Rental cars in Italy

I am trying to reserve a rental car at Milan Malpensa airport, and am
astounded at the high prices. I was in Germany last year and know that
prices have moved upwards in the last couple of years, but WOW.

Does anyone know of someplace where I can research and book rental cars in
Italy online? I have tried Auto Europe, Budget, Hertz, Thrifty, Expedia,
Travelocity, National. I will resort to an Italian only site and get a
translator if it has good prices.

Thanks,

"Aramis" wrote in message
able.rogers.com...
I am trying to reserve a rental car at Milan Malpensa airport, and am
astounded at the high prices. I was in Germany last year and know that
prices have moved upwards in the last couple of years, but WOW.

Does anyone know of someplace where I can research and book rental cars in
Italy online? I have tried Auto Europe, Budget, Hertz, Thrifty, Expedia,
Travelocity, National. I will resort to an Italian only site and get a
translator if it has good prices.

Thanks,




I just got a good deal in France for next week from these guys:

http://www.whizzcarrental.net/index.php

I've never used them before but they seem OK so far. The actual car is
coming from a major name company so it should be OK.

They rent in Italy too.

--
Terry R.
My return address is munged

Does anyone know of someplace where I can research and book rental
cars in Italy online? I have tried Auto Europe, Budget, Hertz, Thrifty,
Expedia, Travelocity, National. I will resort to an Italian only site and
get a translator if it has good prices.

There have been a couple threads a ways back about how if you book the car
and claim residency in a country other than the U.S. of A., the rate is
lower, and it includes a variety of insurance and surcharges that would
normally be extra.

The problem with this is that it could, technically, be fraudulent in some
way shape or form to state residency elsewhere--though no-one who posted
could actually cite that this was ever actually a problem.

I did write to a German company, www.avigo.de and ask if I could book
through them with a U.S. credit card. They said that was not a problem,
except that they are a legal entity only within Germany.

You might try quoting fares at the major car companies, or AutoEurope, or
Avigo, listing a different country of residency, and see if it is much
different. I got my folks (who live in Germany) a car in Rome through the
Hertz website a year ago, and it was a bundle cheaper than when I pulled up
the same rental for me as a U.S. resident. Maybe you will be staying at a
hotel in a foreign country that you could consider a residence?

"Aramis" wrote in
able.rogers.com:

I am trying to reserve a rental car at Milan Malpensa airport, and
am astounded at the high prices. I was in Germany last year and
know that prices have moved upwards in the last couple of years,
but WOW.

Does anyone know of someplace where I can research and book rental
cars in Italy online? I have tried Auto Europe, Budget, Hertz,
Thrifty, Expedia, Travelocity, National. I will resort to an
Italian only site and get a translator if it has good prices.


Here's a list of the companies that rent cars inside the airport and
their phone numbers:

Avis from 7.00 to 24.00 tel. 02 5858481
Hertz from 7.30 to 24.00 tel. 02 58581081
Europcar from 7.30 to 23.30 tel. 02 5858621
Maggiore from 7.00 to 24.00 tel. 02 58581133
Sixt from 7.00 to 23.00 tel. 02 58580271
Thrifty-Italy by Car from 7.00 to 23.30 tel. 02 58581176
Tirreno from 7.00 to 22.00 tel. 02 58580333
AutoEuropa from 7.30 to 23.00 tel. 02 58581048
EasyCar from 8.00 to 23.00 tel. 800 939293
Targa Rent from 7.30 to 23.00
from 8.00 to 23.00 tel. 02 58580258
(saturday and sunday)

I think that some of those companies have also websites, try to find
them on google.

If you need to move from the airport to other Italian towns you may
use the train to reach the zone of interest (Tuscany, for example...)
and rent a car there.

From Malpensa you can take a train that will bring you to Milan
(malpensa express) and there take the subway to reach Milan's main
station (Milano Centrale).

The malpensa-express has large areas for luggage but you may have
problems if you need to take the subway at rush hour.

