I have been researching the forums and have found many recommendations for AutoEurope and Kemwel to rent a car. I will be picking up in Bologna on Apr 10th and dropping off in Milan Malpensa Airport on the 15th. I want to drive around the countryside, not train, but I need an automatic and the best price I have found for either company is $725. I found a website for "intaly.com" and they state they work with AE and their price is $539. Does anyone know the reputation of this site? Any other recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

I would ask AE about intaly.com. They can either tell you that yes they work with that website or they might just match that price directly. (I think AE has a best price match guaranty.) AE has a toll free number on its website.

I think you spelled that wrong. I'm not an Italy expert, but I've heard of that site a lot and think they are fine.

Given they link you to the Autoeurope website, I wonder if what you found is realy some difference in the parameters you put in -- exact location of pickup or time of day or something.

$539 sounds too cheap -- I don't know, if you can get that, I'd take it. Automatic car rentals seem to be particularly expensive in Italy, it seems to me, more than in some other European countries (like France, where I've rented them). They are always more, of course, but not that much.

Anyway, I just did the same search on your dates and actually got cheaper prices on Autoeurope than on Initaly, which is why your findings seem funny to me, but maybe they change all the time (I found $618 on AE and $660 on Initaly, both for automatics and picking up downtown BOlogna). It's a big different if you pickup downtown or the airport, and they have two downtown offices, the first is cheaper. I did get $725 for a different car (Mercedes vs. Nissan for the 618), but that was at a different downtown location where that was all they had. the one on Via Marco Polo was cheaper when I checked.

I found that if I called Kemwell I got a little better price than the one quoted on their website.

They are just a 3rd party taking a cut of the booking. Deal directly with AE or Kemwel--the variable is always insurance coverage.

I have always found that when I pick up the phone and call AE I both get a better price than what I find on the internet and get all my questions answered.

I went back onto the website and made a temporary reservation for a compact, automatic, diesel car for $534. They state zero dedctible on the insurance and free GPS for US residents with a rental of 5 days or more. I will also call AE and Kemwel..Thank you for the advice