car rental in rome to "heel"-bari or brindisi via rome for usa

Try Kemwel.com, I didn't end up renting from them, but they had good prices.

thanks will check it out

Bari is the bigger airport. Either one is primarily devoted to low cost budget airlines. Flying back to the US from Bari will limit you to the Sky Team airline alliance (Alitalia/Delta) because Alitalia is pretty much the only major (non low cost) airline game in town. From Bari you could take Alitalia to Rome and from there to either JFK or ATL with Alitalia or Delta (which are partners) and finally from there to PHX. Another option is to fly a low cost to any European hub and then take a big airline home. That might mean transferring airports with ground transportation, therefore you might have to leave Bari well in advance if you take that option.

great-everyone is so helpfulglad i did not buy tickets yet for sept-i am having fun setting up an itinarywhen do most of you buy the NONREFUNDABLE TICKETS? One never knows when or if the cost of flights go down
thanks from annette

We travel in Italy every summer and always rent from autoeurope.com. They are brokers who use all of the major companies, but at a lower rate. Our second recommendation would be europecar.com One other item, I would recommend purchasing the extra zero liability car insurance because the regular inclusive package insurance still requires a hefty deductible. Also, most credit card companies will not cover car rentals in Italy, Ireland, Portugal, and Israel. IMHO, the extra bucks are worth the peace of mind. Buon viaggio,

Another option: you could take a low-cost flight from Rome to Bari or Brindisi and pick up your car there, then return it at the airport when you leave. You might even get a break on your airfare buying a round-trip ticket. Or you could use trains. If you buy in advance, you might be able to snag 9 euro fares between Rome>Bari or Brindisi and back again. I think Rome>Bari is about a 4 hour trip. Again, pick up your car when you arrive and drop it when you leave. On our trip to the boot, we had no choice but to fly because we were returning to Milan ... too far for a train. But I'd actually prefer a 4-hour train to the hassles of flying. As for which to pick ... Bari or Brindisi ... Bari is bigger, so will have more options for flights, trains, etc. But they are less than 90 minutes apart. So you can choose based on convenience for your itinerary, better car rental price, etc.