We are flying into FLORENCE PERETOLA AIRPORT. We are then renting from Eurocar. Someone is taking the bus from Florence to meet us.
Where is the best place for us to either meet him or pick him up at the airport?
Thank you.

Florence is a tiny airport - only one I've ever been at that doesn't even have a taxiway to the runway.

You can simply meet them right outside the terminal where passengers all exit. Or if he's there first he can wait for you right outside customs by the coffee shop. The lobby is tiny and hard to miss someone arriving, and you really don't need any landmark outside.

Instead of the bus they could also take the new tram right from Florence. It runs directly to the airport terminal (as do the buses I believe).

Here's a picture (from google maps) of basically the entire front of the airport.
The center part with the big overhang high above is where passengers exit.

The rental car pick up is offsite, (by shuttle bus, and there seems to be just one bus that runs back and forth).
It's a bit of a navigation pain to get back to the airport from the rental car center so if you can schedule the meet up so he's there to ride with you to get the car it'll be one less hassle.

I can't confirm this warning, but here it is. A few months ago, we were flying out of Bologna. While we were in line for boarding, I saw a sign directing arriving passengers bound for Florence to buses. I commented to my husband that the heavy rain we had experienced must have closed Florence airport. A flight hostess overheard me and said, "It doesn't need much rain to close that airport. You wouldn't believe how many of their flights get redirected here."

We once rented a car at Florence airport, after a stay in the city. It's the only time I've been royally ripped off by a rental car agent. Take a photo of every scratch before driving away, and when you return it, make sure someone signs off on the condition of the car.

That said, as j62 says, it's a very small airport. I would just have your friend meet you at the rental office. I'm pretty sure there's only one, and it seems the agents are shared among agencies. We had an interminable wait for our car.
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The are (or as of this June still were) in the process of rebuilding the rental car center. There's a new central building where each co has it's own offices, then next to the parking lot were small booths where you brought your contract from the office and got your keys. It took a long time (interminable?) to get the contract completed (even though it was all prearranged). I counted maybe 20,000 keystrokes the Hertz agent had to enter (2 fingered typing) to complete the process, all the while listening to a guy a few behind me grumbling about how he was Hertz gold member and griped there was not gold canopy service. Patience is a virtue so bring an extra supply with you.

re insurance, we rent through autoeurope and get $0 deductible for exactly the reasons bvlenci states - avoidance of hassle. Turning in the car to Hertz with this coverage was a simple hand in the keys and go, got an e-receipt about 10min later.

Thinking about it more, if you have to wait for your friend more than a few minutes, I'd head to the rental car center so you could start the interminable process. The bus we rode wasn't designed for a full load of passengers with luggage. The way we did it was one of us jumped off the bus (when it stopped...) to get into line while the other one handled the bags and waited outside the tiny office (also not made for luggage handling)

We rent through AutoEurope all the time and I continue to note any marks or possible damage to the car before I drive it away and when I return it I always get someone to verify there was no damage and I always get the most insurance I can. Perhaps I am being over cautious but one incident was enough.

Thank you all for the information.

Having some experience with statistics, and specifically actuarial statistics, I always take the maximum deductible I can afford, and no personal injury insurance. (I always have other coverage for personal injury.) I've rented cars since that unpleasant experience three years ago and continue to do so. In many years of car rental, I've had only this one rip-off, and the amount of money I've saved on insurance covered it many times over.

On this same trip, my husband and I shared the driving, for six days in Tuscany, with an old friend of his from university days. His friend consistently drove well over the speed limit. His wife kept telling him to slow down, and my husband and I warned him several times that he might get fined. Sure enough, we got three tickets, with hefty fines, and the car was in my name. The rental agency also adds its own generous bite to compensate for its work in forwarding your contact information to the police. My husband didn't want to hit his friend up for the fines, because we had no absolute proof that he was the driver who incurred the fines. I wanted at least to suggest we split them, but my husband didn't want even to do that.

So my other suggestion is that before setting out for a road trip with friends who share the driving, agree to keep a log of the date and times each person drives.

I have had many adventures with rental cars including getting trapped in cage in Antwerp, bribery by Polizia Provinciale in Siena, giving the car to the airport manager in Kayseri, Turkey, and having 60 lbs of octopus sloshing around the trunk.

I did not want to rent a car, but we are going to a wedding in Volterra and no other way to get there. I have taken complete coverage and will be the only driver.
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