Does anyone know why Auto Europe charges US residents substantially more than Italian residents? I looked up prices for 10 days on the US website and the same 10 days entering info as an Italian. The difference was more than 150E.

Wow.
Sounds sinister...
I booked thru another car agency for 10 days (pick-up and return @ Bologna airport) The total costs with all required bells and whistles was 375 US. Thru a recent ST message, I learned that many folks prefered Auto Europe. I also learned A.E. would match any other car rental. So I contacted A.E. and sure enough, they gave me the exact price with all fees covered for the same price, and a warmer, cozier feeling that I booked with a secure agency.
So, even though they have wildly different quotes between US and Italy, they will still match the lowest price you could find elsewhere. Plus, I really trust the information I get from this lovely site, don't you?
Joy

It's not only the car rental agencies who seem to charge less through the Italian sites. We purchased Alitalia tickets several months ago for a one way trip from Venice to Naples and the US site quoted over $300 per person. We checked the Italian site and it was only $98 per person. Quite a difference.

Sharon J

Its quite common for companies to have different prices for different markets in the travel industry. As a travel agent, I used to see these cheap airfares which could only be purchased if you lived in Europe.

I will be booking a car too, in the future, and you got me looking! When booking with Auto Europe, you will notice there are often several pick up and drop off locations. I did a check for a Rome Downtown pick up and a Florence DT drop off. I then compared different locations within each city. For the same car: a Alpha Romeo 147, I had two prices for different locations. $464.55 for one and $384.00 for another. The same car thru AutoEurope.UK was $336.64. Autoeuropa.it had fewer locations but the Alpha Romeo 147 (diesel) was 173 Euro or $218.73. Very interesting!

Thanks for bringing this up!

I have another question about Auto Europe Italia site.I hope someone can help with understanding this. What does "rimborsa della franchigia" mean? Thanks

Auto Europa Italy offers the option to choose English as the language on it's home page.

Auto Europa Italia english home page

Jenny, your link is to Auto Europa, which is a different company from Auto Europe, even though the logos are similar. Auto Europa is an Italian rental company a.k.a. Sicily by Car, while Auto Europe is a U.S.-based broker for several companies including Auto Europa. If comparing prices from them, see what taxes and insurance coverage are included.

I also got lower rates by calling Auto Europe as when you use the online system...most times it is Europcar that is displayed but I ended up with a much better rate with a free upgrade using Avis when I called them instead of booking online.