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Car Rental Catania

We'll be taking a taxi (4 of us) from Catania to CTA to pick up rental car. We will stay near airport on last night as our flight leaves at 0800. I assume will need to drop of car at 530-6am (unless we may not need that much time) What is the procedure there? Is the terminal walking distance from the car rental drop off sites? Are there shuttle buses to transport to terminal like many US airports? Any particular car rental company recommended? We usually use Enterprise as they "pick you up" but I don't think they are going to pick us up in Catania.

Any ideas for a hotel close to airport for last night to make this as easy as possible?

Thanks,
Cindy

Posted by
1018 posts

We rented from Autoeurope and the rental car pickup/return center just is to the left of CTA as you are looking at the front of the airport. The return lot is next to the building where the various rental agencies are located. We just found the correct area by following the signs, parked the car, and walked into the rental center to check out. Easy, easy...

We always use Autoeurope because their rates are usually the best. They are a consolidator and they are our first choice.

There are also car rental companies in front of the airport.

Once you select a company, you could use Google Maps to find the exact location of the agency in relation to the airport.

Buon viaggio,

Posted by
4601 posts

I rented from Avis at Catania last spring. The location, as described by RB above, is just left of the airport as you face it …. a very short walk, 1 or 2 minutes. No shuttle required. The rental counter for Avis is inside the terminal. I recall numerous other companies being there as well.

The car had damages that were not noted on the diagram on the rental agreement. It required additional time when picking up the car to note those and confirm with an agent. I took photos as backup in case there was any question on dropoff - which there was not.

We stayed in Catania our last night for a nice dinner before our 10:15am flight. We dropped the car off when we first arrived back in Catania so that we wouldn't have to deal with that on the morning of our flight. The hotel arranged a driver to the airport.

Posted by
3594 posts

We rented from Hertz at Catania, through AutoEurope. Our experience led me to refuse to ever use Hertz/Italy again. Without going into all the details, I will just say that they were the most dishonest agency I have ever dealt with. With AE, you are offered several choices. I just go with one that is not Hertz.

Posted by
871 posts

"I took photos as backup in case there was any question on dropoff '

We too arrange our cars through Autoeurope [using the toll free number]; get zero-deductible collision which covers any damage to the body of the car.

Posted by
2047 posts

We also used Europcar via Autoeurope. We had excellent service at Catania and liked being able to walk to the cars from the airport. The checkin car rental desks are close to the checked luggage area. Getting to. The highway from the airport was also easy.

Posted by
6532 posts

We rented from Avis last September. I recall picking up and returning the car in the facility to the left of the terminal (same building as Auto Europa), not inside the terminal. Drop off was easy and only took a few minutes. As we stayed at the nearby Navy base I filled the rental up with gas the night before since we too had an early flight. Check the hours your rental car company’s facility opens since it may not open as early as you think. Believe Avis opened at 6am. There are a couple hotels right by the airport. You can see them on Google maps. If you decide to stay by the airport, turn the car in the night before departure.