Driving abroad has many advantages for the traveller.  Timetable flexibility.  Car hire can often be cheaper than a taxi to and from the airport.  A real opportunity to explore and make ad hoc decisions on what to do.  On our long USA driving trips the car almost becomes a second home, albeit not quite an RV.

But there is a catch.  If you damage the hire car, you pay.  I’m about to find out what random amount Avis charge for a plastic clip on a wing mirror.  The maximum is capped at €1,000.  They did offer me insurance costing €80 for less than four days but I declined.  Partly on the basis I wouldn’t pay €7,300 for an annual policy.

The other reason for rejecting the Avis policy is that I have cover with American Express thanks to my posh £450 charge card.  The disadvantage of this “free” cover is that Avis charge me and I need to provide AMEX with paperwork to enable them to reimburse me.

So between booking holidays I need to find time for that paperwork.

The damage itself was a travesty.  The large metal bin must have leapt out quite sharply to catch my near side wing mirror in such a way.  Then somehow it managed to hide the plastic backing it tore from the car.

In other news, I found the EHIC card!

The Mystery of the Missing EHIC Card