--
Valter Minute
(the reply address of this message is invalid)

"Aramis" ha scritto nel messaggio
able.rogers.com...
I am trying to reserve a rental car at Milan Malpensa airport, and am
astounded at the high prices. I was in Germany last year and know that
prices have moved upwards in the last couple of years, but WOW.

Does anyone know of someplace where I can research and book rental cars in
Italy online? I have tried Auto Europe, Budget, Hertz, Thrifty, Expedia,
Travelocity, National. I will resort to an Italian only site and get a
translator if it has good prices.

Thanks,


Try this site to get a quote http://rentacar-europe.com/
I usually get a good deal even in Italy.
Elio

In Italy, there a number of required insurances, and a lot of extra
tax. The rate is about twice the rate in France or Germany. If you
you rent in France or Germany and do not tell them you are going to
Italy, you can book at the low rate. You have a problem in Italy
with the car under those circumstances, you have a very big problem,
indeed.

One of the taxes is a 10% add on for airport pickup. You can aviod
this by picking up in a city location.

Someone on this board claims to be able to avoid all these insurances
and get the cheap rate, however, he does not seem to be able to name
the provider.

I use AutoEurope, by the way.


On Wed, 21 Jan 2004 00:52:59 GMT, "Aramis"
wrote:

I am trying to reserve a rental car at Milan Malpensa airport, and am
astounded at the high prices. I was in Germany last year and know that
prices have moved upwards in the last couple of years, but WOW.

Does anyone know of someplace where I can research and book rental cars in
Italy online? I have tried Auto Europe, Budget, Hertz, Thrifty, Expedia,
Travelocity, National. I will resort to an Italian only site and get a
translator if it has good prices.

Thanks,

"gerald" wrote in message
...
In Italy, there a number of required insurances, and a lot of extra
tax. The rate is about twice the rate in France or Germany. If you
you rent in France or Germany and do not tell them you are going to
Italy, you can book at the low rate. You have a problem in Italy
with the car under those circumstances, you have a very big problem,
indeed.

If you rent in France or Germany, they don't care whether or not you
drive it to Italy. Italian regulations requiring CDW only apply to cars
rented in Italy.

Neil

On Thu, 22 Jan 2004 17:50:18 +0000, neil tupper wrote:


"gerald" wrote in message
...
In Italy, there a number of required insurances, and a lot of extra
tax. The rate is about twice the rate in France or Germany. If you
you rent in France or Germany and do not tell them you are going to
Italy, you can book at the low rate. You have a problem in Italy
with the car under those circumstances, you have a very big problem,
indeed.

If you rent in France or Germany, they don't care whether or not you
drive it to Italy. Italian regulations requiring CDW only apply to cars
rented in Italy.

I believe Italian regulations require theft insurance and some things of
that nature, but not really CDW. Many/most rental companies in Italy will
not rent you without CDW, or if they do, probably at rates actually more
expensive than other rates that include CDW.

As to renting in Germany, they may well care whether you'll drive into
Italy. At least if you rent a BMW/Mercedes type of vehicle. You would be
well-advised to let them know in advance if that's what you plan.

In Italy, there a number of required insurances, and a lot of extra
tax. The rate is about twice the rate in France or Germany. If you
you rent in France or Germany and do not tell them you are going to
Italy, you can book at the low rate. You have a problem in Italy
with the car under those circumstances, you have a very big problem,
indeed.

If you rent in France or Germany, they don't care whether or not you
drive it to Italy. Italian regulations requiring CDW only apply to cars
rented in Italy.

I believe Italian regulations require theft insurance and some things of
that nature, but not really CDW. Many/most rental companies in Italy will
not rent you without CDW, or if they do, probably at rates actually more
expensive than other rates that include CDW.

As to renting in Germany, they may well care whether you'll drive into
Italy. At least if you rent a BMW/Mercedes type of vehicle. You would be
well-advised to let them know in advance if that's what you plan.

