General Info

[Trojan_tds]

SinglePro

A Tiptronic transmission is like a combination of a manual and an automatic. You shift gears manually using a lever but it does not have a manual clutch. My wife also can not drive a manual transmission car but she has no problem driving a friends SMART car with a tiptronic.

You will have a very hard time finding a automatic transmission car in Germany. For some reason the Germans just don't like them. I'm not sure if it has to do with the better gas mileage on a manual or what, but most cars sold in Germany are manual transmission with the exeption of the very high end Mercedes and BMWs.


-Trojan

[SinglePro]

Hi guys,

Thank you for all your enthusiastic responses. One thing I forgot to mention in my previous post is that I can only drive automatic transmission cars. As Peter suggested, I checked out expedia.com and travelocity.com to get a feel of what I was going to get. What puzzled me was that they all quoted me cars with manual transmission which is not what I want. I then checked www.sixti.de which listed either the Smart or Ford Focus option, but it didn't say whether either of those 2 has automatic or manual transmission. I emailed Siti about these cars, and they emailed me back saying that the Smart car is equipped with tiptronic transmission. Can anyone tell me what tiptronic transmission is? Is it automatic? Next, I checked Alamo and Budget which also quoted me mostly with manual transmission, accept those at the higher ends. I also tried carbookers.com as suggested my someone else on this board. It gave me a reasonable rate, but then again, it's all manual transmissions. I'm totally surprised with all these manual transmission stuffs. If all the good deals or low budget packages only apply to cars with manual transmission, I'm out of luck.

I checked out www.holidayautos.co.uk as suggested by Red Hawk. Again, the cheap ones are all manual transmissions. The auto transmission one that I was quoted totaled to be around $295 for 3 days or $100/day which is not cheap at all. (I converted GBP to dollars.) It claims that their prices are all inclusive, but its insurance detail description says "you will be required to leave a deposit to the value of the insurance excess. If the car is damaged during the rental you may be charged an excess of EUR 600 which will be debited from your deposit." What deposit are they talking about? Didn't they say that the rental price already includes the insurance? I guess I'm not understanding something.

I had made some interesting observation. I went to Alamo.com and Budget.com websites and checked out the availability of their rental cars both in the U.S. and in Europe. I then made a comparison. What surprised me was that all the available cars listed under the U.S. categories were mostly automatic transmission while the same things listed under the European categories were mostly manual transmission (accept the higher-end cars). What's going on? Does it mean that it's more popular to drive manual transmission cars in Europe? Does it mean European drivers don't like driving automatic transmission cars? (In the U.S., if you rent a car, you'll almost always be given an automatic transmission car, without question. Maybe I've taken that for granted.) It seems you can only get automatic transmission at higher end rental cars in Europe. If so, renting an automatic transmission car for one person may not really be that cheap afterall, unless you can share it with at least another person and split the cost.

Shiatsu,

You said "If you have any damage to the car you must call the Police to get a report otherwise the Collision Damage Waiver is not operative." I would have big problem doing that because I can not speak fluent German to engage in that kind of conversation. (I think I can speak barely passable German to order a meal or rent a hotel room but not good enough to get involved in any serious conversation.) Further more, if that scenario ever happens to me on the highway, where can I reach a paid phone? Where would I get the police number? On the yellow page phone book? If I ever encounter that kind of situation, I'd be in deep shit. I just pray that I won't get into that situation.

Wizard,

You mentioned the extra hidden airport pick up charge. When I got an online quote where it stated that all fees are included, I assume "all fees" implies that it has already included the airport pickup charge. Right? When I looked at the break down of the fees, it didn't seem to specifically mention "airport pickup charge". I wondered about that.

[NastyBoy]

You're right, Ortos. I just wanted to tell the story about driving that little car up those big hills. As in all things, you want to play, you gotta pay.

NB

[Ortos]

NB,

The high price you paid for the car, almost Euro100/day, is because you took the car for only one day and did it on a walk-up basis. I know that you had no choice this trip, but just so you know for future reference, if you rent the car on a weekly basis via some of the internet sites, you are likely to get a much, much better deal. Also, if possible, it is often advisable to get the car from a non-airport location as it is cheaper. I often try to get a diesal-powered car since the fuel is somewhat less expensive than petrol.

