I rented a car last year at the Rome airport and it was a chaotic mess to pick it up. The line was a huge - luckily I got there early AM and had only an hour wait - most were waiting much longer. I rented it at Hertz which seemed to be the worst of car rental lines. Anyway, I have to rent again this year and am wondering if anyone has a secret for an easy pain free car rental experience. Maybe a different company?
or whatever notions you may have.
Thanks!

Yikes! I'm selfishly topping this question because we too are picking up a car in Fiumicino in a few weeks and I certainly don't want to have to wait in a long line for an hour, especially after a long flight. We prepaid through AutoEurope for an Avis car. Hopefully it will be better than Hertz! When are you going? I could post an update to this and let you know how Avis went when I get back if you would like. In the meantime, hopefully someone responds!

Tracy

Ac - I usually rent from Maggiore.

I think the queue thing is fairly standard for any big airport, unfortunately. Do you have to rent from there?

Steve

I really think it's the luck of the draw regarding a queue. We arrived on a Saturday afternoon at Fiumcino and there was no line at the Avis counter - didn't appear to be much of a line at Hertz counter either.

Good luck!

KC

interesting topic....on a side note...i'm flying into milan. i'll be in itally from the 9-19. starting in milan, possibly a night in como, then from milan to florence, florence to rome, rome to naples.

with 4 people traveling, is it worth renting a car and driving instead of taking the train each time?

how much are you guys paying per day?

Back in 2004 I met up with a friend at the Rome airport and picked up our Hertz rental car there. He arranged all the rental car plans but he was a gold member with Hertz. All we did was look at the customer board found his name and the parking place number, went out to the parking lot found the parking place and got in the car (the keys were under the seat), drove to the gate and (I think) turned in a paper and we were off in a flash. I think the longest part of the process was while I was standing around at the Hertz counter for 15 minutes waiting for my friend (we flew on different airlines).

So, if you can sign up for Hertz's gold member program I highly recommend it!

I guess my problem was that I didn't take advantage of my gold card membership with Hertz. For some reason I thought it wasn't available in Rome.
That is probably the solution.
It is also the "luck of the draw" when one picks up the car although I was there early in the morning and I also don't think it's a matter of it being a big airport. The rental car area is in one big room and it appeared completely disorganized and slow moving. I suppose I hit a bad day.
As for "bradykp"s query. I've been to Italy more times than I can count and I've driven and taken the train. There is freedom in driving but remember there's also the parking problem in big cities - you can't park in "centro" - so you must park outside the central area in designated parking lots.
It can be a burden not worth dealing with. Train service is pretty good, an experience and a chance to look instead of drive. Thanks for all your help.

Sorry, to tag onto your thread, but I'm also wondering about picking up a car in Rome. It's quite a bit cheaper to pick it up in town vs. the airport. My plan is to pick up a car as I leave Rome, and currently have reservations to pick it up at the Auto Europe/Hertz location at Villa Borghese. I've looked at the map, and it doesn't look like it will be too insane to do on a Saturday morning. Has anyone done this? Am I crazy? I've driven in NYC and Boston (during the Big Dig) and survived.