Inexplicable rental rates on Auto Europe and Kemwel

Call'em. Sometimes they are cheaper than Hertz and sometimes not. And you might get another brand rental--depending on the location.
You can join car rental frequent center programs often for free and get discount PIN #s.
I still have a Hertz fleet rental number from my employer 15 years ago that gets us the lowest rates possible.

I don’t know what you are looking at.
I just tested rates on AutoEurope for 3 weeks picking up in Florence and returning in Rome (from June 26 to July 15) and a midsize is $747 (for 3 weeks), I.e. about $250 a week. And I also added the zero deductible insurance. You must be doing something wrong.

The rates on all car rental sites can change by the hour. Sometimes the changes can be quite dramatic. The advantage to booking with AutoEurope, they advertise "price match." If you find a lower rate elsewhere, even on their site, they will match it, even at a later date. Considering you have to pre-pay with AutoEurope, consumers should demand this service at all times. Why else are you letting them have your money so far in advance?

For work, I often have a restricted budget for car rental expense. I also require an automatic transmission, which is more expensive. Luckily, I prefer smaller luxury cars, because they are easier to drive in historic cities. I've been liking the Intermediate Audi A3. I've never had to pay more than $30 a day, but you have to learn how to shop for the deals.

I absolutely refuse to overpay for a rental car. If you know what you're doing, it's just not necessary.

Hi Roberto,

I just tried again and the cheapest rate I see I $2074 and a mid-size car is quoted at $2508! Very bizarre. I should mention that I was specifying the Santa Maria Novella and Termini rail stations for pickup/drop off. The dates are June 5 to June 9.

Anyway, as I get closer to the date and need to actually book the rental, I will call them if I still see these super high numbers.

Your choice of pick up/drop off points is too restrictive. Change the parameter for pick up to “Florence all locations” and you’ll get prices in the $175 to $225 range.

Philip,

I specifically want to pick up and drop off in those locations, which is why I specified them. Furthermore, as mentioned in my original post, when checking the Hertz and Europcar sites and using the EXACT same search criteria, I see mid sized cars in the $300 range. So we are not talking about a small difference in price here but one that is more than 8 times the amount! Clearly, something is not right, since that price coming up on the Auto Europe web site is obviously unreasonable. Anyway, I will simply call them when I actually get ready to rent, and see what their price is at that time.

Depending how far in advance you check, AutoEurope's algorithm will not post competitive pricing. You simply have to be patient and check at another time or call them.

Don’t choose Santa Maria Novella as pick up location. There is no pick up there and the site gives you some type of luxury whatever. Choose ANY LOCATION and you will get the proper quotes.

From what I see Auro Europe does not recognize the in-town Hertz location as being AT Santa Maria Novella (it’s a couple of blocks away). If you put in “Florence all locations” as suggested earlier, pick your car and then “show locations” you can select the in town location on Borgo Ognissanti for pickup. Rates are comparable to what you saw on the Hertz website.

Just checked the AutoEurope website. It is not working properly, and it's changed a bit since my last visit. Looks to me like they're having coding issues with a newer design. Typical. There is no reason why the Train Station link should not work for Florence.

If you choose "Any Location," you need to click on a price to dig deeper. When the page changes, you can select a car/package and click "Show Locations." The Borgo Ognissanti option will be listed as "Downtown." How stupid and unhelpful is that? This is just bad design.

You bypass these internet issues by calling them directly. Be sure to complain about their website design. I never trust what I see on the internet, which is why I always call.

I had a similar issue with AutoEurope recently. I reserved and paid for a car in Ireland a few months ago at a reasonable rate. Went back to check rates to see if they had gone down - they often do but you have to call in to get an adjustment. The price had gone from around $600 for the week to over $2000. Weird. i thought maybe it was "surge" pricing - everyone has reserved so the last few cars are going for triple the norm.

This thread from last week had a similar question for an intermediate-sized car at Lisbon airport. I have seen AutoEurope offer special deals later in the season.

Hopefully, the tips about how to identify the Borgo Ognissanti location will help, too. I don't believe that four blocks away usually counts as being "at" the train station. At Roma Termini, the car rental desk is literally inside the train station, although the car drop off will be in a parking garage across the street.

I don't believe that four blocks away usually counts as being "at" the train station.

It does at the Stazione di Santa Maria Novella in Florence, and has counted for as long as I can remember. Given the facts about SMN, AutoEurope should have their website act together.