Rome Car Rental

[Jackiealu]

We are considering flying in early for a Med Cruise out of Rome. We have been to Rome already and want to go to Tuscany. I am wondering if we can rent a car at the Rome Airport, use it for 3 to 5 days, and then drop in off in Civitavecchia before we board our cruise. Has anyone done this. Who did you rent the auto from. Any problems dropping off in a different place the the pick up. Should we take the train to Civitavecchia so we can rent car and drop off in the same place. Also, best place to stay in Tuscany. I can really use help with this planning. Thanks for any ideas.

[iancal]

We usually do one way car rentals in Italy for the same reason as you. We use Autoeurope or Kemwell (same parent company but sometimes the prices are not the same). You pay upfront. They are a broker, but our last three rentals were all filled by Hertz. We never experienced a large drop off fee-this could be attributable to location. In any event the Autoeurope site will let you compare these prices easily. I think that they have a minimum three day rental rule.

 

We have found them to be very price competitive. We always rent standard transmission. Be aware that if you want an automatic in Italy there is usually a large premium. This past April we had rental in the UK and there was a dispute over fuel charges. Autoeurope really stepped up to the plate and resolved the issue for us.

[Hlitner]

Agree with everything said by iancal. If you are renting for 3 days (or more) it really pays to check out both Autoeuope.com and Kemwel.com and make sure to carefully read the fine print about deductables. You can also call these folks (their co offices are in Maine) on their toll free number. These companies operate as a so-called "consolidator" or discounter and generally handle rentals from both Hertz and Europcar. There is usually no extra fees for a one-way rental within Italy. Since the most convenient rental car office (for the Port of Civitavecchia) is Hertz (an easy 2 block walk from the main port entrance) they would be your best bet if you can get a decent rate. Both Hertz and Europcar have their FCO offices located in a parking garage connected with the terminals so its possible to put your luggage on a cart and roll them to the rental car office (although its a bit of a hike).

 

Hank

[iancal]

..one other thing about Autoeurope. You book your car and pay at time of booking. It pays to check the prices occasionally because they do go down from time to time OR you may be able to score an upgrade for the same price. In either case, you just have to call Autoeurope or Kemwell and you will be upgraded or refunded as the case may be.

 

We rented a car for a week in Turkey earlier this month. We reserved with Autoeurope but then changed over to Kemwel a few weeks later when they had the same car, same dates, etc. for 25 percent less. In this instance, we had to pay a 50E drop fee but this was clearly stated on the contract. The one great thing about dealing with them is that there are no surprises or add ons (that are not spelled out on the reservation summary) when you pick up the car. We have also found SIXT to be very good but it probably depends on when and where you rent.

[Jackiealu]

Thank you both for the great tips on auto rental in Italy. I will check both sites and see which one works out best.