Italian Car Rental leaving Italy and not all cancellation polices are the same

Part 2 is something to also be mindful of, mainly dealing with nicer cars and may apply to all automatic rentals.

Cancelation Policy
Although Auto Europe shows on their website free cancellation up to 48 hours it does not apply to all cars.
Again for my Volvo rental and probably all automatics this does not apply and my policy had cancellation fees involved.
I did not love what Auto Europe was telling me so part of me just wanted to cancel my booking and figure this out another day after some research but that was not an option as if I cancelled even though weeks before my travel date there would be a penalty for this car. It is also on page 4 of my 5 page conditions in my contract and to see this after you select your car you would need to go under the car specific conditions as any cancellation policy show here overrides their big bold website advertisement of 48 hour free cancellation!
The Volvo was considered a fleet vehicle I learned but otherwise would have no advance way of knowing.
The good news for me was they permitted me to modify my reservation to a different car type without paying the cancellation penalty.

I only rent from Hertz and picked up my US pre ordered car in Rome and drove into Austria and returned it in Milan with no problem.The car was a manual Fiat station wagon type,we were four adults.If you have AMEX they have an excellent insurance for $17.95 for up to 42 consecutive days giving $100,000 coverage.
Mike

It's not real clear to where you stand on your car rental for Slovenia, an especially beautiful country.
I've been known to turn rental cars in in one city to stop the clock and not have to pay for expensive parking. Then I'll travel by train or bus and pick up another rental car in another city or country.
Have you considered taking a bus from Italy into Ljubljana and just renting a car there? There are many car rental companies operating there.

Mike: Fairly certain AMEX insurance does not cover Italy for their rental cars, so you may have gotten lucky nothing happened in that case.
As far as your driving into Austria, did you tell Hertz your plan in advance or just do it and not get caught, there is a difference.
I am sure many do it, and I would have thought it was no big deal myself, but does appear there are rental car restrictions on leaving the country with their car. I am sure it is insurance related so if something happened you could get in trouble by violating the rental terms.

David: I modified my rental to the Nissan Quasqui or similar from AutoEurope from Europcar and it now states on my travel voucher travel to SL included, so should be all set. I had them include Austria too just to be on the safe side since the rate did not change to add it once I added Slovenia.
More posting for others to be aware of these caveats, I had done my "homework" but did not realize either of the 2 points I am making and think others would fall into the same situation quite easily.

It made the 2 night trip out to Lake Bled more costly than likely worth it but I am mentally committed to visiting Slovenia so paid the costs and will do it. Could have explored the extra steps you mention and probably save money that way but have to weigh the added cost vs. added hassle. We are taking along with us our 3 year old daughter, so in many cases paying a little extra to make things more convenient than we would if traveling as a couple.

Sorry to contradict you, but I've made many online bookings through Auto Europe (both real and test runs). In the area where you fill out driver's name and similar details, there's always a check-box with this question: Click here if you will be driving outside of your country of rental to countries other than Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden or Switzerland. I see it now when I test a booking from Europcar in Florence. You're correct to warn other travelers that it's important. When you click that box, then I believe you are directed to an agent to review the web booking before it's confirmed.

Laura
You are correct I just did a test booking and see the exact box you mention
Thanks for correcting me
My bad, when I originally booked a car it was months back and did not intend on leaving Italy so I guess I forgot it was a question
I did not intend the post to be negative to Auto Europe, more of a warning to future visitors/renters to not assume you can just drive out of Italy in your rental car on a whim
Not sure what the site would do if you proceeding booking listing Slovenia as I was told it could not be booked online

I guess that they meant the booking would be finished with a phone call, even if started and saved as a web booking.

The reason why most rental car companies do not allow taking the car into Eastern Europe, including Slovenia, except for after paying a higher rate and only certain models, is because of the exorbitant risk of theft and burglaries (with consequent damage) of rental cars in those places. Also insurers of those countries have the habit of not paying even when their subscribers are at fault.

I've taken rental cars from Seattle to British Columbia without issue, but I don't think it would be wise to take one from San Diego to Tijuana without first checking, pretty much for the same reasons why they don't like you to take cars to Eastern Europe.

Yes I does make sense to me just took a while to sink in I guess and I think Slovenia is getting a bad rap compared to say Bosnia and other nearby but higher risk eastern European countries

In the us I recall there were some restrictions when I looked at renting a car from Boston to Montreal some years back
Think certain companies that didn't allow it and others were fine with it

It's odd that Slovenia, which has a much lower car theft rate than most Western European countries, Italy included, necessitates extra caution, wheras AutoEurope is perfectly fine with customers taking rental cars into Belgium or Spain, two countries notorious for their car theft problems. Old world views die hard, I guess.

When booking directly with the rental companies, the T&Cs of Hertz, Avis and Sixt explicitly state you can take the car into Slovenia (among others, Austria included), Hertz even allows drop-offs in Ljubljana, whereas Avis does not allow taking luxury vehicles into Slovenia. Europcar does not forbid it, but insists on making a request with their representative first.