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Auto Europe v Hertz Rental Car - what am I missing?

Posted by on

I'm booking a rental car for 5 days, pickup in Siena, drop off at the train station in Orvieto.

If I book with Hertz directly, the online quote for an economy car (Lancia Y or similar) is 199.84 euro for 5 days (this includes 34.16 euro to rent a child booster seat). To this I'd have to add the supercover to reduce the deductible to 0. That costs 32.94 euro per day x5 = 164.70. The total cost will be 364.54 euro. If I booked a Fiat500L it would cost about 40 euro more or around 400 euro.

If I book with Auto Europe, the next higher class of car (compact, Fiat 500L or similar) with the "no deductible rate" works out to $209 Cdn [147 euro] plus 40 euro paid locally for the booster seat = 187 euro, or about half the cost, for a slightly better car. It's still a Hertz rental.

I usually prefer to book direct wherever possible and normally booking direct is cheaper, but in this case, booking direct with Hertz costs 364 euro while booking a Hertz car through Auto Europe costs only 187 euro. Am I going to get hit with a 32.94 euro per day "supercover" charge at the rental counter? Worse? The reviews for Auto Europe seem pretty good but I can't figure out how or why it could be so much cheaper than booking direct.

What am I missing?

Posted by
10766 posts

The exception to booking directly is European car rentals because if there is any discrepancy at the end, Autoeurope tries to get it worked out for you. AutoEurope booked the cars at a set price a long time ago, so now it's lower for you. Also as a North American there are taxes you don't pay. When paying in advance with AutoEurope. There will probably extra charges added locally, such as road tax, etc.

Posted by
1832 posts

In this case don't think you are missing anything
With car rentals what you are seeing is not unusual even in the us
If you have some great hertz corporate discount that is honored in Italy maybe your results would differ

One aspect that could be different if you arrive more than 2 hours late for your rental of booked direct I think you will be fine if with auto Europe of any 3rd party you could find yourself in a pickle

Posted by
1816 posts

Part of the difference may be that Autoeurope is having a sale until 4/30. Also AutoEurope's insurance is probably not as inclusive as Hertz if you read the fine print - assuming you can find Hertz's. They have an exclusion for parking facilities, for example. That said, I'd go with AutoEurope as they do indeed have decent customer service, unlike some third parties.

Posted by
12 posts

I just called Auto Europe and they confirmed that the "zero deductible" includes the CDW and super-cover, but not tires. So I guess it's just a really good deal?

Posted by
2112 posts

We have rented from Auto Europe several times and all have been exactly as arranged, though never in Italy. We always add on the zero deductible as well. AutoEurope may also have a good deal on GPS but it requires arranging for the GPS before arriving at the car pick up. Once I made the reservations, I would periodically check the prices, and in every instance where I spotted a decrease, a quick phone call to the friendly staff up in Maine resulted in a reduced rate. Most recently, after making arrangements for France, Sept. 2015, the rate declined twice prior to departure and both times I called the newer rate was honored. But you have to be the spotter. Good luck and have a great trip.

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