In September we rented a mid sized car in Munich for travel in Italy.
We always do that because it is so much cheaper. CDW and theft
insurance are both REQUIRED in Italy and that adds a tremendous amount
to the cost. I tell the car agency when renting that I am going to
Italy. They have no problem with that as long as the car is not a
luxury model or a large model. Then they will not allow it to go to
Italy.

I rented for 2 weeks at $519 in September. I went through a
consolidator. Best deal.

Nancy

devil wrote in message ...
On Thu, 22 Jan 2004 17:50:18 +0000, neil tupper wrote:


"gerald" wrote in message
...
In Italy, there a number of required insurances, and a lot of extra
tax. The rate is about twice the rate in France or Germany. If you
you rent in France or Germany and do not tell them you are going to
Italy, you can book at the low rate. You have a problem in Italy
with the car under those circumstances, you have a very big problem,
indeed.

If you rent in France or Germany, they don't care whether or not you
drive it to Italy. Italian regulations requiring CDW only apply to cars
rented in Italy.

I believe Italian regulations require theft insurance and some things of
that nature, but not really CDW. Many/most rental companies in Italy will
not rent you without CDW, or if they do, probably at rates actually more
expensive than other rates that include CDW.

As to renting in Germany, they may well care whether you'll drive into
Italy. At least if you rent a BMW/Mercedes type of vehicle. You would be
well-advised to let them know in advance if that's what you plan.

My friends:

A few comments from someone who's been through this too many times to
count.

DRIVING UNINSURED RENTAL CARS
As President of Europe By Car, I strongly urge any tourist renting a
car to make sure they are insured for any country in which they intend
to drive.

Why? Every year a handful of clients attempt to save on the cost of
Italian car rentals by picking up a car in France and taking it into
Italy, often without paying for insurance within Italy, or without
notifying the French car rental company of their intentions.

Every year a handful of these clients have an accident or have their
rental car stolen while in Italy. Use of French rental cars in Italy
(uninsured) invariably invalidates some or all of the clients'
contractual protections, and these clients end up paying significant
damages that can run as high as the full value of the car.

Avis, Hertz, Europcar, Sixt and the other major rental companies have
NO patience for clients who claim ignorance of their lack of coverage
for various countries and then damage or lose rental cars in countries
known for high rental, theft and accident rates (i.e. Italy, Eastern
Europe). The rental contracts given at pick-up state where the cars
can be driven - flouting these restrictions can be very costly for
clients.

A car rental consolidator such as Europe By Car has a database of
country and insurance restrictions spanning virtually every car rental
and leasing supplier in Europe, guaranteeing the best possible balance
of car/insurance availability.

COUNTRY OF RESIDENCY AND PRICING
Tourists should be very careful when concealing their true country of
residency in order to take advantage superior car rental rates.

If booking online directly with a major car rental company, the
booking engine may check the credit card billing address against the
destination and reject the order. Maybe.

Or maybe not. If that doesn't occur, or if booking through an
unscrupulous consolidator, there is a strong chance the client's
reservation will be denied upon arrival at the pickup location and the
client forced to pay full retail, which may be higher than the rate
the client would have gotten if they had booked in advance using their
true country of residency.

Europe By Car receives hundreds of calls every year from clients at
airports in Europe - all desperate to avoid the exorbitant rates given
them for onsite pickup.

Car rental companies' contracts with consolidators like Europe By Car
stipulate which countries certain sets of rates can be used for. Some
consolidators deceive clients about residency requirements, or
willfully let clients exploit residency requirements, in order to make
a sale. When too many clients don't get their cars, or sue the
consolidator, or when the car rental supplier gets fed up with the
consolidator, the consolidator goes under.

The travel sector is littered with companies that have gone under for
reasons like this.

Best Regards and Good Luck,

Alexander Roy
President
Europe By Car
A Name You Can Trust Since 1954

www.europebycar.com
800-223-1516
212-581-3040