Where are you reading the "you might have problems" stuff?

This very issue has surfaced before and there were more than a few folks who said they had booked cars on AutoEurope/Kemwel's "foreign" websites because they got better prices and they apparently had no trouble at all.

What problem could you possibly have? It's a business. You bought something from them and paid for it. What are you reading that suggests there could be a problem? Other people have done it with no hitches whatsoever.

With a lot of websites, it's usually better to go to a country specific website.

For example, I was looking a couple of years ago at some hotels in Italy in a particular small town.

Instead of googling it, I went to google.it and got 10 times as many hits.

Since 95% of the links on local websites have English versions, it's just another tool in my bag.

The only question I would have is the validity of the insurance in case you need it.

I read online that people say they had problems at the rental counter / were told that the rates on the italian website were specific to Italian citizens, and then they need to reboook at the US price. I'm pretty vocal and think I could work something out with them, just don't want to have an unhappy "surprise" when I get to the counter. I agree that it makes no sense -- but I've read on other forums that it might be a problem, hence my question. I was looking for feedback from someone who specifically did what I did and lived to tell the tale

Why wouldn't the insurance be valid?

If you were to falsify your appliction by not identifying your home country---just a thought.

LisaNittany, First of all, I hope that you do not encounter any problems and wish you a great trip
Would appreciate your reporting back to us after your trip concerning your experience at the rental counter.
Many thanks,

On the advice of Vagabonda on the Tripadvisor Sicily forum, I saved a significant amount of money by booking our car through Autoeurope UK rather than US. I took the maximum insurance. The local company was Europcar and we had no problems.

There have been multiple threads about this.

http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/car-rental-in-italyagain-using-italian-ae-site-ok-for-us-resident.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/car-rental-in-italy-incredibly-basic-question.cfm

I'm looking for someone with recent experience - the posts I've seen are either a) dated or b) center around insurance and not the question I am posting. thank you

I want to hear from somebody who did this AND THEN HAD A CLAIM. Not sure it would matter, but if it did you might save 100E on booking rates and then have a collision bill of 1200E

IF you are not buying insurance through autoeurope and are counting on coverage provided by either your personal car insurance or your VISA or AMEX card, you may be in trouble. VISA and AMEX [and perhaps Mcard as well] will not cover rentals in Italy and most US insurance companies won't either.

Be sure to have an International Driving Permit from the AAA...

Some Visa cards do cover Italy. There have been several posters that have reported theirs did so you have to check your particular card .

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/rental-car-insurance-policies-1273.php

Here's a Visa payoff for last year.
http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/rental-car-coverage-in-europe-with-your-visa-card-my-ditch-story.cfm

>>>LisaNittany on May 16, 12 at 8:55pm
I'm looking for someone with recent experience <<<

There are lots of people on Fodor's that rent from the various country websites. There have been a lot of threads about it. Many Europeans say they use whichever country site is cheaper. YMMV.

http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/using-auto-europe-sites-other-than-usa.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/car-rental-experience-168801-2.cfm

I live in the US.

I've used the voucher from the Italian AutoEurope site in the past year, and several times before that.

I've never had a problem.

The staff at the car rental desk could care less where you reside.

There are options to take full insurance coverage. The ones I rented were with refundable deductible, as described din one of the threads linked above by KY.

But, given a claim, the lawyers will find any excuse to deny the claim. That is my only point. Is it worth the risk?

I can't see which site you use making any difference. But if you really want to know... simply call AutoEurope.com and get it straight from the horse's mouth.

Why would there be a risk? It is not against the law to use their foreign sites.

The AutoEurope sites all include the question "In which country do you live?". I would think it very important to answer this question honestly, or it could affect the insurance.

I did a trial enquiry on the Italian site, and was quoted an amount on a mileage of 100km per day. The equivalent quote on the U.K. site had no mileage limitation, but the quoted price was higher. It seems important to be sure that you know what you will be getting for your money, and don't just look at the headline rate.

If you read some of the threads about this (not just for Italy), you will see that the Europeans say they often rent from a neighboring country's website as it's much cheaper. For example, renting a car from Hertz in France, they might find cheaper rates from Hertz in Spain, Switzerland or Italy.

If you walked into Hertz in any of those countries and rented, you would be renting from that country location, not USA. There is a big mark-up for the US websites.

The AE Italian site does ask where you reside, but they allow you to proceed with booking no matter what your answer.

There are plenty of cars on the Italian site with unlimited mileage.

I would never say that it is always cheaper to book on that site. I do know that I've saved hundreds of euros over the course of several rentals by doing so, but I agree you always have to check various sites and compare before booking.