Return and inspection of the car
1. Prepare the checklist provided by the rental company before
2. Rental agreement, insurance documents, deposit receipt
3. Wash the car before returning it, both interior and exterior. Otherwise, you may be fined up to 500 Swiss francs for car washing (e.g. in Switzerland)
4. All photos taken when picking up the car
5. Return the car with a full tank of gas. Otherwise, you may be charged for refueling, which can be expensive
6. Take a photo of the fuel gauge
7. Take photos of any potential scratches to avoid being overcharged
8. When the car is inspected, make sure to check what is written and any associated fees. If there are any objections, resolve them before signing. This can be a stressful time, especially if you are in a rush to catch a flight, and you may overlook certain issues. It can be difficult to resolve them once you have returned home
9. The deposit refund will depend on the rental company checking for any violations, parking tickets, or toll charges. It may take 1-2 months to receive the deposit refund, and there will be no notification. The charges will be automatically deducted
Additional information: Some gas stations offer automatic and manual car wash services. Both require self-operation.
Automatic car wash: Drive in, the brushes will automatically clean and dry the car. The cost varies from 10-29 Swiss francs, depending on the size of the car. Advantages: Quick, approximately 10-20 minutes. Disadvantages: Expensive, and the car may not be thoroughly cleaned. Vacuuming requires coins, approximately 1 franc for 10 minutes
Manual car wash: Advantages: Cheaper, more thorough cleaning, and can help identify any issues. Disadvantages: Tiring, limited time with the car wash hose, need to purchase car wash detergent. Indoor vacuuming requires renting a vacuum for approximately 1 franc for 10 minutes ?
Switzerland Q&A
In summary, the schedule is too tight, I'm not sure how much time I have left to play, but the days are late in Greece, it's not until 8 o'clock at night that it gets dark, and it doesn't matter if you go late to places without tickets, it takes a long time to get to Meteora from there, whether it's from Athens or your itinerary from Meteora to Delphi, your estimated time will definitely be exceeded, considering that you have six people, you must stop in the middle, driving too fast is tiring and unsafe. Mystras needs to be repaired in the castle on the mountain and the monastery below, Monemvasia also has a castle on top of the mountain and a town crossing, they are all not small, they need a lot of time, I think each point a day is very rushed, relatively speaking, Delphi, Olympia and the Theatre are small points (although they are not small), your itinerary on the 14th is really impossible to do, you have to go from Monemvasia to Nafplion to Epidaurus and then go to Cape Colonna and back to the Temple of Poseidon and back to Athens, you basically have no time to shop, just drive. I really suggest you delete some points and enjoy the leisure of Greece～ ?
Greece Q&A
11.9 Beijing-Athens-Santorini. Arrive at 11:40, rent a car to Oia (30 minutes), stay in Oia, explore Oia, watch the sunset. 11.10 Santorini, take a boat or drive to see the Red and Black Beaches, Thira, Pyrgos, Kamari Beach, etc. (1.5-2 hours round trip by car), stay in Fira. 11.11 Santorini-Athens, return the car at 11:00, flight at 12:00-13:00, rent a car, drive along the coastal road for 1 hour to visit the Temple of Poseidon, watch the sunset, drive 2 hours to stay in Corinth. 11.12 Drive from Corinth Canal-1 hour drive-Ancient Theater-0.5 hour drive-Nafplion-0.5 hour drive-Mycenae Ruins-2.5 hour drive-Olympia Ruins, rent a car, stay in Olympia town at night. 11.13 Visit Olympia Museum and Ruins-3.5 hour drive through Corinth Bay and coastal road-Delphi-visit Delphi, stay in Delphi at night. 11.14 Delphi-3 hour drive-Meteora Monasteries, see the Sky City, stay in Kalambaka at night. 11.15 Kalambaka-4 hour drive-Athens, explore Athens, stay in Athens. 11.16 Depart at 9:00, drive 30 minutes to return the car at the airport, 13:00 flight back to Beijing ?
