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Sunday, July 2, 2006

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Affordable Tokyo

HAVING LIVED and worked in Tokyo, I enjoyed (and agreed with) Ben Brazil ["Tokyo Is Cheap," June 25]. The city abounds with inexpensive restaurants, interesting stores and fascinating sights, as well as very friendly and helpful people. For outdoors lovers, there is excellent mountain hiking such as Mount Takao, within a day trip from downtown.

Also, while there are plenty of Tokyo guidebooks, I would highly recommend "Tokyo for Free" by Susan Pompian (Kodansha), a well-written book that lists numerous Tokyo attractions -- the only criterion being, they're all free.

Leo Bosner, Washington

Fire Semantics

IT IS NATURAL for the average person to say that a fire "destroyed" a house or some other object of value. But in writing about a fire in a forest, I urge you to avoid using that verb [Coming and Going, June 25]. Most forests need fires to stay healthy. The individual trees may be killed, but the acreage and forest are not destroyed. If that were the case, we probably would have no forests left by now. "Burned" is an accurate verb in such situations.

Ben Beach, Senior Editor, Wilderness Society, Washington

Renting Cars in Europe

THANKS FOR your informative article on renting cars in Europe [File This, June 18]. However, it would be useful for your readers to know about short-term tax-free leasing if they will be in Europe for 17 days or more.

Several companies offer "buy back" plans that include unlimited mileage, zero-deduction collision insurance, plus some liability insurance and 24-hour roadside assistance. Again, no taxes are added on. In some rental cases, the VAT can be close to an additional 20 percent of the quoted price. Of interest to older drivers is that there is no age limit for leasers as there may be in some cases for renters.

A quick Internet search will get you Auto Europe or Europeforvisitors. The latter offers an economy four-door Peugeot for pickup in Paris for $35.83 per day for a 30-day rental.

Condit Eddy, Chevy Chase

I WAS ASTONISHED that no mention was made of the insurance coverage provided by many credit card companies for car rentals in Europe when the rental is paid for with that card. Everyone thinking of renting a car in Europe should read their credit card agreement before they go.

A better approach than starting a search with one of the major U.S. rental companies is to search car rentals at one of the major travel sites such as Travelocity.com or Expedia.com. These sites provide rate comparisons of multiple rental companies for similar cars. In addition to broker Auto Europe, you might also have mentioned Kemwel ( http://www.kemwel.com/ ), another broker with a proven reputation for major U.S. as well as European car rental companies.

Kira Lueders, Kensington

THE SMART WAY to rent a car in Europe (except Ireland) is to book and pay with a Platinum MasterCard or Visa, and then the insurance is included by the card issuer. This only works in foreign countries, as domestic rental is covered by the renter's car insurance.

It is important for travelers from the United States to know this, to avoid a large unnecessary expense.

Michael Jakob, Fairfax

KNOW WHAT KIND of gas your car takes. Some take lead-free, others diesel, and while there is supposed to be a sticker on the steering wheel and across the gas-tank flap indicating which, it isn't always there.

A few years ago we were not told that our rental (from Hertz, in central Paris at the Gare du Nord) took diesel. We drove a couple of hundred miles south, filled it with lead-free and got about 30 miles farther before the car refused to budge -- in the parking lot of a gigantic supermarket, after we'd filled it with a week's worth of groceries, about 20 miles short of our rental cottage. After many phone calls, I had to take an expensive taxi ride to Toulouse, the nearest Hertz office with a car available, to get another car.

Our mishap stole time from our vacation, cost us money and involved much subsequent correspondence. Be sure to ask.

Josephine Woll, Chevy Chase

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