Information Age restrictions for IDP in Italy?

[Gina Marie]

My friend and I will be in Rome for one month April/May 2018. From time to time we will be renting a car to drive to Umbria and Campania. I will turn 66 while in Italy, and she will turn 68 just prior to our arrival in Italy.
She is concerned that there is a cut off age for driving in Italy, something she recalls reading/hearing about, whether that is for tourists using an IDP or residents, or both, I am not sure. We were both planning on being listed as drivers while using the rental vehicle.
Does anyone know anything about age limits for rental cars, driving, etc?

grazie in anticipo,

Gina Marie

 

[jan]

Maybe call AutoEurope and ask them???

 

[Andrew]

Those ages should be o.k. Right on the Auto Europe home page in the first search box, they say "Additional fees may apply for drivers under 25 and 70+ at the time of rental. Please see the Terms and Conditions for further details."

 

[Gina Marie]

Maybe call AutoEurope and ask them???

Sure. I certainly could have made a phone call rather than bother the forum with my inane questions. It was my impression that those who rather not be bothered with questions they seem trite might just refrain from responding.

I did some google searching and tried narrowing my question to specifics and got a few hits from trip advisor and actually followed one link to Auto Europe, though don't believe the age limit was listed in the quick links.

You know, after a few minutes I thought to myself: "I know where I can go to ask this question and get an answer from an expert travel advisor: SlowEurope".
Thinking, of course, that this was a friendly community where I could get some real life experience references. Thanks for your feedback.

 

[Gina Marie]

Those ages should be o.k. Right on the Auto Europe home page in the first search box, they say "Additional fees may apply for drivers under 25 and 70+ at the time of rental. Please see the Terms and Conditions for further details."

Thank you, Andrew. I'll take a closer look or make that phone call.

 

[Gina Marie]

Just a quick follow up to my question: After doing an albeit, brief google search for the information pertaining to age limits on car rental in Europe, I got a lot of conflicting information that ranged from Ireland being the most restrictive (age 70) to no age limitations, 70 years old in Italy, 75 years old, 85 years old, etc....Which is when I had the idea that I could come right to the fountain of information source here and go about my business.

My thought process was this: that there are some, if not several travel advisors on this site, some who may reside in Italy specifically, and would have accurate, up to date information. But before posting my inquiry, I did do a quick search and got no results. I believe I used search terms like "age limits for car rental in Italy" and "driving with an IDP in Italy" and got no results.

I felt comfortable that it hadn't been covered repetitively and that it also might be a small piece of information that would be helpful to others.
Thanks, and happy trails to all.

 

[Alpinista]

May not be preferable, but my wife does all the driving when we have rental cars. We are in Italy for 2 months at a time and the cost of a second driver doesn't seem worth it (plus I drive far too cautiously for her).

https://www.europcar.com/EBE/module...0-C01F6665DCB4:ContentPopupTerms&locale=en_US

 

[Gina Marie]

May not be preferable, but my wife does all the driving when we have rental cars. We are in Italy for 2 months at a time and the cost of a second driver doesn't seem worth it (plus I drive far too cautiously for her).

https://www.europcar.com/EBE/module...0-C01F6665DCB4:ContentPopupTerms&locale=en_US

Thank you, Aplinista. Is the second driver fee a per day added charge ? I suppose we will still both want to be listed as drivers for convenience sake, so will probably absorb the added cost.
And thanks for the link. I have been to Auto Europe and checked their site for age requirements. They talk about age minimums but no maximum age cutoff. I will get answers to all these questions when I reserve with them. I believe it was on this site where they came highly recommended for ease of communication purposes and smooth transition.
Thanks again.

 

[Alpinista]

Is the second driver fee a per day added charge ?

It has probably been 10 years since we last did two drivers, but my wife thinks the charge then was $10+ per day at that time.

The linked chart below says there is a fixed rate for Europcar. I do know that whenever we've asked, we were told the fee was daily, not a capped charge, so might be worth some additional research.

https://www.gemut.com/car-rental-eu...tra-charges-when-renting-a-car-in-europe.html

 

[Andrew]

If you start a booking with Auto Europe, there's a place where you can click on Rate Details > Driver Information, and they give the cost for an additional driver to be paid locally. For what I checked with Avis, they showed €8.50 a day (maximum €127.50), Hertz €11.59 a day (maximum €208.62).

