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Arezzo - Saturday Car Rental pick up

We are traveling by train from Rome to Arezzo on Saturday, Sept. 13 and plan on renting a car in Arezzo for a week in the Tuscany countryside.

It looks like the best (most reliable) way is through Autoeurope. Comments?

I have seen references that the rental agencies are not open on Saturday afternoon or Sunday. OK, they deserve time off too. But that leaves me wondering what time they close on Saturday. (Hoping not to need to leave Rome at O dark thirty)
I plan on asking the same question of Autoeurope when I book the vehicle, but I'd like information from someone who knows more than me before I talk to them.
Thanks in advance

Posted by
16242 posts

Autoeurope.com and kemwel.com are two consolidators part of the same corporate group. Check prices with both, often kemwel has lower prices. The two work exactly the same. You prepay, but if you cancel within 48 hrs you can be refunded. Make sure you select the "no insurance excess" option, which means zero deductible.

The above companies work primarily with 3 rental corporations: Avis-budget, Europcar, Hertz and occasionally Maggiore. The best prices tend to be with Europcar, but sometimes Hertz is lower.
I know Arezzo well because most of my family comes from there.
Avis may not have the best price, but it has the best location, right in front of the station. They also stay open longer on Saturday, till 04:00pm. But check with them directly at:
+ 39 0575354232
(The sign + means international outbound code! which in the US is 011, however some phones can dial the +, certainly a cell phone does.)
Both Hertz and Europcar have a location away from the station (not far but not walking distance). They close at 12:30p and 1pm, respectively, on Saturdays.

Posted by
34350 posts

Its interesting, rick steve, that your name or avatar is rick steve. It seems like you should be telling us rather than the other way around LOL.

Posted by
5 posts

Yeah I know - sounds funky.

Just joined this AM. As I have a domain, I can create email addresses as I like. I have the policy of using the name of the web page I'm giving an email address to as the log in name/email address. Lets me keep track of where spam comes from. EG, If I start getting solicitations from a weird web site addressed to ricksteve@???.com, I know the rick Steves web site is selling their data. (Would be very surprised if that were the case for ricksteves.com.

Didn't occur to me that doing so on this site would set it up to look so silly.

My apologies to the real thing.

Posted by
5 posts

Yeah I know - sounds funky.

Just joined this AM. As I have a domain, I can create email addresses as I like. I have the policy of using the name of the web page I'm giving an email address to as the log in name/email address. Lets me keep track of where spam comes from. EG, If I start getting solicitations from a weird web site addressed to ricksteve@???.com, I know the rick Steves web site is selling their data. (Would be very surprised if that were the case for ricksteves.com.

Didn't occur to me that doing so on this site would set it up to look so silly.

My apologies to the real thing.

Posted by
16895 posts

Roberto has you on the right track. I've usually found it pretty easy to see office hours for the AutoEurope/Kemwel bookings before completing check out. You can also start a reservation online without entering a credit card, then call them and refer to that voucher-in-progress number.

Posted by
5 posts

Thanks again to the people who replied. Very helpful. Using this info and replies I got to a similar posting on tripadvisor, here’s what I’ve done:

Made a 7 day reservation for a car with AutoEurope – Total cost – 394.12
Per their voucher, this is through Avis, at the location open Saturday until 4:00.
(Free to cancel)

Also made a reservation through Budget, who shares the location with Avis. – Similar car – Total Cost - $348.52 (10.00 to cancel)

Now I go back to AutoEurope and see if their price match guarantee is real.

Also, RE: AutoEurope's “Free” GPS – After paying their $40.00 Shipping fee + $6.00/day for every day we’re in Italy and not renting a car. (14 days) total cost for the “Free GPS = $124.00. For not many more dollars I can buy a low end GPS on Amazon W/ current Italy maps and have a GPS for future trips.