[NastyBoy]

i rented a ford fiesta from sixt at the d-dorf airport on a walk up basis. it was 50e for the sled, and 21e for insurance with a 550e deductible. i always like to buy their insurance in case anything does happen, problems should be resolved quicker in-house. total bill for one day rental was 99.60e, balance of which was taxes, taxes, and then more taxes. everybody wants a piece of the pie.

the car was small, and i don't recommend it for long distance travel around the country. i headed down to altenstadt, and the terrain is rather hilly. this poor car didn't have the umph to make it up the hills, and the only time it could hit 160km p/h was on the down hill with a strong tail wind. the funny thing was that whenever speed restrictions were removed on the autobahn, it was always at the bottom of the hill.

but the little car did serve it's purpose and it was only 60e to fill up the tank.

i had fun.

nb

[Peter]

For the real budget minded and people who don't care what they look like in their car on the way to the FKK, there are some budget rental agencies. I just checked out www.sixti.de and you can get some really great deals there. You can only choose from a Smart and a Ford Focus Wagen, but it is transportation. If you are picking up and dropping on the same day you can get some days at 10€ that I saw from Frankfurt Airport. You pay calender day not 24 hours. check it out as a possibility. Here there are also tight mileage restrictions.

I also checked a same day pick up and drop off at Niederrhein (Ryan Air calls it Düsseldorf) and you can get a smart for 16€, that is less than a Taxi from the real Duesseldorf airport to downtown. If you add a Loss Damage Waiver limiting Liability to 250€ you add 6,50 a day.

Chekc it out seems like a good deal.

Peter

[Red Hawk]

If you book from holiday autos (www.holidayautos.co.uk) everything is included. No hiden extra's. So if you do have an accident of some sort and have to pay excess holidayautos will refund when you get back.

Also they have a price match policy.

RH

[Optimist]

One small further point. If you have any damage to the car you must call the Police to get a report otherwise the Collision Damage Waiver is not operative. I foolishly thought my tiny encounter with a small bollard did not count as an accident. Wrong - so I've got a hefty bill (probably 600E plus)
However car hire is still, to my mind, preferable (cheaper and more flexible) to taxis unless you are staying next to one club (or you fail to report accidents like mine!)

[Wizard]

Singlepro

I only have two additions to add to Peters excellent and detailed reply.

The only possible hidden cost of car rental can be the extra airport pick up charge (very often they don't bother to tell you about it especially when booking in advance from abroad)
It quite a bit (I think 15% of the total rental charge ) this can be quite a lot if you are renting a expensive car for a long time.
If you are anyway thinking of visiting the nearest city then you can save this charge by picking up your car in town. There is no extra charge to drop your car off at the airport.

Even though all the cars are fully insured there is a high collision waiver / car theft optional extra. Depending on the value of the car you otherwise will have to pay the first ???Euro of any accident even if you were to blame or not. (I don't pay the collision waver and take the risk)

Just take into consideration that Germany hosts a lot of big trade fairs though out the year. Its good to check ahead and see that your trip doesn't co-inside with one of them, as you will find it practically impossible to find a vacant hotel room within a 100km radius of the fair.Also during fair times the prices of hotel rooms jump 150-250% extra (I'm not exaggerating)

Don't worry car rental and driving in Germany is great fun and its not at all difficult.
I am sure you will agree with us. Its really the best way to enjoy our hobby and save time together with convenience

[Toki Jo]

on the way to altenstadt from frankfurt, watch out for speed cameras. i think they are located at the village before altenstadt. anyway, atlantis was raided saturday midnight at 00:00 hrs, other posts report the establishment is still closed. any further information here please?

editor's note: this report was edited by admin to add standard capitalization throughout the text. in the future, please refrain from using the "chat room" style of writing with no capital lettering. thanks!

