I just looked into book a car for four weeks in the UK. I always use Europcar, but I suspect the issue applies to all major companies.
When you make the booking there is a small drop down menu which says 'I live in the US'. It showed that because I am using a VPN. I changed it to Cambodia and searched for my car and got a quote of around $650. Not bad. Just for fun, I changed the setting to 'I live in the UK' and exactly the same car came up with a price of over $800.
I then went back to 'I live in the US' and searched for the car again. Quote: $550.
WTF?
What's curious is that nowhere in the booking process does it ask for my address, not even when I'm paying by credit card. I'll see what happens when I turn up to collect it
Hiring a car overseas
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- Wun Gwo Pee
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They price the car depending on what they believe the customer will pay.
You have done the right thing choosing the US price as that is usually the lowest because people in the US rent cars all the time and expect cheap prices.From the RAC in 2014:-
Research has suggested that British drivers are charged more than other foreign nationals when hiring cars in the UK. Europcar is the worst offender, with Brits paying up to £200 more than foreigners for the same hire.
Among the data collected, a number of quotations for a week's rental of a Vauxhall Insignia were obtained, varying by pick up centre and country of residence. The results showed British nationals were paying up to £120 more than foreign visitors. The same criteria were given for a VW Sharan, a larger car, with a price gap of almost £200 in favour of foreign visitors. As part of the same research project by Auto Express, it was shown that customers using Europcar's UK website pay a higher price for the same hire than customers going through the company's foreign websites.
The EU Commission has already taken issue with the matter after complaints by customers resident in the EU. The Commission released publicly a letter it has written to all of the major car rental companies - Avis, Enterprise, Europcar, Goldcar, Hertz and Sixt - instructing them to cease discrimination by nationality, after investigations indicated that Avis and Hertz had breached the EU's single market non-discrimination regulations. Other undesirable practices were also criticised in the letter, including the use of IP address identification systems to allocate prices. The EU Commission is determined to uphold its Services Directive on the single market, which makes it clear that discrimination based upon residency is unacceptable and requested that action be taken by the recipients of the letters by the end of August.
Some of those companies have made a point of changing policy accordingly, but that leaves Europcar as the largest car rental firm to continue to allocate different prices based upon country of residency. The EU is planning to review the situation as a matter of priority. In the meantime, Europcar claims that it is operating within EU legislation guidelines and that it is continuing to communicate with the EU Commission on the matter.
As an example, a Vauxhall Insignia hired for one week by a UK resident from London's Heathrow area costs £288.14. A French driver pays £167.61 for the same thing, a Polish resident pays £183.16 and a Swede pays £183.18. A Briton from Birmingham is charged £160.64 for the same car, King's Cross residents are charged £283.04, while residents of Liverpool and Newcastle pay £193.80.
Very interesting AC, and a good spot Lurcio!
Meum est propositum in taberna mori,
ut sint Guinness proxima morientis ori.
tunc cantabunt letius angelorum chori:
"Sit Deus propitius huic potatori."
ut sint Guinness proxima morientis ori.
tunc cantabunt letius angelorum chori:
"Sit Deus propitius huic potatori."
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- Wun Gwo Pee
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Well, I guess if Europcar thinks it's ok to do that based on where you come from, they can hardly object if I circumvent the system to get a cheaper price.
Earlier this year i picked up a car from EuRopcar at Heathrow. It seems I have some kind of elite status because I've used them often. As a premium customer, they proudly told me I can have an upgrade.
"Why thank you very much," I said, with gratitude.
"That will be an extra 12 pounds a day, sir, would you like me to add it to you credit card?"
"No. Fuck off."
Earlier this year i picked up a car from EuRopcar at Heathrow. It seems I have some kind of elite status because I've used them often. As a premium customer, they proudly told me I can have an upgrade.
"Why thank you very much," I said, with gratitude.
"That will be an extra 12 pounds a day, sir, would you like me to add it to you credit card?"
"No. Fuck off."
Jock jock will be thrilled to confirm that post-brexit regulations aiming at keep prices in check for Britons will certainly be scrapped . Taking back control
Those sites that sell airline tickets have the same deal usually.
Cheaper to buy tickets if they think your in the US rather than Cambodia.
Cheaper to buy tickets if they think your in the US rather than Cambodia.
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