Am I a total idiot to not reserve a rental car before we arrive in Italy?
 

This trip we are basically 'traveling by the seat of our pants'...We have a very loose itinerary (three days in Venice, train to Ravenna, spend some time in a small beach community on the Adriatic, train to Florence, etc. eventually making our way to Rome) We have a little less than three weeks in Italy and plan to make reservations at the last minute as we are not sure where we will land on any given day.
We are not sure when we will want to rent a car and not sure when we will want to drop it back off.
My question is, if we don't reserve a car prior to our arrival in Italy will I regret it once I'm there? We don't want to be charged up the wazoo for a last minute rental, but we don't want to be tied to a schedule either. I know here in the US there are last minute specials online for car rentals and am hoping there might be the same sort of thing available to me once we are there...any thoughts? Thanks!

If you don't reserve in advance, you would normally pay around twice as much as a walk-in. Even reserving online a day or two in advance would still give you a decent deal. You may have internet access in your hotel, or there are plenty of internet cafes in larger towns.

Also availability of cars and decent prices depend on seasons and locations. If you are going in peak periods, or around major holidays, you should reserve in good time.

Traveling this way in the summer in Italy will cost you considerably more than reserving things in advance - unless you are extremely flexible about where you stay the only decent places left may be a high price. The same with a car. Walk up rates are usually higher and you risk their having only expensive cars left - or none at all.

Two years ago we did the same sort of thing through Spain and France and were able to find hotel/apartment rentals at a decent cost and some last minute specials. On that trip I knew when/where we needed to have a rental car so i reserved well in advance.
This time I'm not so sure...though it looks like I will need to at least pencil in an itinerary to figure out when and where we will need to pick up a car. Sometimes when a car is reserved online here in the states you can 'modify' the rental online. Seems like I may need to find a rental company that will allow me that option, just in case.

Check with autoeurope

I hope you're fluent in Italian and have money to burn.

My best advice is to reserve ahead of time. That's what I would do and have done.

But----I have a brother who invariably does not reserve cars or hotels and seems to get along fine. He is constantly negotiating with everyone along the way when he travels and sometimes comes up with great deals--these I hear about. But like the horse racing bettors, I never seem to hear about the close outs, waiting, uncertainty and failed negotiations. My sanity would not stand for it but to each their own. Good luck! Paul

okay - okay.

UGH! I think I knew that it was not wise to wait till the last minute to reserve 'stuff', but I really didn't want to have to plan the when & where of each day of this trip.

I like the idea of being a sort of vagabond....But because it is July and I don't have money to burn (and am not fluent in Italian) I will figure our itinerary out asap and get my ducks in a row, so to speak.

Thanks y'all.

why cant u just book a car with where u think u might want it and for how long? it can be cancelled if your plans turn out differently than what u might anticipate now. i gave up completely free wheeling on trips a few years ago when it became too time consuming to search for places to stay and this was in the shoulder seasons, not summer.

Autoeurope never charges a cancellation penalty, and rarely charges any change fee (they don't actually charge a change fee ever, but some times the dates and location you want may only be available at a higher rate, depending on the change you require).

The ultimate "vagabond" trip - - to me - - means taking weeks and weeks (even months) of living the trip in your head... spending endless time, neglecting the stuff you're actually supposed to be doing (like your "day job"), assembling countless scenarios of where you will sleep, eat and sightsee... re-doing it over and over again until finally, you have enough info to book the cornerstones of lodging, intra-Europe transport (and maybe, a small number of restaurants if they are hard to book, or important to you).

Some people "free-wheel" it for 10 or 12 days a year while traveling (maybe abroad, maybe not)...

Some of us addicts here stumble through life for 10 12 months out of the year!

...with an endless series of 2 or 3 decisions mulling over in our minds... about trips yet to be taken (some actually scheduled, others still imaginary).. sometimes about someone else's trip who we "know" only here in cyberspace.

That's my idea of "vagabond" living!

Best wishes,

Rex

I'm with the book ahead crowd but I'm glad I clicked onto this thread just to read Rex.

Thanks Rex, that sums it up for me. I suppose I should feel a little guilty about neglecting my day job once in a while but all that excess planning ahead, is relaxing for me.

It's true that AutoEurope does not charge a cancellation penalty. However, FTR, it's possible to "reserve" a car on AutoEurope, and lock in a particular price, without paying for it in advance. Of course, there are no guarantees, but there's a good chance the car will be available when you get there.

I discussed this with an AutoEurope agent just before my recent trip and he said there's an excellent chance the car will be available. And I was talking about an automatic.

He said the only cars that might not be available are specialty cars like vans. Otherwise, you have a pretty good shot.
So my point is, if you have a general idea of where you'd like to go and when, maybe you can reserve one or two cars, in different names, and different places/dates, and one of them might work out. Just a thought.

<< I'm with the book ahead crowd but I'm glad I clicked onto this thread just to read Rex. >>

Awww... you flatter me.

Has anyone asked yet:

Do you know how to drive a stick shift?

The response on availabity from the AE agent is interesting. I think it may entirely depend upon where in Italy u want to pick up a car. Some of the smaller cities have very limited # of cars on hand and if it's a busy time, they may all be booked. And finding a automatic would make it even more difficult. We like to rent the smallest car possible and a manual. We have often gotten "upgraded" to a larger car because of the lack of availability for the smaller car. Our price for the smaller car is honored.

Hi D,

If you are planning on going where you want, when you wan, without reservations, you will pay for it.

((I))

YOu may want to ttry Kemwell. We have used then 3 times and the early you reserve the better the price but they are very easy to work with and refund the days not used . Also read the aection in slowtravel about driving in Italy. It will tell alyou need about buying gas , paying tolls, parking etc.

I will be one to disagree with most posters. I rented a car in Italy a few weeks back, and every time I rented it, I just walked into the National or Europcar agency. The rates I received were just the same as those that I had checked a few days before on the web, while we were in Florence. I am sure that this may change dependent uypon the time of year, but one thing I've learned, is that whatever I learned before, may not be pertinent now.

Beware of Europcar, I have had too many problems with them, none with National or Avis in Italy.

Kemwel and AutoEurope are the same company.

Intex, what kind of car did you rent and for how long and how much did it cost?