Greece Q&A
Not tailgating, don't speed, speeding fines are heavy, I saw the police officer's calculation basis for issuing tickets (unfortunately got caught), the starting price is $50, plus an additional $20 for every mile over the speed limit, simply put, if you speed by 10 miles, the fine is $250, this is the calculation basis for speeding by 16 miles or less, I don't know about 16 miles or more. However, American police are still very good, I was speeding by 9 miles, being polite, flattering, and only got fined $60. You can only pay the fine online after returning to China (three weeks after the ticket was issued), the ticket needs to be recognized by the court before the government can collect the fine, my friend said that on the day of the court hearing, if the police officer who issued the ticket does not show up (probability of 90%), the ticket will be invalid, there is a big gap in my feeling. A special reminder, American police are like ghosts, you never know when they will appear behind your car ?
United States Q&A
The United States is very large, and every time you go somewhere it's different. This summer, I went to Yellowstone and chose an SUV, but I regretted it because the high center of gravity made it tilt heavily on the mountain roads... and all the roads were paved, so if you don't have a need for a lot of luggage, don't choose an SUV. Last year, I rented a BMW 4 Series to drive around the Grand Canyon area and it felt great. I stayed in Yellowstone for 5 days, 2 days at Old Faithful, 2 days at Canyon, and 1 day at Yellowstone Lake. The itinerary was not tight, so I just played around and drove all the roads in Yellowstone. Accommodation in Yellowstone is expensive, and the itinerary was not optimized, but the gas prices were cheaper than in the Bay Area. As for cash and credit cards, to be honest, I haven't used much cash in recent years. I only keep cash for tips. Throughout the trip, I only used cash once at a strange restaurant in Salt Lake City for one night, and also used cash to send postcards at the Yellowstone post office. Everything else was done with credit cards, including self-service gas and meals. It was surprising to find out at a gas station in Carson City that they explicitly did not accept VISA credit cards and had to use a MasterCard. I remembered trying credit cards at gas stations in Utah and San Diego last year, and this year's experience was really different, as many gas stations have upgraded ?
United States Q&A
The road conditions on Zakynthos are still good, but there are many winding roads. I rented a Peugeot 208, and sometimes it's quite difficult to climb steep slopes. There are many one-way streets in the town. Now, the price for Shipwreck Bay and Blue Caves is 20 euros per person. I first went to the Potamitis place to take a boat. There were hardly any people on Sunday. After waiting for a while, a lady asked us if we were going. I asked about the price, and she said it would be 80 euros for two people because it would be a private charter. If we went with others, it would be 20 euros per person. I thought it was too expensive and there were no other people around, so I went to Agios Nikolaos. There weren't many people there on Sunday either. I asked and was told that if we didn't wait and left immediately, it would be 100 euros for two people. If we waited for others, it would be 20 euros. Luckily, after waiting for about fifteen minutes, a couple arrived, and we went together. It took about an hour and a half. It's best to arrive at the Blue Caves between 12-2 pm. I arrived there at nearly 5 pm, and the sun was shining from behind, so it wasn't very visible. I hope this helps you. ?
Greece Q&A
I just returned from Sweden in August, and I have had many appearances before, including developed countries such as Australia. In theory, there should be no problem at all. I am now worried that the Zhongzhi Visa Center is playing tricks. I was supposed to submit my documents on September 1st. At that time, the staff checked the child's documents first and said there was no ticket pre-order. The child's other documents were all qualified. I actually bought the ticket, but I was confused and didn't print it. I told her I would go to the lobby to print it and come back in ten minutes. She said that even if it was a supplementary document, all three people had to upgrade to VIP, and each person had to pay an additional 250 yuan. I thought it was not worth it and said I would come back another day. So I made another appointment on September 5th. I checked the documents at home many times and thought there should be no problem before I went. As a result, after the staff checked all our documents, they said the photo was not qualified, and the proportion of the face in the photo was too large. I said I took it when I applied for a Swedish visa in July, and most importantly, the staff who checked the documents a few days ago said that everything was fine except for the lack of a ticket pre-order, and they even asked me to paste the child's photo on the application form. Why did they say the photo was not acceptable this time? Isn't this finding fault for no reason? I was particularly angry at the time and argued with them. The staff asked for approval from their superiors, but they said that the result of today's review was final, which was simply unreasonable. Both my partner and I went to take photos again, but the child did not go. In the end, we had to go to the school to pick up the child and take photos, which was simply trying to find ways to charge extra fees, shameless to the extreme. I don't know if they have submitted our documents as required, because based on the situation of submitting documents twice, I think the conduct of the staff of the Zhongzhi Visa Center entrusted by the embassy is really not commendable ?
Switzerland Q&A