Once again Auto Europe comes through! I have been hunting for a good price on a seven person mini van for a one week rental. Auto Europe was quoting 1091.00 as were most of the other agencies. I finally found one(Sixt) for 655.00 plus 11.00 a day to get a zero deductible for a total of 732.00. I called Auto Europe and asked them if they could match the rate and they put me on hold for a bit and finally came back and said they would charge me 700.00 total with a zero deductible! It took a little time, but that is almost 400.00 off their original price!

What car group did you price at Sixt? I have a rental via AutoEurope for 8.5 days--compact vw wagon--and we may need a van instead--cost for me was $659. Thanks for sharing your info.

It was catagory X and I actually got the sixt rental through car-rental-italy.com

Thanks; I'll see what happens and let you know!

We're planning a trip to Umbria and will be needing to rent a car. I'm curious...why didn't you just go with Sixt?

For a several of reasons.One, Auto Europe is so highly rated on this board. Two, we have always used them in the past and have been really happy with their service.Third, when comparing the zero deductible insurance of Sixt, I read a very interesting statement" The CDW cancels the customers liability, but only in the presence of opposite party".I asked them what that meant and they told me the zero deductible only works of you are in an accident with antoher car! So, if I back into a wall or get into a tight spot and scrap the side of my cat it is back to the $800.00 deductible!(no thanks!) Never mind you are paying 11.00E a day extra for the zero deductible on sixt too. When I got Auto Europe to match the price they gave me 700.00 with zero deductible for everything. Some friends of ours on the last rip rented through a small company (can't remember which one)and their car broke down on the second day of a week rental. It took the company two more days to come and give them a new car, then to add insult to injury they charged them for the repair!!! It was 400.00 for a new clutch! Contrast that story to some of the stories on this board with how wonderful they were treated by Auto Europe when there was a problem and you will also understand why it was important to me to get them to match the deal.One other note, if you click on the AE website from this board ST get's a commission.

I book Auto Europe whenever possible for my clients. It is the best company I have known of in my 20+ years in this business as far as reliability, standing behind what it says, customer service and all the rest.

Auto Europe-I also find that almost without exception, they can match any quote you get from most competitors (and I have saved hundreds of $'s taking the time to do this, especially on a multiweek rental). So that combined with a zero deductible makes them a "no brainer". And generally, they have great customer service. I did have a problem using their UK toll free phone number once when I needed to call them, but otherwise I have no complaints.

l&w: I'm trying to get the sixt (car-rental-italy) rate, but I'm pulling teeth! Following is my email to AE in reply to their saying they want justification:

Email to AE: Please note that Sixt won't supply a confirmation # unless you provide them with payment information. Since I don't want to double book, I don't want to give them my $ information, as I am sure you can understand.

Please see the following link where I am getting the information I shared earlier with Auto Europe: http://www.car-rental-italy.com/comwag.htm It is a category M compact station wagon I am requesting a match price on. The prices are:
http://www.car-rental-italy.com/Sixt%20Web/sixtmrates.htm Please note that I used the comp of $46/day since we will have the auto for more than 7 days but less than 13. The rate includes: http://www.car-rental-italy.com/Sixt%20Web/s_included.htm

If you need further information to justify the rate of $414, please let me know. Thank you for your attention. I look forward to hearing back from you soon with good news.



From AE to me:
Unfortunately, I cannot verify the rate of $414usd with Sixt.

They are quoting me a rate of EUR662.25EUR or approx. $790usd at today's exchange rate, for their compact manual wagon category.

At this point we are already beating the rate that I have verified, but if you can supply me with a confirmation number from Sixt which I can use to verify the rate of $414usd then I will be glad to look into beating that rate for you.

L&W--Did you actually do a booking at Sixt?

Best Regards,
Trey Littlefield
Auto Europe Beat Rate Dept.

Campdavid.
Yes, I did book first with Sixt, but then cancelled with no problem when Auto Europe matched the deal.I called Auto Europe instead of emailing. They were so nice over the phone and kept coming back to check on me "on hold" while they worked the deal out.

Great information. I, too, need a van for a couple of different trips this year. I was sweating the enormous costs, but now I won't worry and I can stick w/AE.........thanks so much.
ciao, Cheryl

l&w: Thanks to you, I'm now paying $425 for a 9-day rental instead of $659--not bad! Do I need to ask for "no deductible" now or do that when I get there--same question for additional driver--same question for other options? Your sage advice is appreciated! Oh, wht about additional insurance--is that required with AE rentals?? Thank you many times over--now we'll just spend the savings on gas!.

Campdavid,
Did you get that quote from their website or from an agent? Check your rental agreement with them and see what it says for the deductible under "terms and conditions". They use to always be zero deductible but now I think you have to ask. They gave it to me because I was asking them to match a competitors rate that I had upgraded for 9.00 a day to the zero deductible, but remember under the competitors agreement you had to have an accident with another car for it to be valid. The best thing to do is get an offical quote from another company with the extra insurance included and then get AE to beat the price. Extra drivers are always paid for locally.

Are you a member of AAA? We rented a car in Italy for $387(USD) from the 19th of May to the 24th.This includes insurance, but we do have a clause. Theft is 200 additional euro and 100 euro collision. The quote was provided from Hertz.

Any experiences with Hertz?
Jan

I am confused about all this car rental talk from different companies. On the AutoEurope website, I got a quote for a compact Fiat for 7 days, picked up at Venice airport, for $510. The confirmation says it is through Hertz. Then I checked Avis website and got a comparable quote for $467. But the Avis quote says "additional surcharges may apply" and doesn't include collision insurance. Auto Europe says "inclusive." Why not go directly to Hertz website and cut out the middle man? Should I be calling AutoEurope directly for best prices?

I find this car rental confusing, also.
We've rented a car in Pisa in April through AutoEurope, and they have already charged it to our credit card. Is this normal?

We want to rent a car for a week in Ostuni, Puglia, but AutoEurope doesn't operate there. We can rent from a local business in Ostuni, but they have not posted any Terms and Conditions. When I asked by email for that info before I book the car, the agent was puzzled about this request and said he would get back to me. I haven't heard from him, yet.

Anyone (Jonathan ?) have experience renting from a local car rental place in small towns in Italy?

Charity

Charity,
How local? Is it with a company like Avis or Hertz? Our friends rented a car from a local rental agency in Salerno and two days into a week rental the car broke down. It took two more days before they brought a new car. When they went to turn the rental in at the end of the week the agency not only did not deduct for the two days they were with out the car, they also charged them for the repair on the other car!! It was the clutch that went out. There is no way they could have burned the clutch out in two days. They own a five speed and know how to drive one. I would insist on the terms in writing up front!!

Auto Europe's standard practice is to charge you at the time of booking, but it is completely refundable if you want to cancel or change the rental.

quote:

Anyone (Jonathan ?) have experience renting from a local car rental place in small towns in Italy?

Sorry, Charity, not yet! So far we've always arranged to pick up a car at whichever airport (Bari/Brindisi) we've flown in to.

Jonathan

quote:

Originally posted by pattiD:
Why not go directly to Hertz website and cut out the middle man? Should I be calling AutoEurope directly for best prices?

You get the best price with AutoEurope by using the website to book (use our CLICKTHRU and we get a commission) - but once you have booked, you can phone them to ask any questions or ask them to meet a better rate you found elsewhere. AutoEurope is a broker and I have found their rates are less expensive than Hertz, but I do a comparison each time I am booking a car.