy and the bit of France between Geneva & the Mont Blanc tunnel.
On returning the car, there was an identical German registered Focus in the bay next to it. I assume all their EU fleet is German. Every other car I saw in the hire area at the airport appeared to be on Swiss plates.

One thing to watch - the slip roads off the motorway into the airport have recently changed - my satnav tried to send me up one that was closed, so I ended up coming off at the next junction. I also couldn't find the airport petrol station, so got skinned for about 68 Francs for probably about 1/4 to 1/2 a tank of unleaded I could have driven round again I guess, but time was tight to drop the car off & check in for my flight.