Munich Airport transportation and Car Rental question.

My question is multipart. We will be arriving in Munich on a Saturday in late August. We would like to spend a couple of days in Munich before traveling through Germany and leaving out of Berlin 2 weeks later. We have not decided on the exact itinerary yet except that we will spend the last 3 days in Berlin.

My questions are:

Should we rent a car at the airport in Munich and drive into the city?

Should we take alternate transportation into the city and rent a car at one of the city car rental offices? I understand that there is a surcharge for rentals at airports and train stations so this should save us some money.

I understand that the S Bahn is available at the airport that will go directly into the center of the city. How practical is it for 2 people each with a medium size suitcase to travel on the S Bahn?

Does anyone have recommendations for car rental companies? We will be dropping the car off in Berlin on Wednesday prior to our departure. (We don’t want a car in Berlin)

Any other advice on renting a car? Is it advisable to take the LDW or would the LDW provided by a credit card company suffice?

Thanks

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Taking the S-Bahn from the airport to center city is very easy and is no problem at all even with luggage. People do it all the time and there%26#39;s plenty of storage on the train.

I wouldn%26#39;t bother with a car at all while you are in Munich. Between the trains, trams, and busses, the public transport is fabulous and easy to figure out. It%26#39;s easy to spend at least a week in the center of Munich and simply walk most places, there is so much to do there.

I%26#39;ve been to Munich at least a dozen times and have only rented a car once to drive to Garmisch Partinkirchen and go to Neuschwanstein. I used SIXT and it turned out great. Beware that there will likely be a hefty drop off charge if you return other than origination city. Check the SIXT web site at www.sixt.com, or call them to find out ahead of time. (I believe when I rented from them you had to talk to them directly to find out about one way rentals.) THey can also tell you the price difference between renting at airport and in town.

I%26#39;ve never taken the LDW, your stateside car insurance should cover you. To be safe, call your insurance provider and ask before you go.

You%26#39;ll have a great time! Bavaria is marvelous.

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Agree with all above, but...my US car insurance does not cover my rental in Europe. My credit card (that I keep only for car rentals in Europe) does pick up the LDW as you indicated in your post. I had a rock crack the windshield last June and the credit card picked up most of the cost just like they said it would. I did have to pay a service fee, but it ended up being very reasonable to replace a windshield on a BMW.

I use Avis when I travel, they have a convenient office in Munich within 200 yards of a S bahn stop and I don%26#39;t think they charge for dropping off at an alternate location.

Good luck.

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Thanks for the advice. I get a corporate discount with Avis so at this point I am inclined to use them. From what I have seen on the web site there is no drop off charge within Germany. I am not sure if taking out the extra LDW is worth the peace of mind or if just using a credit card, which I have already checked that does cover the LDW would be the way to go.

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I agree with all prior posted answers.

No need for a car to get around Munich and parking can be annoying.

As for rentals, I would check with several firms as sometimes deals are better than even the corporate rates...in fact, corporate rates often roll in other costs that are unnecesary because your firm requires them.

Other city drop-offs can be costly and you should check when you make a res. I find it easy to try booking with same place return and get price, then recoing it with the other city and looking for difference.