UKH

Just read an article suggesting we might not (as planned) be able to hire a car in Switzerland after flying to Geneva and then drive it to Chamonix. Did have Italy as a bad weather backup plan also:

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/may/28/eu-citizens-car-hire-switzerla...

Is this true?

Any clever ways around this?

TY!

In reply to BobHoliday:
Of course it's true. Why would you think that the Guardian would print a totally false article about such a thing?

The only 'clever' way round it is to ensure beforehand that you'll given a French/ German registered car on the Swiss side - or just hire one from the French side, thus avoiding all issues.

http://www.ukhillwalking.com/forums/t.php?t=640711

In reply to BobHoliday:

Thanks for the heads up.

Doesn't quite answer the question as to whether a Swiss citizen with a UK license will be allowed to to cross the border. The actual legislation is not particularly clear.

In reply to BobHoliday:

When you hire make sure you hire on the French side of the airport. Ask the question. I had to change my booking, thank god for the previous thread on UKC or i would never have known.

In reply to J_Trottet:


The answer would appear to be "no" as a UK license implies being a UK (so EU) resident

Article 215
Use of means of transport by natural persons who have their habitual residence in the customs territory of the Union
(Article 250(2)(d) of the Code)

In reply to Dave Williams:

Sorry Dave. I don't 'take' a newspaper so didn't realise The Guardian could be taken as irrefutable fact! I will trust it implicitly henceforth! Guess I'm voting 'IN' then!

In reply to EwanR:

Thanks. Didn't spot that.

In reply to BobHoliday:
I've hired a car (in Geneva) and driven to Chamonix no problem. I regularly drive into France from Geneva.

In reply to johncb:

It only seems to have been a problem since this May. I tried to pick up a hire car on 2nd May in Geneva to drive to France and Italy and was told I couldn't take it outside of Switzerland.

In reply to BobHoliday:

I had no problem at all last week with a hertz car Swiss plate. Took it to chamonix for the week.
Asked at the desk the staff said there was no problem going to France.

In reply to hoolabloom:
My understanding is that an EU citizen can no longer take a Swiss car out of Switzerland. Luckily I booked a French car from Geneva airport, which seems to be all right.

I don't know to what extent the law is being enforced. Without stopping every Swiss registered car at an EU border, who would know the nationality of the driver?

It may be a question of luck, whether you get stopped at an EU border or not.

It's madness in any case

In reply to Pero:

It's also a pain as the cars on the french side don't have a vignette so you run the risk of ending up on the autoroute without one (quite easily done your honour....) and in winter, the Swiss cars often have winter tyres and chains as standard, the french ones don't.

In reply to Pero:
Two weeks ago I hired a car to go to Chamonix from Geneva, stupidly I hired from the Swiss side. At the desk the woman asked if I was going to take the car into France, I replied that I was. She asked me again saying that it wasn't possible. I asked if there was a way around this question, she said... You can sign a disclaimer stating that you won't take the car into France, even though she knew I was about to do just that. So I signed it and took the car.

I was stopped three weeks ago driving a rental car with Switz plates across the border into France at Bardonnex. I showed them documentation demonstrating my non-EU citizenship and residence, so they let me pass with no problem.

For times when I rent from the French side of GVA, I have a
GPS track for driving between France Alps autoroutes (via St-Julien-en-Genevoise) and the France side of GVA airport -- through the city of Geneva -- without using the Switz autoroute. I also have posted detailed instructions for how to do this without a GPS. A bit tricky, but I've done it successfully several times.
. . (It's much longer, and still tricky, to drive from the French Alps to the France side of GVA _without_ passing through Switzerland).

I assume that a top-quality modern GPS app or device would offer two routes to navigate driving to or from the France side of GVA, one with and one without the autoroute.

Ken