We're renting a car in Heidelberg early May, for 21 days, ending our journey in Rome. After spending many hours researching, strategizing, talking to AutoEurope (US consolidator), I've worked out what I hope is the most cost-efficient way to go. (avoiding FRA pick-up 20% surcharge, taking Lufthansa bus from airport terminal to Heidelberg, picking up rental car 2nd day, etc.).
We'll drop off car on 21st day, in Rome (almost a $600 drop-off fee, but cheaper than Hertz or Avis!). Will it be too much hassle to drive on Sat. a.m. from Orvieto area to the EuropCar Roma Via Ludovisi office? I've figured it might take us 2 hours? I have no idea if this is realistic, although I've used Google maps to figure route, timing, etc. I think my preference would be to drive all the way to Rome, rather than dropping off in Viterbo, i.e., and taking the train. Thanks to Ron from Copenhagen in a recent post for your helpful links!
Posted by
Caruthers, CA, USA
244 posts
I'm working on Rental car stuff so have been looking into this. $600 is a piece of pocket change to me, so... I read that you can drop your car near the border in Germany, then hop a train to Milan and rent another car, and save the drop off fee. You might explore Switzerland or Austria before you drop the car in Germany.
Posted by
Monterey County, CA (formerly Verbania Italy-Lago Maggiore)
1626 posts
I too have been researching rental cars for our trip in Sept. I'm not an expert but have picked up a lot from reading these posts and other websites. We are picking up in Frankfurt and dropping off 2 weeks later in Florence. Here's what I think I've been able to confirm. The 20% airport fee applies for pickup locations only (either airport or railroad stations). No extra charge for dropping off at airports or train stations. I don't mind spending the 20% to pick up car from the airport so we can get the car, drive to Rothenburg and check into our hotel. Not worth trying to figure out how to get to a rental car place NOT near a train station after a 11-12 hour flight from SFO . The drop off fee in Italy is high ($500-600), but by RENTING in Germany, credit card coverage is valid if you are DRIVING in Italy, so you can avoid the CDW in Italy. If you RENT a car in Italy, some credit card coverage is not valid. AX has a premium coverage that you can purchase for $18 per rental which is much better than Visa Coverage. I've also looked at AutoEurope and seems their cancellation or change fees are somewhat more restrictive than Gemut. (gemut has been mentioned in several posts). Quotes were also more competitive with Gemut. At first I was not wanting to prepay, but with no cancellation fee and prepaying in USD without foreign transaction fees, well worth it. We are taking a week driving from Germany to Tuscany and focusing our travels on small towns and the countryside on the way. By the way we LOVE Carmel and Carmel Valley. We'll be there over the 4th.
Posted by
OP
Carmel Valley, CA
14 posts
I agree, Karen, that it takes a bit of sleuthing to determine the closest off-airport location to pick up a EuropCar (which I'm assuming you're using, since their drop-off charges in Italy are much less than Hertz; Avis apparently doesn't even allow open-jaw rentals between countries. And these are the 3 rental car cos. that AutoEurope and gemut work with (both American consolidators). My research also concluded that gemut and EuropCar were the way to go (for the reasons you stated~which translates positively to the bottom line). Although AutoEurope was willing to tell me which streets in their drop-down screen for "downtown" locations corresponded to which rental car companies, I used Google Map and EuropCar sites to ferret out which locations would be closest to the Frankfurt Airport. For me, it was worth doing this to save the 20% ($250) surcharge. And if I hadn't decided to take the shuttle bus to Heidelberg and rent the car the 2nd day in country, I would have opted for the Main Niederrad EuropCar location on Lyoner Strasse, which appears to be only minutes by taxi from the airport. You might want to check this out. As for the other suggestion about dropping off the car in Germany and then renting in Milan, after a train ride, that solution was much more convoluted, considering the places we wanted to go (the castles down by Fussen and then Lago di Garda and points east, before heading south, via Bologna, to Rome). And considering the additional hassles and charges involved in renting a car in Italy, it turned out not to save significant dollars, either. I appreciate all of the input, however. I know how much this forum has helped me formulate our travel plans.