car rental via Expedia, Travelocity, etc. a bad idea?
 

We are spending a week in Tuscany and I was hoping to grab a cheap rental via one of the big discount sites. However, many people seem to swear by AutoEurope or Kemwel or Nova, and I am wondering if there is some danger in going with a rental from Expedia, etc. I will be able to choose the car and the rental fleet, from what I can see. Am I missing something?

The only danger from Expedia is that you will pay more than you need to.

I dunno. Right now Travelocity is coming out quite a bit cheaper than the others I've mentioned, for the same type car.

I have routinely recommended checking travelocity for years. Good for knowing what rates from what majors you need to compare against.

Oddly, I actually can't remember if I ever rented from them or not!

Best wishes,

Rex

Hi arts,

>Right now Travelocity is coming out quite a bit cheaper than the others I've mentioned, for the same type car. <

Mind giving us some details?

I checked for pickup/dropoff in Bordeaux for a compact for 2 weeks and got $634-683 at Travelocity compared to $528 at Nova and $548 at Autoeurope.

Autoeurope will give me a cell phone for about $50 for the 2 weeks.

((I))

Sure. Kemwell is $620.49, AutoEurope is $629.99, and Thrifty on Travelocity is $535.57 for a midsize manual car for 1 week out of Fiumicino. I didn't know AutoEurope rented cell phones; that would be worth it, although I would need to rent the cell phone 10 days before the car, in London, where we will be on foot.

Check the agreements to see if there is a difference in whether any insurance is included in the European quotes. This was a major price difference when I compared using Avis.com (U.S.) vs Avis.fr(France).

artsfan--don't know when you're traveling, but I tried a mid-sized manual on Nova and came up with $501.33 for a week in late April or mid-June. Includes standard insurance with no excess liability.

Hi art,

For an intermediate for one week in midMay in/out FCO,

AutoEurope $650 for an Alfa - Zero Deductible on the insurance

Thrifty via Travelocity is $535 PLUS 21 Euro pd for Insurance and 1.5 Euro pd road tax = $743

Gotta watch out for the insurance - it is mandatory in Italy.

((I))

Ira,
I must have been fooled, because Travelocity makes so much of its estimate being the "Total cost."

Hi art,

>I must have been fooled, because Travelocity makes so much of its estimate being the "Total cost."<

They aren't the only ones who do that, and you are not the first (nor the last)to be fooled.

Caveat Emptor!

((I))