sandralist

Train tickets for 2 adults and 2 children from Genova to Nice are likely to cost you twice as much as tickets from San Remo, so factor that in.

Also, you would probably find it easier to drop the car off in Savona rather than Genova, and it is then a shorter train ride to Nice. Using the AutoEurope website, the rate I get for car as big as you described, with all insurance, is $405 from Venice to Savona. The difference is that the Savona drop off allows you to rent a van/people carrier in Venice, whereas as San Remo drop off doesn't give you that option.

Odin

<<I would never consider booking a rental car 8-9 months in advance. The reason those websites don't show prices is because they won't even take bookings that far in advance. Some hotels won't even do that so far in advance.>>

Hotels won't take bookings 8-9 months in advance? What nonsense. Easter and Christmas dates get booked up well in advance and people can book upto a year in advance if not more. Same with cars. Some rental locations and even cities run out of rental cars at peak times, so booking many months in advance is advised.

sandralist

daria,

Just out of curiosity, I did a search for you on AutoEurope dropping off the car in Nice instead of in Italy. The prices I got for a mid-size AlfaRomeo that seats five with space for 4 suitcases was $317+change, and that was after I had clicked all the way through to see the drop-off rate for dropping it in downtown Nice.

When I accepted the online offer to "upgrade" to the next size of car -- a wagon -- I got a price of $518+ -- again, this is dropping it off in Nice.

So it is possible there is no real advantage to dropping it off it Italy if you book on the right day.

wesleymarsh

>>I would never consider booking a rental car 8-9 months in advance.<<

Finding a good deal on Auto Europe is the only reason I reserved my car for France 11 months in advance. I was simply checking prices for an automatic to put a budget together, and I happened to come across a car for $34-a-day. I don't know why the rate was that good, but I thought I better grab it while it was there. In the course of my 11-month reservation, the price dropped 2 times. In the end, I got my automatic for $22-a-day, and I couldn't have been happier with the car I received.

I realize that Auto Europe had my money for a very long time in advance of the rental. They honored the price reduction twice, so with that level of customer service, I didn't mind.

julies

Someone mentioned that there is now a 10E fee per day for a second driver. Does anyone know if that fee also applies to spouses? I know often that fee is waived if the second driver is a spouse, but perhaps Italy is different.

daria

Thanks everyone. This is very interesting because it seems like the same searches with Auto Europe are turning up different results for different people. I too had tried to look at dropping off in Nice. The quote on the site did not include the one way fee. The rental alone was $572.02, and then they emailed me a quote that included that PLUS a one way fee of: "€750.00 EUR one way fee + VAT (one way fee paid locally)." Obviously that is outrageous. But, like I said, it seems like different people are turning up different results, so I will keep trying. I wish I could book that car that you came up with sandralist for $518 dropping off in Nice if it really did include the one way fee because that sounds like an awesome deal given what else I've come up with.

The other option we have is turning in our car in Lucca (our location right before Nice), but the train fare from there to Nice for the 4 of us is about $157 and we would have to change trains twice to get from there to Nice. Just trying to save money and balance all of this out.

daria

sandralist,

The one way fee is revealed on the Auto Europe site after the page where you are given the option to upgrade. Sometimes it is already included in the quote, and sometimes it isn't. From the searches I've done recently, it seems like it is included in the initial quote if you are dropping off at a different location within Italy than where you picked up, but not included in the initial quote if you are dropping off in France. They then email you a separate quote for the one-way fee.

sandralist

daria,

I went back and re-did the search on AutoEurope, and now I see that the total cost "estimate" was just that, even after completing all of the online booking process, and subject to a further e-mail confirmation due to the one-way rental. So it might be that the ultimate quote one would get by e-mail no better than what you have been able to get.

If you don't want to give up the car in Lucca, it still might be better to give it up in Savona rather than San Remo (or Genova).

If you continue to mull giving up the car in Lucca (you'll save parking costs too), you might investigate the cost of getting a taxi transfer from Lucca to Viareggio and getting on the train there -- which would leave you with only one train change in Genova. I would think the cost is under 50e, but I could be wrong. Your hotel should be able to estimate the cost, or maybe someone here, or on TripAdvisor or Slow Travel, would know. People frequently get taxi transfers from Lucca to Pisa Airport, and it is about the same distance.

sandralist

Hi daria,

We were typing at the same time -- and searching at the same time. As you can see, I discovered what you did when I re-did the same search -- and didn't pursue as far and actually asking for an e-mail quote.

daria

Thanks sandralist. I'm going to keep trying various scenarios and see what happens.