[Peter]

singlepro,

here is my reply:

1) i know it's a good idea to reserve a rental car in advance, but i wonder if a foreign visitor can just walk up to the car rental counter at the airport and rent it right there (without reservation) after getting off the plane?
*yes you can. all you need is a drivers license and a credit card. availability is not always guaranteed, you are also not likely to get a better deal than on the internet or booking ahead.
would you recommend to reserve online or over the phone?
*online is probably the best move. try expedia first to get a feeling then go to the individual home pages.
will down payment or some kind of deposit be required for reservation?
*you usually don’t have to have any deposit, you have to give your credit card info, but usually it is just a reservation with no deposit.
can anyone provide the websites of the popular germany car rental agencies listed in english?
*the main agencies in germany are sixt, europcar, hertz, avis, budget. all of the home pages are easy to find.

2) similar to question #1 but regarding to hotels, can any tourist just stop by a local hotel and get a room without reservation? has anyone done that?
*again, theoretically it is no problem. could always end up that it is fully booked when you get there. in the forum there are a number of decnt simple hotels listed near the fkk’s, why don’t you just book ahead, it will save you time and hassles. there are also chain motels like ibis and accor and such where you can just walk up and pretty much always get a room. there are even some that work exclusively through credit card (no personell). but these are not as widespread as in the states. sometimes you can drive 100 miles without seeing any.

3) i read different prices of renting a car ranging from 22euro/day to 60euro/day (although the 22euro is highly questionable). are we talking about the total price which includes insurance and taxes? (in the u.s., whenever a car rental agency quotes a rental rate, it doesn't include the insurance and other hidden charges. by the time it adds the insurance and other charges, it'll be freaking $20 to $30 more.)
*on all the german sites they will quote you a price including all taxes. they have weekend rates which are very cheap and weekday rates. they have to be quite upfront about prices according to german advertising laws. i think budget claims 38€ a day at the moment with unlimited miles.

4) do all the car rental agencies in frankfurt airport offer unlimited mileage which no one seemed to mention? is unlimited mileage automatically assumed? can anyone recommend which rental agency is generally better or cheaper than the other? (for example, in the u.s., avis always offers unlimited mileage while hertz doesn't.)
*it is not assumed, but stated very clearly. check out the home pages. if you are only coming for a few days the internet is the best way. if you are booking for a full week often it is cheaper to go to a us travel agent and buy a voucher, which covers all costs.

5) some of you rented cars with gps while other used direction sites like maqquest and map24. can i assume that renting a car with gps is more expensive than the one without? i have never used a gps. the nav system can give voice direction in english, right? i read that nav can sometimes lead you to the wrong direction. if you have never driven in germany, would you solely rely on the nav system that you wouldn't need to bring any (paper) map with you whatsoever? otherwise, i would need to buy many different local maps which i couldn't find in the u.s.
*or you can buy an authoritative german atlas. these are 200 page books and should be available at a good travel store in the states. i would not rely solely on gps, there are a lot of towns with similar names and if you pick the wrong one you might end up far from where you want to be. rent a car agencies are future used car sales companies, so they put things on they think those customers will want and pay a premium for. most mercedes and bmw’s and upmarket vehicles have gps, most cheap ones don’t. at sixt all mercedes have gps, even the relatively low rental price a class. you can reprogram it to speak and work in english. you might want to have someone from the rental car agency help you make this switch at the airport. if you are just going to the big 3 around frankfurt, then print up some good maps from the internet on how to get from the airport to club 1, 2 and 3 and the hotel. and keep that on you. germany has excellent highways and the most signage in europe. they don’t give north east directions on the highway but the next town is always shown.

6) i plan to visit 3 frankfurt clubs (atlantis, oase, fkkw) in 2 days. many of you kept saying that it's cheaper to rent a car than to use the trains and/or taxis, which i probably agree, but you didn't seem to mention the cost of filling up the gas tank. can anyone give me an approximation of what the total gas cost would be to drive round trips between each club and a hotel within frankfurt? i know that the gasoline is more expensive in europe than here in the u.s. i guess i try to budget my total traveling expense in advance.
*gas is expensive in europe, about $4 a gallon. but if you hit the big 3 and stay at a well located hotel then you shouldn’t exceed 250 km which will be about 25-30€ in gas. make sure you fill up before you get close to the airport, as there is only one gas station at the airport and it is tough to find and quite expensive. when you rent they will also ask you whether you want to buy the tank of gas at a lower rate. this is usually not a good deal as it only pays off if you turn in the car really empty.