 

[Gina Marie]

Thank you both for the added info. I appreciate the help.

 

[Marlene]

When/if you get a definitive answer to the age question, I would be interested. I was under the impression that I had "aged out" (i'm 76), but if not, I would like to know that as it opens options for future travel.

 

[Roz]

The last time we rented a car in Italy my husband was 73 -- no issues about his age. He's now 76, and had no problem this year renting a car in France. Both times we went through Auto Europe. Here is another quote from the Auto Europe website:

A less common rental car age requirement is a maximum age limit that will sometimes prevent older senior drivers from renting a car. These limits typically affect drivers 75 and older, but individual rental suppliers can set these rental car age requirements and restrictions at their own discretion. The good news for senior citizens is that these rules are uncommon in most European countries.​

I was added to the contract in France and had to pay an extra 10 euro a day for the first 7 days, but no extra charge thereafter.

 

[Gina Marie]

When/if you get a definitive answer to the age question, I would be interested. I was under the impression that I had "aged out" (i'm 76), but if not, I would like to know that as it opens options for future travel.

I certainly will, Marlene, and be glad to share it. I plan to start contacting some of the companies on my list that I have done internet quotes for soon.
I am not sure I understand the advantage of using AutoEurope, unless it is all about middle man go-between communications. As I search their site, the results give me a list of Budget, Avis, Hertz, Europcar, etc...
Alamo is absent from their list of results, and when I searched for rental car agencies rankings, Alamo ranks highest.
I returned here tonight to relocate some information I remember seeing about road maps for Umbria.

 

[Gina Marie]

I was added to the contract in France and had to pay an extra 10 euro a day for the first 7 days, but no extra charge thereafter.

Thank you, Roz. I will definitely tuck this under my cap when negotiating pricing.

 

[Andrew]

Advantages of using Auto Europe include having them as an advocate in customer service matters, and that their price quotes are all-inclusive. You can find a lot added on to the initial quotes you get directly from the companies. On AE bookings in the past, I could typically expect a small road tax to be added at the time of the rental, but on our Hertz AE rental this year, there was no extra charge at the time of rental.

 

[Gina Marie]

Anyone have a typical vehicle make they found inadequate or perhaps quite enjoyable for driving the Umbrian countryside and mountain regions? (two people w/luggage)
I read here (somewhere) to avoid economy or minis as they may not handle the terrain so well. So, for price considerations we are looking at compact (VW golf or Fiats) and perhaps the Alfa Romeo (Giulietta) in the mid-size.
Just curious if anyone has an absolute favorite in the compact class. We rented Prius in the past, which were fine for our needs.
We will choose a manual and not an automatic.
Always a pleasure to get your opinions/thoughts, thank you.

 

[Andrew]

We generally select a compact, and in recent years it's been a Fiat 500L (pretty nice, not much relation to the old 500) or a VW Golf. My wife feels like she has an allergy to the VW, and we would try to get it changed if they assign us one, but it's generally the office's choice what you get. Rental cars are generally diesels, so the operating cost is lower.

 

[Alpinista]

We usually get something like the Giulietta and are happy with it. Our driving is in hilly areas around the Serchio Valley (near Lucca) and up into the towns around Bagni di Lucca as well as autostrada to the beach (Lido di Camaiore) and to/from Rome at the beginning/end of the trip. We don't have large pieces of luggage since we have clothes at our house, so we normally have one medium sized and one smaller suitcase -- but there is room left over in the trunk.

On a side note, my dream continues that my wife will not feel the need to fill up the medium sized suitcase going over with consumables that we could easily buy once there -- as an example, some day we're going to be stopped for smuggling peanut butter.

 

[Gina Marie]

Thanks, Alpinista! I am leaning toward the Giulietta. I did find out that my credit card will pay the deductible for the extended coverage rate should there be an accident, so we don't need to get the no deductible option. It's isn't that much of a savings up front on the rental end, but is certainly a savings on the off chance that something could happen and we'd have to pay the $3000 deductible.
We will forego the GPS and it's added fee and go with the second driver fee. We are thinking we can put in plenty of research and map printing before we leave home, and if there are any road closures or mishaps we can always call up our cell phone GPS systems.
Got my new passport today! Five months to go! My daughter and SIL have decided to join us in Rome for one week, and then fly on to Ireland. The excitement mounts...!!