Would anyone be able to help with the following? We have an early flight out of Milan Malpensa airport (8.30) but need to drop off a hire car (car hire doesn't open till 7.30). Which of these would be the most feasible?

- drive to airport in early morning, check in bags, then go back out and fix up car? Is this possible to do in half an hour?
It is Italy ...

- drop car off the evening before in Milan. Stay overnight in Milan and take the early shuttle out to Malpensa.

Advice appreciated, I don't have a good map of this part of the trip and can't work out what's do-able.


TIA
Bell

Depending upon your rental agency, you may be able to leave the car at the agency as early as you need to, put the keys in a special slot there, and be on your way to the airport by taxi or shuttle. Check with your rental agency.

Drop the car the nite before and stay near the airport---Villa Malpensa or Hotel Cervo.

I think Betsy's answer is the right one. Are you staying in Milan the night before? The one way you could add some certainty would be to drive to the agency's office the afternoon before, and ask them to show you explicitly where do yu leave the keys, etc.

If I can interject a now quite obsolete anecdote - - I will recall for the rest of my life, this experience from days that will never come again: I was running severely late for my flight back home (Geneva to Amsterdam, connecting onward to my flight back to the US). At 10 minutes before flight time, I pulled up to the curb at GVA and simply abandoned the car - - and amazingly, made it on the flight (with a bag checked for me). I called the rental company from Amsterdam, told them where the car was - - and they simply said "thank you"!!

Those days sure are gone.

Best wishes,

Rex

I would take it in the afternoon before when there was someone to check it in. We had to leave a car in France with no one at the desk. We were uncomfortable, but did it anyway after taking about a dozen pictures showing the perfect condition of the car. The agency claimed there was $700 of damage and our pictures did no good. While we've done this in the States before, I would never again do it in Europe. Make sure someone signs off!

Bellbird,

I presume you have a Hertz or Targa car rental booked for Italy. (Those are the only two agencies showing a 7:30am opening time at Malpensa.)

If it is Hertz, I would do as Betsy sugggests. Call them from the US, and ask about their procedure for use of a "drop box" for an early return on the day of your flight. (I am certain this happens frequently.)

Also remember, if the car was rented in Italy, the price includes full CDW and Theft insurance. (As long as you have not rented a "luxury" vehicle.) So, you wouldn't have to worry later about getting charged for "unexplained vehicle damage".

What I wouldn't do is drive into Milan the day before your flight---particularly, if you don't have a good street map of the city. There is often heavy congestion in the city and on the perimeter autostradas encircling Milan.

To ease your mind completely, you can just stay at an airport hotel with shuttle service for the night before your flight. Do what "Bob" suggested, and drop the car the night before.

If you shared what your original plan was for the night before your departure, you might get some alternate suggestions.

When we had an early flight from Milan
we dropped the car off late in the afternoon on the day before and stayed near the airport in a small hotel the flight crew's use. It was so much better and relaxing. We took a taxi the next morning without feeling rushed.

Thanks thanks thanks. This is good. You're right Georgine, it's Hertz!

I don't actually have a hotel booked or plans for the day before the flight. We are basically making our way up from Sorrento to Milan over a week. Our itinerary is:
Rome (3 nts)
Sorrento (2 nts)
Chianti (3 nts)
Somewhere (2nights)
Fly out early am.

We're not big city people, so plan to use Chianti as a base to access Florence, Siena etc. Our plan was then to spend a couple of nights on Lake Como, but we quickly worked out that driving Como-Malpensa on the morning of the flight was a no-go! So now, we're a little in limbo for those days, and were planning on just crossing our fingers and going with whatever comes up. This may be a bad plan and I'm happy for better suggestions!

Sharoo, what hotel did you use? I've read previous recommendations on Cervo, Villa Malpensa (thanks Bob) but we need a E100 or lower accomodation. I rember reading about a place on this board in Oleggio (?) but it didn't look that close to the airport on a map I saw.

Thanks again,
B

The Cervo is about that price.