Airline: RT tickets for the two of us from Denver to Switzerland on Iceland Air were considerably less expensive than flying out of Omaha ($2,244 vs $3,250). So we decided to drive to Denver (rental car) and fly out of Denver on July 11. The plane makes a brief stop in Iceland and arrives Zurich on July 12 at 1:00 pm. For the return trip we will leave Zurich on Oct 13 at 2:00 pm and arrival Denver at 6:30 pm.
Car: A "buy-back lease" with Renault is considerably less expensive than a normal rental ($2,085 lease vs $3,200 rental for a mid sized car). Additional advantages with the lease included a new car with full warranty, collision damage waiver, 3rd party liability insurance, unlimited mileage, road side service, and a GPS. The only additional fee will be for vignettes (window stickers) required for driving the main highways in Austria and Switzerland (roughly $60). We learned that when paying for a car rental using one of our credit cards, the credit card company only provides 30 days insurance. And the rental companies charge $150 per week for a GPS. Since the leased car pick-up is at the Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg airport (pick-up is not available in Zurich), we rented a car to drive to Basel (60 miles) to pick up the leased car (renting a car was only slightly more than taking the train and will be more convenient).
International drivers permit: Austria requires an International Drivers Permit in addition to our U. S. drivers license. We each obtained one at the Lincoln AAA office ($12 fee for a portrait picture and $15 for the permit). Note: Membership in AAA was not required to obtain the permit.
International drivers permit: Austria requires an International Drivers Permit in addition to our U. S. drivers license. We each obtained one at the Lincoln AAA office ($12 fee for a portrait picture and $15 for the permit). Note: Membership in AAA was not required to obtain the permit.
European currency: The currency exchange fees can be as high as 8% at ATMs and airport currency exchanges. Use of credit cards at banks for cash advances incur a 3% fee plus a flat $5 to $10 and interest on the advance starts immediately (no grace period). We found that by opening an on-line checking account with CapitalOne360 and using the Capital One bank debit card for cash advances, we could minimize the currency exchange fees and avoid interest charges.
Credit Card purchases in Europe: Most credit card banks charge a 3% transaction fee for credit card purchases in Europe but the Capital One VISA and Discover credit cards do not apply any transaction or currency exchange fees. Capital One is the more widely accepted.
Arrival in Switzerland: After arriving in Zurich, we will drive to Laufenburg (approx 30 miles) on the Rhine river midway between Zurich and Basel where we have reserved a "Ferienwohnung" (vacation apartment) for 3 nights at $39 per night + $14 cleaning fee (on the German side of the Rhine). We will rest there to recover from the jet lag and then drive to Basel on the 13th to drop off the rental car and pick up the leased car. Then we will explore some in Basel and adjoining Muttenz (where we lived for a year in 1982-3) and parts of the Black Forest near Laufenburg.
