Avis, Hertz, Europcar, Sixt,...

.. Budget, Atesa, National, pepecar, Niza Cars, autoeurope, Opodo, carbookers are all the same big shit! And there are lots more. I'm really sick and tired of their "offers" and horribly designed websites with this incredibly stupid search engines that could have been pogrammed by six-year-olds on a Nintendo and their mini tiny fuzzy terms and conditions gently hidden back behind.

So, this is the thing if you want to rent a car in Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany or Austria in the middle of winter: You are going to die. Yes, if you don't have what is generally known as a big cash account you and your family will die on your way to your winter holiday. All the big names of rental car shit out there would actually let you drive away in a brand new car without winter tires as long as you don't specifically ask for them and that means of course paying for that! A lot! In France - for example - this would be the rent of a small car. And surely you would have to order a big car because they won't fit winter tires to a small one. Don't try to take a cheap alternative. You won't be able to get any extras as long as you pay big money for that without ever knowing how much it is because they won't tell you before you are actually standing right in front of the car.

Oh, lovely information by the way - if you already wondered. Snow in Spain? Snow in France? What's the matter here? Well, did you know that tires are actually the most important part of a car. Indeed, they are right in the middle of the street and your car and mostly the one and only responsibility to keep you on the road. Summer tires are made of special rubber-mixtures to work with high temperatures and they actually loose most of the grip if temperatures fall below 7 degrees. Interesting, isn't it?!

Now here is my advice. Try to get one of those offers. I mean, the really cheap ones. Get the highest insurance option without any own risk. Drive along a beautiful road. Enjoy your day, roll the car down a cliff, say the hand-brake was broke and walk away smoothly.