jleximurph

I recently contacted autoeurope and have done several online searches for a car rental in May. I have read several other postings re: declining CDW and getting better rates and coverage through your credit card co. The issue: I called autoeurope today and it seems that you can't decline CDW in Italy. Is this right? anyone else have this issue?

Ann1

No, it is law in Italy that all cars are automatically covered with CDW. The thing about AutoEruope is that in Italy they also cover you with all of the other insurances like fire, theft, etc, etc. If you rent directly through Avis or Hertz or others, they don't tell you that you don't have the extra coverage until you get to the rental desk....then they charge you a fortune for it.

Auto Europe gets you the same car from the same company (ie: Avis, Hertz etc) but with the complete coverage in the fee that you agreed apon with AutoEurope.

We got dents on a car we rented through them for time we spent in Sicily. We showed Eruope Car and they said...."don't worry, you rented through AutoEurope and are completely covered." AutoEurope said there was a $100 deductible but Europe Car said no deductible and never charged us a dime.

We travel to Europe a couple of time a year and always rent from Auto Europe. We love them. They have different coverages in different countries so you need to check each time.

tishkb

Ann1
Have you rented from autoeurope in Italy? We are leaving for Sicily and reserved with Hertz but are now having doubts About the insurance issue and there fleet of compact cars and premium cars are not performance oriented.

We are looking for a compact or midsize car with mannual transmission that will perform well. My husband could not stand the ford focus that we had last year for 6 sixs weeks in Italy through Hertzs and that was an upgrade.

Thanks

ira

Hi tish,

Call Autoeurope and also www.gemut.com

You can't always get a specific car. It depends on what is available when you get there.

Ann1

tishkp: We always rent from AutoEurope. It is a US company and uses Hertz, Avis, Eruope Car, etc. They have contracts with the companies and get a major discount on the insurances. They also have to give you a low milage car. Most of the cars we have gotten were Alfa Romeos. They have all sizes of cars. Alfas are incredible cars.

The only place we have been that we can't use AutoEurope is on Ischia. Then we use a local and wish we could use AE.

Michael

You might want to try Kemwel (http://www.kemwel.com/). I just rented a car from them because their price was considerably lowr than AutoEurope's even though they seem to be sister agencies, have identical web page design to order the car, the rental conditions are identical, and seem to share an office somewhere in the States. That was for France. For Scotland, the price was about the same, with a slight nod to AutoEurope. Go figure.

crckwc

I recently found a cheaper rate at Kemwel for the same rental I had booked with Autoeurope. When I called Autoeurope, they met Kemwel's price.

PHL2LAX

If I rent in France and decline CDW can I drive into Italy legally insured according to Itialian law? Make sure if you use your credit card CDW you must DECLINE all rental company insurance offered.

mike_b12

I am renting in Florence for one day through Avis. It was the best price. Now I am a little woried. I am hoping my credit card will carry the insurance needed.

JeanneB

We usually use Auto Europe, but for our upcoming Italy trip we went with Car Rental Express:
http://www.carrentalexpress.com/

They don't have as many offices, but the ones they do have worked fine for us. We're picking up at Florence airport, returning at FCO. Rate was considerably lower: $264 for 6 days (that's dollars). I think we got the 2nd to smallest model. Includes CDW & theft (both zero deductible), 2nd driver free, unlimited miles, airport taxes and VAT.

They get good reviews (search here) and all communications have been swift and efficient. There was one thread with several people who had used them...I went over every detail with them before we booked.

Kennedy429

Also try Nova Care Hire www.novacarhire.com.

Their quote was much less than Autoeurope for the same car. Interestingly, once we booked, Nova Car contracted our car from Autoeurope, so Autoeurope was who we dealt with in the end.

Best part was that when we got to the car rental desk in Rome, Autoeurope was the only rental agency without a long, long line -- same thing when we returned the car. Not sure why since they were perfectly fine to deal with. We got our car and were on our way while everyone with Hertz, National, Avis, etc. were still waiting their turn.

daveesl

the nice part about Car Rental Express, using Cars Italy & Tours as the actual rental agent, was the $0 deduct included insurance. While I am a great fan of Autoeurope, CRX beat them in price and insurance in Italy. I've rented from them again for this year. I'll let you know if the quality continues.

dave

JeanneB

dave,
I tried to find that old thread where you were so helpful. Still haven't located it.

But thanks again for your reassurance and advice. We'll be picking up our car 2 weeks from tomorrow! Ciao!

ira

Hi Mike,

>I am hoping my credit card will carry the insurance needed.

Call your CC company. It is highly likely that they won't, because the I countries - Ireland, Israel and Italy - all require CDW.

CDW should have been included in your price quote.

mike_b12

Ira,
I did check and the CDW is included. I checked again with AutoEurope and got a better price this time. Alttle bit lower than the Avis quote.

JP

Ira, Ireland doesn't require that you buy CDW. Many rental companies require it and few credit cards cover it, but there's no law saying that you have to buy it.

snoopy12

bookmarking

ira

Hi JP,

Thanks for the update.

Budman

On a recent trip to Northern Italy, we flew in/out of Zurich, rented the car in Zurich, declined CDW using my Plat M/C, and over the 2-week vacation, the rental car was 1/2 the price of renting in Italy, plus airfare in/out of Zurich was way less expensive than in/out of Milan. The 2.5 hour drive to/from Zurich to Italy was well worth the savings.

charnees

We buy travel insurance that includes CDW and it covered some car damage that we had in Norway. We are getting the insurance again, because at our age (70s) you never know what part of you is going to fail ---

Anyway, that's how we get around the CDW question.

And it's true, if you can start and end your trip in France or Switzerland you'll save a lot. We have also landed in Milan, taken the train to Lugano (2 hr trip) and picked up our car, and then returned it to Lugano the day before departure.

Charnee