Getting The Best Price For Car Rentals

[artnbarb]

Like many others here we book our rentals thru Auto Europe. This post is just a reminder to check back with them to see if the prices have changed, right before you leave - AE will give you the lower rate. I realize I like to book things much further in advance than others, but one year my rental went down FOUR times, resulting in a savings of several hundred dollars. I usually don't get that lucky every year, but still check back with the site just in case.

Additionally, I just saved myself $100 for a rental here in the US. We need a car for 4 1/2 days, picking up at one airport and dropping off at another airport. By booking the car for a full week rather than just the 4 1/2 days the cost went from $250 to $150, and I'm very happy I thought about this option.

 

[artnbarb]

And I just checked with AE/Kemwel and saved $117 for our rental in Ireland! I was surprised that prices had gone down this close to our rental date, but I'll take it!

 

[DDTraveler]

Good advice!

 

[ellen]

I've also found that it's often less expensive to pay for the 3-day minimum with AutoEurope and return the car a day early if I only needed it for two days. So far I've never had any pushback about returning early but I've never asked for permission, I just showed up.

 

[CaWino]

Do you typically purchase auto insurance extra as part of your rental ? I am under the belief that my personal auto insurance and/or credit card provides a layer of protection. I would appreciate input on this topic as I am re-evaluating what is proper.

 

[ellen]

In the past I didn't purchase the extra insurance and I still don't when renting in the States but I buy it now for foreign rentals. I've just seen too much nonsense at the return, with the full coverage there's no incentive for the agents to find problems, whether they exist or not. I've come to see the cost of full coverage as part of my plan for getting to the flight on time.

 

[veronicafrance]

I pay an annual fee for insurance from a 3rd party insurance company that covers all hire cars throughout Europe. It's only about 60 euros a year, so it pays for itself if I just hire a couple of times. I've had occasion to claim on it too, and both times they handled my claim fast and with no quibbles.

Unrelated, I only discovered relatively recently that if you sign up for Hertz's Gold programme (free), you can always have a second driver for no extra charge. This has saved us a lot of money. As well as time -- when you're Gold, you can usually pick up your car without queuing at the desk at all. Works for them too -- now I always use Hertz unless I have a good reason not to.

 

[Sharon J]

My husband is a Gold Program member with Hertz as well. I have always used Auto Europe to book our Hertz car in the past. However, this time, when we arrived in Rome, we didn't see his name on the board. So we had to go to the Hertz counter, and take a number. We ended up waiting for over an hour to speak to a Rep. Their waiting area was packed. His Hertz number was clearly marked on the Auto Europe confirmation. Probably my fault for not checking before our trip, but we will no longer book through Auto Europe, and will work directly with Hertz. I'm truly not sure that Auto Europe addresses this issue, thus my mistake, I guess. I learned my lesson, as that was not fun after a 12 hour flight.

 

[italian excursion]

When I'm in the Orvieto area, which is where I usually start from, I rent from a local family owned company:
rentmangiavacchi@libero.it....Luigi or his son, Andreas, pick me up at the train station, withing 15 minutes of my call, then deliver me back once I've returned the car. He has a contract I sign, with all insurances and his cars or vans are well-maintainted, clean. I quit using the local Hertz rental shop as the cars where always dirty and they began asking for a $1500 deposit on my cc! Luigi doesn't speak English but we get along just fine and he gives me a discount for paying cash (of course), though one can use a cc. I've never had a hitch renting from him in the last 4 years and the rates are about between 30 & 40 euros daily, depending on the season. Taxes just went up, so the price has gone up. But the convenience and everything else I mentioned make it worth it to me.

Ciao,
Cheryl
www.italianexcursion.com

 

[joe]

I've booked a rental through AutoEurope and Hertz for October - both for the first time - so the above two posts are not encouraging. However the CC block in the contract is 200 Euros, not too bad (7 day rental). Hope things will go smoothly - in our previous three trips to Italy, using a different company each time, we didn't encounter any significant problems.

 

[italian excursion]

Don't worry about it Joe, I'm sure if you had no previous issues, you will be fine this time, too! Have a great time.
ciao,
Cheryl
www.italianexcursion.com