I'll be in Tuscany for the xmas holidays, and will rent a car. My credit card covers my CDW insurance, but for that to take effect, I have to waive it. None of the agencies in Italy will let me do that. Anyone know of an agency that will or another idea?
Thanks!
marshall
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kim,
Posts: 1 | Location: St. Andrews, Scotland (Phoenix, AZ native) | Registered: 25 November 2002
Italy is the only European country that most credit cards do not cover for the extra insurance. Probably your credit card does not cover you there. Auto Europe quotes prices including full insurance with no deductible (use our click thru from the header - the commissions pay for our web hosting).
We always get full insurance thru AutoEurope when booking in Italy.
I would suggest you try Autoeurope (www.autoeurope.com) for a quote. Not only will they generally come ahead in quotes, but you will be fully insured including CDW, and so you won't need to worry about any credit card waivers. Doru
Edited by Pauline to make it a SlowTrav clickthru.
[This message was edited by Pauline on November 25, 2002 at 06:29 PM.]
Posts: 6088 | Location: Toronto | Registered: 26 May 2002
I'll second the Autoeurope recommendation. It is the way I always go. I've been sideswiped and I've knocked sideview mirrors off. Just turn the car in and say goodbye.
Do you realize how much time and paperwork and hassle would be involved if you actually needed to use the coverage provided by your credit card? Trust me, it would be a nightmare, just rent from AutoEurope and enjoy your vacation! (you'd think we were all getting a commision from AutoEurope, but we're not!)
Posts: 4932 | Location: Umbria | Registered: 29 June 2001
If you were planning on renting for more than 7-10 days you might want to consider that, if you have the time and flexibility, renting in a neighboring country and driving to Tuscany can save you a bundle of money. Two years ago we flew to Nice, France for that reason, among others (we love southern France too), and when I did the math on a 17 day rental it really, even with added tolls and (expensive) gas, came out to be a better deal. Clearly if you were not needing the car for a longer term or were short on holiday time, this approach does not make sense though. I too will add my voice for AutoEurope here, long before I joined this bulletin board community, I was using them. They are very competitive pricewise, and you will end up getting the actual car from well known companies such as Avis and Europcar, that they negotiate discounts with.
Posts: 255 | Location: US | Registered: 14 July 2002
I will join the chorus with positive experience with AutoEurope. In the past two years we used them in both France and Italy, and in both cases the sides of the cars were scratched. As noted above, the cars were returned with no charges, no hassles, etc. AutoEurope will also match a lower price you might find elsewhere. We have been very pleased with their service and will continue to use them whenever a rental car is part of our trips.
Incidentally, on our one and only visit to Scotland, St. Andrews was a favorite overnight stop, and we're not even golfers.
Marshall -- take the insurance, and do the rental through Auto Europe! Auto Europe is the sole company I know of that has a ZERO deductible for any collision damage to cars rented in Italy (this is not true for Auto Europe in other countries...only Italy). Other rental companies have deductibles that range from $ 300 and up. I learned this the hard way personally!
I always point out to clients that there is a big advantage in having the vehicle covered by an insuror based in the country of rental (or at least on the continent of the rental!). In my 16 years in the travel business, I've found a minority of people ever have a 'hassle free' experience if they rely on their credit card to cover the collision insurance and then have to claim on that. Many times they find it is secondary coverage, not primary, which means that they have to pay for the vehicle damage 'out of pocket' and then claim on the insurance.
It does drive up the price, but the collision/fire/theft insurance waiver is worth it in peace of mind alone, not to mention in making things simple if you have damage to the car. And a scrape on the side is really easy to do on narrow streets in Italy.
Best wishes,
SALLY WATKINS, Certified Travel Counselor sally@century-tvl.com www.sallywatkins.com My business depends on referrals - please tell someone today!
I too usually alaways rent from AutoEurope and have good experiences to report. I was glad that in Italy CDW is mandatory and included because that relieved me of the burden of a decision. I had to use my credit card CDW one time because a stone bridge in England jumped out in front of us. Luckily, my wife was driving. We had 1100$ charged to our credit card and it was paid off in about four weeks by the credit card insurance company. The bright side is that we got frequent flier miles for the charge.
The real point of my writing is that when you use the credit card CDW be aware of any time limitations on the rental period. A friend of mine got stung just recently because he backed up and a fire truck was going by (not in an emergency run) and when he got home discovered that his rental period exceeded the amount of coverage time. Thanks for reading, JW
a stone bridge in England jumped out in front of us. exceeded the amount of coverage time. JW[/QUOTE]
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Isn't that funny? The same thing happened to me, only it was the buildings on either side of the street. I KNOW they intentionally leaned inward when they saw me coming!
quote: (you'd think we were all getting a commision from AutoEurope, but we're not!)
But we are getting a commission!! The AutoEurope clickthrus from this site completely pay for all my web hosting costs for the message board and the web site!!
When I looked into it, my credit card company would cover a 30 day rental and no longer. I have heard that you are also covered on your car insurance from home (is that true)?
It used to always be cheaper to rent in Switzerland or France and drive into Italy, but the rates have been changing a lot lately. Do a comparison for your trip dates.
Topic Closed
(you'd think we were all getting a commision from AutoEurope, but we're not!)
