My family of 5 will be renting a Hertz car when we head out of Florence into Tuscany. I read that we can pick up a Hertz car from the airport or there are one or two Hertz locations in Florence. We will need a larger car as to fit the 5 of us and our luggage. I plan to reserve the car before we start our vacation, but I've read that sometimes even when you reserve a certain size car that sometimes the car is not actually available when you arrive to pick it up. Perhaps we would have better luck getting the car from Hertz near the airport as it's probably a bigger facility with more cars. Or maybe we should get it from the Hertz in Florence, which location would be more convenient for us. Any thoughts on this?
Thanks!
Posted by
Edmonds, WA 🌨 ☂
12094 posts
While no guarantee of future performance, I have never had a car rental agency try to give me a smaller car than I had reserved.
You try making a booking at the various Florence locations and see if any show 'No Availability", for the class you want
On occasion I have run across the the situation where one location would show 'no availability' for a car class, but another location would have it. With as far out as you are planning, I think if they let you make the reservation, then there should be no problem with that car class being available.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16221 posts
I usually use a consolidator:
www.autoeurope.com
www.kemwel.com
(Both part of same corporate group)
They work primarily with Europcar, Hertz, Avis Budget. I usually get better pricing with them than directly, especially when full zero deductible insurance is selected (I always do because deductible is about €1,200)
These are the office locations for all:
CITY CENTER:
Borgo Ognissanti (all are on this street near the US Consulate)
CITY (outside of center):
Hertz: 53 via del Sansovino
Europcar: 2 Via Forlanini
AIRPORT
Via Palagio degli Spini (Rental car center)
If you are picking up upon landing, you might as well pick up at the airport, otherwise I would pick up at Borgo Ognissanti. You should be able to get the car of the size you book, although the model may change.
If it's a family with kids, an intermediate should do it. If it's 5 adults with luggage, I'd go for two economy cars. Economy cars are the size of a Toyota Yaris hatchback. One Intermediate car costs as much as 3 economy cars, so it's cheaper too.
Posted by
Oakland, CA
124 posts
On our recent (May 2017) trip, we picked up a car at the Florence airport and it's fairly easy to find the road to Chianti from there. We also rented through Auto Europe although I think we picked up the car at the Hertz counter. The airport facility is one with many rental companies. A friend who we met up with later in the trip (in Umbria) had rented a large Jeep Cherokee which should work for five people. Just make sure your luggage is small.