Apparently Ramstein is so short of drivers they are making Aircrew rent their own vans to get to their hotels. While this might have benefits in allowing more flexibility and freedom for aircrews, it has some pitfalls too. Renting a vehicle in Germany without a German or international drivers license can expose the driver to major liability if you get into an accident.

I’m not sure if the Base will accept that liability or not since they are implementing that policy.

If you have an extended stay in Ramstein I recommend the two day class they offer to get a German license. It cost €10.00 when I got mine years ago and is good for ten years.

An International Drivers License is not a drivers license per say but a translation of your US license. While encouraged to have, especially in countries were English isn't widely-spoken; they are not required.

I've driven in Europe countless times without one and it was never an issue. Most of my speeding tickets were from cameras and sent to the rental company anyway! 😁😁😁

Also, it's been a very long time since I rented a car on military orders; but quick research showed if you use your GTCC it does provide rental car insurance for official government travel.

It provides Collision Damage Waiver and Loss Damage Waiver (LDW), but does not cover damage/injury to other people or property or if you use the car off-duty or for personal travel.

However, when you book through the DTS with approved vendors rental cars often already include full insurance in the contract thus you usually don’t need to rely on GTCC coverage at all.

But don't trust my word, confirm that!

Personally, I would much rather have a vehicle at my disposal than depend on the Transportation Squadron!

GTCC rental car insurance coverage is not as robust as it seams.

Anything OCONUS is probably not covered. And if you need a vehicle for more than 30 days, CONUS or OCONUS, get a new contract at day 30.

Or insist on government provided crew transportation, or put the rental burden on the agency controlling your mission requirement.

Fortunately I have not witnessed a situation above that involved injury, but have witnessed damage. You do not want to be involved in any flavor of GTCC rental claim, CONUS or OCONUS.

When stationed in Europe, we usually just bought the full car insurance from the rental place. Guys with little experience driving in small parking garages and such equals scraped up vehicles. We would turn in vehicles with huge gouges up the sides and the rental employees would look pissed but didn't charge us extra. The no extra paperwork at the end was nice, especially when as many guys were in it as BQQips mom and no one remembered who scratched it up.

I’ve returned a car OCONUS missing a door. Said “have a nice day” and left. Never heard about it ever again. Seen many GTC rentals returned all kinds of screwed up over my career, never seen or heard of anyone getting screwed (questioned by the CC is a different story).

22 minutes ago, brabus said:

I’ve returned a car OCONUS missing a door. Said “have a nice day” and left. Never heard about it ever again. Seen many GTC rentals returned all kinds of screwed up over my career, never seen or heard of anyone getting screwed (questioned by the CC is a different story).

In the last 20 years? I've had nothing but issues with overseas rental cars in European countries. DO fought a battle with a compnay in Italy for a year over a busted bumper.

9 hours ago, brabus said:

I’ve returned a car OCONUS missing a door. Said “have a nice day” and left. Never heard about it ever again. Seen many GTC rentals returned all kinds of screwed up over my career, never seen or heard of anyone getting screwed (questioned by the CC is a different story).

We had a rental van in Germany year ago. We were flying down the autobahn when the dude in the passenger's seat rolled down the window....the combination of speed, airlfow and age on the van was just enough to tear the headliner loose.....BOOM....we were all suddenly sitting there covered in a cloud of insulation, it looked like a scene out of a movie, all we could do was laugh. Took us a while to get all the insulation out of our hair, teeth and flightsuits. The next day one of the guys super-glued the headliner back into place. We turned the van in a few days later and never heard a word.

20 hours ago, uhhello said:

In the last 20 years? I've had nothing but issues with overseas rental cars in European countries. DO fought a battle with a compnay in Italy for a year over a busted bumper.

The door event was 16 years ago. It’s been a couple years since the last “oops, our bad” rental return.