7) are the gas stations pump connected to atm/credit card machines (like those in the u.s.) so that people can use credit card to pay to fill up their cars without speaking to the cashier? if so, does the credit card reader displays english instruction? (this kind of self-service is useful for people who don't speak or speak little german and hence don't have to deal with the language problem.)
*pay at the pump is very rare in germany. language skills necessary to pay for gas are very limited. just remember the number of the pump, go in and show that number of fingers and give them your credit card. i think i could handle this language skill level in inner mongolia or tajikistan or somewhere else where i have no idea what language they speak.

8) does a tourist need an international driver license to drive in germany? i can get an international driver license for $10 from aaa motor club of which i'm a member. is that necessary? if a foreign driver ever gets stopped by a police, what kind of identification would s/he need to show? a passport?
*international drivers license is not necessary. you should carry your passport or a copy on you at all times. i got stopped in a police check once near atlantis, they seem to be checking every once in a while.

9) many of you kindly mentioned radar and speed camera placing on the intersection. what would happen if one gets caught on speeding? how would that scenario work out? would a traffic police chase to stop him (like that in the u.s.) and give him a ticket? would a tourist driver have to pay fine in cash right on the spot if s/he were caught speeding? if a speed camera takes a picture of a car that was speeding, then what? where would that picture and ticket be sent to if that car is a rental car driven by someone who doesn't live in germany?
*they do not chase you and give you tickets, that is not what police are used for in germany. only if you are driving dangerously will they pull you over. they use the cameras to deal with speeding. if there is a picture of you then they will send it to the car rental agency who will send it to you for you to reply. if you don’t they will book the cost of the ticket against your creit card. if you respond to it you will probably be found guilty anyway. pictures are pretty much impossible to challenge in germany, unless you can prove someone else was driving, and there are pretty accurate face shots.

10) let say i'm driving on a highway and realize that i'm going on the wrong direction, is it ok to turn on the emergency signal and stop on the highway shoulder (if there is one) so that i can look at the map?

* i assume you don’t mean if you are travelling against the traffic. no you cannot stop on the shoulder of the highway unless your car has broken down. however there is an exit every 2 miles at most, so you can pull off the highway. there are also a lot of rest stops and gas stations on the highway, give those a shot.

i guess i'm generally a "plan for the worst, hope for the best" kind of guy and want to make sure that my trip can go smoothly. pardon me if i may have missed any post that already had the answers to my questions.

*driving in germany is really not that complicated. anyway if atlantis stays closed for a longer period of time maybe your trip will just be world and oase, in which case you might want to put sauna world in gorgeshausen into the plan.

[Dedalus]

Arnie,

While you are correct that many German (European) girls like to remain "natural when it comes to breast size, I haver noticed more and more workers in the FKK scene that have obvious "getunte Titten". Nearly every club has a few breast implant Princesses who work the rooms.

Seek and ye shall find.

Dedalus

[SinglePro]

gentlemen,

when i was in germany last time, i used the public transportation. i've been planning to rent a car this time, but i have never driven in germany before. as usual, i've reviewed the board here for information. since i couldn't find the direct or specific answers to the questions lingering on my mind, i decided to post them here hoping many of you can give me some advises or guidance.

1) i know it's a good idea to reserve a rental car in advance, but i wonder if a foreign visitor can just walk up to the car rental counter at the airport and rent it right there (without reservation) after getting off the plane? would you recommend to reserve online or over the phone? will down payment or some kind of deposit be required for reservation? can anyone provide the websites of the popular germany car rental agencies listed in english?

2) similar to question #1 but regarding to hotels, can any tourist just stop by a local hotel and get a room without reservation? has anyone done that?

3) i read different prices of renting a car ranging from 22euro/day to 60euro/day (although the 22euro is highly questionable). are we talking about the total price which includes insurance and taxes? (in the u.s., whenever a car rental agency quotes a rental rate, it doesn't include the insurance and other hidden charges. by the time it adds the insurance and other charges, it'll be freaking $20 to $30 more.)

