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international one way car rentals europe

international driving permit

Many countries require of you, the foreign driver, no license apart from your domestic drivers license. However, certain countries require of certain non-resident drivers an International Driving Permit (IDP) in addition. You should contact the relevant tourist office, consulate or embassy to determine whether a country requires you to carry an IDP while driving. A good secondary indicator in this respect is the IDP webpage posted by the UK's Automobile Association. Basically an IDP is a means by which police in a foreign country can know — in terms of translations in nearly a dozen different languages — that your domestic driver's license is indeed recognized as being valid by the proper authorities in your country. (See the excellent article at Drivers.com.) Is it really necessary that you obtain an IDP if you plan to drive in the aforementioned countries? In practice of course it depends on the particular police officer who might happen to pull you over. The vehicle leasing company (e.g. Renault Eurodrive) doesn't care whether or not you have an IDP; it's up to you whether you cover yourself in this regard.

The local office of your auto club (AAA, CAA, etc.) sells IDPs for about US$20. If you need an IDP, take your license, two passport-sized photos and the requisite cash to the club office. (Though for about US$10 the club may snap Polaroid photos for you.) Ten minutes later you'll be able to legally drive on any European road—assuming you're at least 18 years of age. If you plan to operate a motorcycle in Europe, be sure to have the auto club certify your qualification to do so. The USA's AAA now has a Webpage whereby drivers licensed in the USA can obtain an IDP: AAA's application for IDP. Web searches will bring up a host of Websites selling documents that conform to the model delineated in annex 10 of the United Nations Convention on Road Traffic (1949); but according to Article 24 of that convention, a truly valid IDP is one which is "issued .. by the competent authority of another Contracting State or subdivision thereof, or by an association duly empowered by such authority ...." The US State Department says it has empowered only the American Automobile Association (AAA) and the American Automobile Touring Alliance (AATA) to issue IDPs. (The AATA offers IDPs through the National Automobile Club.)

cell phones

Many cell phones (i.e. mobile phones, handies) now work overseas. Check with your service provider (i.e. your carrier, the phone service company) in this regard; it might be a good occasion for you to upgrade to a phone (and plan) that works well overseas. If indeed you want to be able to use your phone on another continent, you'll need to call your service provider customer support to get international roaming turned on.

But beware: such roaming in and of itself is very expensive. Every missed or rejected call will use a minute of roaming charges; every notification of a voicemail that's been left will cost a minute too. More charges will come if you use data, even unknowingly -- and the new smart phones are constantly using data that you're unaware of. Data roaming costs about $15/MB, which means a dollar fifty or so for every single web page that you view. If someone sends you a nice 2 megapixel photo from home, that'll be $30! If you want to avoid data roaming charges completely, you should disable data roaming and data synchronization before you go abroad.

International roaming is not a good value unless you have tri-band GSM phone. Such phones can be “SIM subsidy unlocked” via your service provider to accept a foreign SIM card. Calls received through such card will be charged to you as if you are using a local phone. To initiate such unlocking of your tri-band GSM phone, call your service provider at least a week or two before you go abroad. Your service provider will then request an unlock code from the phone manufacturer, but the service provider will not officially guarantee the manufacturer’s response time (it’s usually 24-48 hours) nor even that a unlock code will be provided. Moreover, you’ll need to obtain a prepaid SIM card or cards for the country or countries you plan to travel to. Those cards cost roughly 30 euros and can be bought in mobile phone shops in Europe (the primary companies in France, for instance, are Orange, Bouygues Telecom and SFR). Alternatively you can buy or rent them before you go abroad, from various internet-based companies. You would replace your current SIM card with the European one. (Typically they go under the battery.) Do save your current SIM card, however; you’ll need it when you return home.

See the following excellent New York Times articles:

How to Beat the High Costs of Dialing Abroad
How to Beat Roaming Fees While Traveling Abroad

For SIM card or special phone rental or purchase online, see the following:

cellhire
telestial
one sim card
mobal world phone
cellular abroad
roberts rent-a-phone