Snow chains....................????!!

Hi All.. (Newbie) :D

Going to Val Thorens early Jan. Cant wait..

Flying to Geneva and driving down with hire car..

All booked and ready to go, but.. i have enquired with the hire company about supplying snow chains, but they have said they cannot guarantee that they can suply them.. :roll:

What optiions do i have..? is it easy to buy them on route, etc, etc.. any one been in this situ before..?

Thanks for any replies..

Hi James,

If the hire company can't provide them, in winter you should be able to buy some in any patrol station by the ski resort or even better in a big supermarket. They will be cheaper so doesn't really matter if they last just for your holiday.

Or look for Feu Vert which is a kind of Halfords equivalent. You should be able to pick up chains for under 50€. Do practise putting them on before you go: learning in a blizzard is no fun.

:Dhi,have you booked your car hire from the french side?,if you book from the swiss side at geneva the car will be supplied with snow tyres or chains or both as standard,chains or snow tyres are not always included on the french side.
many regards
jonG

Hi James

When we have booked a hire car that hasn't been supplied with chains they have always advised that if we have to purchase them then they would reinburse us.

Saying that though, the only time we have used them is when we are in val d'isere.

JW

I agree with all advice to date. In January there is a good chance of needing some.
I have personal experience which would make the advice of trying to practice before you need them particularly good. It took 3 of us some time to work them out in snow and failing light on our way to Flaine; with increasing difficulty as hands got colder.
It is worth hiring from the Swiss side:
As well as chains being standard, the yearly Swiss motorway tax costs are included. From the French side I think you will need to pay the whole years tax or avoid Swiss motorways.
http://driving.drive-alive.co.uk/driving-in-switzerland.htm

I'd agree you should always hire from the Swiss side, and try Budget as a baseline, as they only seem to add snowchains to the on-line price. Look at http://www.gva.ch/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-72/ which lists the Geneva car hire links. If you hire a 4x4 you probably won't get chains, as they may not fit anyway, so there's no point in nagging the rental clerk. Generally, winter tyres get you a pretty far, but you may chains to get across ice or up starts etc. They are truly a pain to put on, so remember to pack a good torch in your hand baggage in case you need to put them on outbound.

msej449 wrote:If you hire a 4x4 you probably won't get chains, as they may not fit anyway, so there's no point in nagging the rental clerk. Generally, winter tyres get you a pretty far, but you may chains to get across ice or up starts etc. They are truly a pain to put on, so remember to pack a good torch in your hand baggage in case you need to put them on outbound.

If a route requires chains then the police will stop you whether you have 4WD or not or winter tyres on. If you have a 4WD SUV type vehicle without chains and plan to buy them at a supermarket or garage that probably won't work either as they're slightly special and not commonly stocked. I'd also have to say it would be a mistake to assume an SUV is naturally good in the snow as they're not.

We've 4WD's with winter tyres on and I'd not dream of leaving without having chains, shovel etc in the car. That we don't usually need them isn't really the point.

On the Swiss side the car will tend to be equipped, it's not, as often wrongly stated, a legal requirement but it is a condition of insurance that a car is suitably equipped for conditions. That always means winter tyres and apparently sometimes snow chains.