4) do all the car rental agencies in frankfurt airport offer unlimited mileage which no one seemed to mention? is unlimited mileage automatically assumed? can anyone recommend which rental agency is generally better or cheaper than the other? (for example, in the u.s., avis always offers unlimited mileage while hertz doesn't.)

5) some of you rented cars with gps while other used direction sites like maqquest and map24. can i assume that renting a car with gps is more expensive than the one without? i have never used a gps. the nav system can give voice direction in english, right? i read that nav can sometimes lead you to the wrong direction. if you have never driven in germany, would you solely rely on the nav system that you wouldn't need to bring any (paper) map with you whatsoever? otherwise, i would need to buy many different local maps which i couldn't find in the u.s.

6) i plan to visit 3 frankfurt clubs (atlantis, oase, fkkw) in 2 days. many of you kept saying that it's cheaper to rent a car than to use the trains and/or taxis, which i probably agree, but you didn't seem to mention the cost of filling up the gas tank. can anyone give me an approximation of what the total gas cost would be to drive round trips between each club and a hotel within frankfurt? i know that the gasoline is more expensive in europe than here in the u.s. i guess i try to budget my total traveling expense in advance.

7) are the gas stations pump connected to atm/credit card machines (like those in the u.s.) so that people can use credit card to pay to fill up their cars without speaking to the cashier? if so, does the credit card reader displays english instruction? (this kind of self-service is useful for people who don't speak or speak little german and hence don't have to deal with the language problem.)

8) does a tourist need an international driver license to drive in germany? i can get an international driver license for $10 from aaa motor club of which i'm a member. is that necessary? if a foreign driver ever gets stopped by a police, what kind of identification would s/he need to show? a passport?

9) many of you kindly mentioned radar and speed camera placing on the intersection. what would happen if one gets caught on speeding? how would that scenario work out? would a traffic police chase to stop him (like that in the u.s.) and give him a ticket? would a tourist driver have to pay fine in cash right on the spot if s/he were caught speeding? if a speed camera takes a picture of a car that was speeding, then what? where would that picture and ticket be sent to if that car is a rental car driven by someone who doesn't live in germany?

10) let say i'm driving on a highway and realize that i'm going on the wrong direction, is it ok to turn on the emergency signal and stop on the highway shoulder (if there is one) so that i can look at the map?

i guess i'm generally a "plan for the worst, hope for the best" kind of guy and want to make sure that my trip can go smoothly. pardon me if i may have missed any post that already had the answers to my questions.

[Arnie]

Alfonso:

Answers to your questions:

PAYMENT:

You keep your wallet in a separate locker across from the bar. The locker number matches that of your clothes locker downstairs in the locker room.

After your session, the lady you were with follows you to your wallet locker. You pay her right there. Fifty Euros per half-hour session, for standard sex.

LANGUAGE:

Oase has English speakers on staff. Some of the ladies speak English, too. Ask the woman behind the front desk to introduce you to one, if you want.

When you need a taxi, go back to the front desk and ask the lady to reserve one for you. She'll be glad to do it.

SERVICE:

Yes, BBBJ is standard. But, finishing in the mouth costs 50E extra. I think most ladies also charge 50E extra for the privilege of finishing on their breasts, as well.

"Darf ich auf deine Brüste kommen?" ("May I come on your breasts?") is a polite way to ask for what you want.

Breast finishes are not my thing, so maybe some of the other vets out there can tell you what customers might actually say when they ask for this, and whether or not it's an automatic 50E extra.

BIG TIT QUEENS:

Breast implants are not as common in Germany. Most ladies prefer to remain natural. Those who do opt for implants tend to select more moderate sizes. So, you aren't going to see too many women walking around with massive silicone boulders in their chests.

Hope this helps.

[CBGBConnisur]

Language won't be a problem mate, say the magic word "Babylon club" and the driver will know where to take you. As far as the language issues I spoke virtually no German when I visited and had an excellent time, I even made friends with a girl(who now lives with me in Sydney) who spoke very little English, body language and smiling are universal. I have to get back to an "English" lesson with my lovely. I might be biased but Babylon is my favorite club, its like a fine bottle of champagne. Bernd's, Babylon, and PHG are my 3 favorite clubs in the Ruhr. Atlantis and Oase are also must see establishments.