I rented a car in Italy and after insurance obligations put on us at the rental desk once we arrived it turned out to cost us 2x more than what we had planned when we rented the car online...do we need all the insurance...what should we opt out of and what do we need to do before we leave to prevent this?

"before we leave" - - ?? leave where?

I'm confused... are you posting this from the rental counter? Renting a car without the mandatory insurance (in Italy) is not permitted (that's why it's called &quot;mandatory&quot;, you know!) - - any car rental company that quoted you a rate <u>without</u> (any) insurance is unethical, and ought to be &quot;outed&quot; here.

Or am I totally misunderstanding the question?

Curious minds want to know!

Best wishes,

Rex

Hi A,

Rex is correct - full cdw is required in Italy, you can't decline it.

With whom did you book?

Can any of the insurance be covered by your credit card?

How comfortable you are with insurance seems pretty personal to me. How much is peace of mind worth to you? Of course, if you do end up needing the insurance (hopefully not) I suppose you can always send the bill to the fool who told you that it &quot;wasn't necessary&quot; and hope that they will pay in your behalf.

Hi Intrepid,

The CC companies won't cover Italy because insurance is mandatory.

While I'm not endorsing Gemut.com, I just got an e-mail from them with a link to 12 Great European Car Rental Tips:

http://www.gemut.com/News.asp?NewsID=50

Some of this information is old hat to the &quot;seasoned&quot; traveler, but for the &quot;novice&quot; it's some good information.

I concur with the advice it gives concerning renting a diesel. I rented a diesel twice and have been very happy.

Car rental insurance is a minefield, and depends on where you live (I am from UK). CDW varies - sometimes (like in NZ and Aus) it doesnt cover an excess of around &pound;1000, sometimes its 'full' CDW. If it isnt full, you have to pay (a lot) more to have no excess. You may also have to pay more if you want personal injury cover or belongings (may be already covered by travel insurance). There are also lots of lovely extras invented like $X per day if you pick up at airport, extra drivers, local airport rebuilding tax, local anything else tax. Best way to try and avoid this is to book with a company that provides a real all inclusive rate - like Holiday autos (not necessarily the best). Even then there may be some local charges that can be added - buyer beware!