I generally use Auto Europe or Kemwell for car rentals when traveling in Europe, but their rates are really high right now for Italy for the fall. For our trip to Greece this spring I found a highly rated, local company that had lower rates. Does anyone know of one for Italy? Thanks

Your best bet for an easy trip into Florence is to take a train. Should you instead decide to drive, parking will be a nightmare. There is a parking garage at the Florence train station which you can drive to without incurring a zone infraction, but the garage is usually full and unavailable.

My favorite restaurant in Florence is Lo Skipper, difficult to find and wonderful to dine at for excellent seafood. I don't have the address, but you can find a website online.

Buon viaggio e natale!

Carol L

Whoops! My response was to another request for information. Sorry...

However, we too have used AutoEurope for many years. A search for a car rental found AutoEurope to be expensive and likely severely affected by the pandemic.

The best price I was able to find was with Avis. I searched for discount car rentals, Italy, and found Momomo or something like that, which led me to a site, Discount Rentals (?), that gave a good price using Avis. I then checked the Avis website and found the same price.

Carol

thanks! Will check it out.

I'd ring AutoEurope and just ask them to match the price, then you get the benefit of their support and the best price

good idea!

I"ve had good luck with Autoeurope in the past, also, although they do make their rentals nonrefundable sometime before the pickup date, as I recall (2-3 days?) whereas regular car rental sites do not.

And even though their website makes this claim --
Simply put, if you find a lower overall price with the same inclusions and additional fees anywhere else, we will beat it for you.

It is not true as I asked them to match/beat a price I got right off a Hertz website (I'm sure they won't match those local companies or discount sites), they refused. The reason? Because the price I got was based on having a AAA account and Hertz gives a slight discount if you have a AAA membership. They said they won't match any special type of rate like that or something.

In short, that statement on their website is not true as they make it with no caveats, which they do have.

No harm in asking, though.

I found some off brand car rental co and will see if AE will match. I have had similar experiences to yours where they wouldnt for various reasons match the price. I will be surprised if they do here, but its worth a phone call.

I live in Italy, and have only once rented a car here. More on that later.

I have usually found the best option when I travel abroad is to rent the car through Expedia. They give a comparison of all the various companies which rent at that location.

The one time we rented a car in Italy (my husband and I, and another couple) we picked it up at the Florence airport. We were royally ripped off. It was my fault, as I didn't document the condition of the car at pickup and drop-off, and get the agent to sign off on that. The rental situation at the airport was rather confused and multiple rental companies were using the same agent. The other couple were also partly to blame, because we had waited a long time to get the car, and they were impatient to get out of there.

Just be very careful to thoroughly check for even slight scratches, and don't let the agent rush you. Make sure he signs off on any damages you find before you leave with the car.

As expected AE will NOT match the rental price I found. They said they dont deal with any of those vendors. Oh well!

bvlenci makes a good point, after a long flight your wits are not with you and any car hire agent knows you want to get to your destination. Photo the whole car, inside and out, including the engine consule with the engine running. I'd also ask for GPS to be moved to your language of choice and photo the tyres (in Sicily I found a 6 inch nail stuck in one) This needs to show fuel, mileage and time/date. Sure you may have paid to not worry but over the years I've had French agents claim I gutted a chicken in the back of one car (until I showed him the pre and post photos, no chicken), I've had scratches pointed out to me in Orkney (scratches were in photo and on paper notes but he claimed more until he saw the mobile phone.

It is not that they are inherently bad just that they are crooks. Showing them that you have photos takes you off the rube list.

I always take photos and carefully look over a car, jet lagged or not. We never drive after an overnight flight. I think it’s not safe.

We didn't even have the excuse of being jet lagged. Both we and the other couple had arrived there by train from our respective homes not terribly far from Florence. We had already spent two nights in Florence as well, so we weren't even train lagged. We were all somewhat stressed from having waited well over an hour to see an agent. Our lunch plans were beginning to appear improbable. I blame myself more than the other three, because I was the more experienced traveler, but the others should also have known better.

This is the only time I've ever been ripped off by a rental agent.

It so easy to want to just get going and not do a good job checking out the car. Your experience is a good reminder to be careful.