We have a car reserved with Rent.It. tTey seemed to have the best price and the website seemed very organized. I am concerned because I have sent many e-mails, even one translated to Italian, to ask a question; but have not gotten a reply.

Has anyone rented a car through this agency?

I haven't heard of this company - but I took a quick look at the website and it mentions Tirreno as a partner - I think I have seen that car rental name at the airport but I think it might be a smaller rental company. What company does your confirmation name as actually providing the car?

If you haven't already, try doing a search of this site. Personally, if I couldn't get an answer with repeated attempts to the company I would look elsewhere.

You might try Auto Europe or Kemwel (sister companies but prices often differ slightly) or Nova which gave me the best price this year. I've rented many times from Auto Europe in the past and many posters here also have had good experiences with them.

I know Auto Europe offers to match any legitimate competing offer so your best bet may be to take your quote to them for a match.

I keep seeing comments on Nova. But I can't ever get a quote on their website. It always says "rental not possible". Is it because they don't have an office in San Remo where I need to drop it off? Also I tried them for the UK and got the same response when I was trying to pick up in London and drop off at Stansted.

Patrick, maybe it is the pick-up and drop-off locations. I rented from Nova for a day when our cruise ship pulled into LeHavre -- No problems.

I also got a quote from Nova for my upcoming Italy trip (p/u and d/o at FCO), and found AutoEurope so far to be the best. I'm still looking.

I would be very sceptical going with a company I was not familiar with, only because I might need service or inquiries after the fact for overcharges, etc.

Yep, I'm still happy with AutoEurope and have used them a lot. I also haven't yet come up with a quote from anybody else that was better. One other thing to note -- AutoEurope quotes in US dollars. Most other companies quote in euro or pounds. At first glance the competition's prices may look favorable, but don't forget to compare the currencies!!!

You say they offer the "best price"; just how much better is it and is this difference worth the insecurity you are experiencing?

Patrick the Nova rental quote I received is for a car from Auto Europa. You?re right, according to their website, Auto Europa does not have an office in San Remo so that's probably why you're getting the "not possible" message. I thought I remembered seeing Europcar (Auto Europe's ?preferred supplier?) as one of the car rental companies Nova brokers, but I might be mistaken.

I actually prefer Auto Europa to Europcar for 2 reasons. We most often pick up at the airport (usually Malpensa) and Europcar tends to have the longest lines. They also charge for a second driver and Auto Europa doesn't. When I call AutoEurope for a quote and they give me a quote for Europcar I ask them to also check rates for AutoEuropa. Last year, Auto Europe gave me a better rate through AutoEuropa, this year their best rate was with Europcar.

But this year an 11 day economy rental through Nova was quoted at 317 Euro vs. 475 USD from Kemwel and 506 USD from Auto Europe. That's quite a big difference, even after adjusting for the conversion. Nova's rates include the same insurance with 0 deductible etc. I think AutoEurope, to hedge against further decline of the $ against the Euro, built in some additional cushion in setting its rates so they are quite a bit higher this year. Auto Europe did agree to match Nova's rate for me - but in Euro. In any case, the best rate could always vary with different parameters: type of car, # of days, airport pickup, etc. so it pays to check around. I do feel very comfortable renting with Auto Europe however, as I think their service is excellent.

Maddy,
Thanks, I looked at my reservation and it does list Tirreno as the local agent. I will try to contact them.

Thanks again

Maggie, what ever happened? I stumbled across this site as well, and they are offering me such a low rate in an automatic car in Sardinia (360 Euros for 10 days) while autoeurope wants $1100 for 10 days. The autoeurope car is a bit higher in class, but not that much more. By the way, some car rental companies in Italy have taken up to 2 weeks to get back to me.

ttt

Has anyone used this company?

I have a reservation with Autoeurope and have emailed them several questions and each time they have responded within 15 minutes. They have been great so far. Of course, I haven't picked up the car yet.

Another try

After speaking with both AutoEurope and Avis, I found a better deal at Avis. They don't charge by the day for the additional driver and they both had similar total coverage. I found that both companies had a better price if you were willing to prepay the cost, which is refundable if you change your mind. Anyone else have a comment about using Avis for car rental in Italy?

I used Autoeurope for my trip to Italy, and they contracted through Avis. So what you are saying is that I could go directly to Avis and save over the Autoeurope price?

Budman: That's what I found. AutoEurope said they would match but since Avis was first with the best price for the class of car I wanted and the coverage, it didn't seem to make sense to change. Let me know if you have a different experience.

No one source has the best rental price in all places at all times. You really have to check around every time you travel. We've gone through brokers like autoeurope and nova or direct with alamo and avis on various trips--one time one had the best price, another time a different one.