Car rental in Italy
 

We are planning to go in sept. I found an economy automatic car on hertz website for 628 euros for 12days. The breakdown included 71 euros for cdw and 65 for theft protection. When I pick up the car will there be any other mandatory insurance that I will have to take.My husband is checking our credit card which we believe covers Italy. Thanks for any help.
I also checked Autoeuropa but they only had higher end cars which we do not need, just has to be an automatic.

>>>My husband is checking our credit card which we believe covers Italy<<<

A few Visa cards have coverage for Italy, but many don't. Most cards exclude Italy and Ireland.

Try checking AutoEurope (not Autoeuropa) or Kemwel.

What is your Italy itinerary? You don't need a car for a lot of places (you aren't allowed to drive in the centers of many Italian cities - Rome, Florence, etc., including small hill towns). Parking is also expensive many places (30-40€ a day)as most hotels in cities do not have parking.

You will need an IDP also.

Thank you. I meant AutoEurope (iPad likes to change spelling.
We are picking car up at Pisa airport, driving to Tuscany for a few days, then to Umbria and then to Santa Margurita Liguria and returning to Genoa airport. So we will definitely need a car.
Yes we have been to Italy before so we know about IDP.

Check prices at Kemwel---a sister company to AE.
Your CC will not cover insurance in Italy.

Bob,
I had checked Kemwel when I checked AE and the cheapest automatic was a Mercedes A class inclusive rate of $1,163 vs hertz $682 for a fiat evo.
Are you saying that no cc cover insurance in Italy?

Car insurance in Italy? Read the fine prints. All the credit cards I have looked had wording like this:

"But this plan covers enrollees for cars rented anywhere in the world except Australia, Ireland, Israel, <b>Italy</b>, Jamaica, ..."

Thank you everyone for your responses.
I just called my cc visa sapphire preferred and they DO cover the insurance in Italy. He read me the blurb and said we need to decline CDW and theft protection fee when we pick up the car.
Just wanted to let anyone who has this card know.

While I am not saying that your card does/does not provide collision damage insurance in Italy, what the bank told you on the phone verbally has NO relevance if it comes time to execute the terms. The only thing that matters is what your written card agreement says. You should triple read the fine print to make sure that Italy is not excluded. In the past, their MC was one of the few World Mastercard that covered Italy while Visa did not. They could have added this feature to their Visa also.

Greg,
The rep at Sapphire read me the statement and is going to send me a copy of what cc covers. We will definitely read it over to make sure.
Thank you for your suggestion.

Thanks for the tip. I will be checking my cc to see if they cover.

Yes, my Visa issued through my credit union covers Italy, but not sure if it's zero deductible. Some cover, some don't. It all depends on your issuing bank as to what your card includes. I've read that my MC might start.

As for comparing Hertz to AE, I'm pretty sure (from past experience renting with Hertz in Italy) that their rate only included a CDW with a high deductible. The zero deductible might double the rate you are quoted.

Hertz also practices DCC. It's written into all their contracts and they can not/will not change it. The only way to avoid it is by prepaying.

Quite a few people on Fodor's have avoided the high cost of automatic rentals by using the Italian websites (much cheaper rates). There are multiple threads about it. I suggest you read these two threads.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...s-resident.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...c-question.cfm

Auto Europe and Kemwel will beat any comparable price quote. Have your Hertz quote in front of you and give AE or Kemwel a call.

<i>Auto Europe and Kemwel will beat any comparable price quote</i>

That has not been my experience in Sicily (and Poland and Turkey) where I used http://www.economycarrentals.com/ Its rental agreements have no deductible, but I have not had to test them on repair refunds which are similar to Visa coverage: the client pays for the repairs and then applies for a refund from who(m?)ever carries the insurance.