Rental Car questions, drop offs and durations of reservations

Some agencies charge to drop within a country; Hertz for example does in Italy I believe. So be sure about that when you rent.

You won't get a refund for dropping early; your contract should tell you charges for late return. (I don't know if there are steep penalties for just keeping it and turning it in late, but there should be as agencies have promised the car to someone else. We almost didn't get a car in London for the Christmas period because people who were unable to get reservations, rented cars early and just kept them leaving those with reservations without cars. The agency drove my husband and son and several others out to Heathrow and got them cars there, but it is possible those coming in late Christmas Eve to Heathrow may have thus been without cars.) When you rent check to see if you can extend the time period once you have the car and what the cost would be.

Drop at the Florence airport; don't hazard ZTL tickets by doing it in town. Theoretically you can do it without getting a ticket but in practice it is easy to stray into a bus lane or get lost and go around the block and end up with a several expensive tickets in a short period.

Rentals are often priced on a weekly basis, with 5, 6, or 7 days all costing the same, so within those durations there would be "nothing to refund" for an early turn in, and the same way for the second week. Similarly, short rentals (when booked in advance) often cost the same for 1, 2, or 3 days. There can also be "minimums" and if you fall below you actually pay more. I find Auto Europe's rental vouchers to be easy to read, with no tiny print, since they made an effort in that direction a few years ago. Read all the details before confirming, or call them back quickly if you find discrepancies from your understanding, so they can adjust. If you want to keep a car longer then planned, then you must call the agent and the deadline to do so should be in the paperwork.

Will you have hotel reservations set for Rome and Florence? I think you can pretty easily spend two weeks driving between smaller towns without getting tired of it. You just get more comfortable and "in the groove" as you go. Of course, if you decide to stay a couple of nights in Siena just before Florence, for example, then you would not need the car from that point (easy, direct bus ride between the city centers).

Hello - Thanks for replies - all good info. I just got off the phone with Andy at Gemet.com - and he advised me as you all have that better to book less time (and extend if need more) as no refunds are given. I'm booking for a week for now. Also, I appreciate the words that we should have no issue meandering from town to town on our own without advanced notice. But we will look ahead the day before and have general targets to stay at - and likely book ahead when we know we are headed somewhere that may have less offerings.
I think I will end up using Gemet as a 'travel agency' to book the car just because I can ask them direct questions - it is worth that to me to have that kind of reference.

Just be aware that often the rate for the extra days or second week may not be what you are currently renting for. I rent cars frequently and have tried to play their game to my advantage. If I know for sure I want it about 10 or 11 days I usually rent for 2 weeks. It is easy to figure out your rates if you go to Priceline. You do not have to prepay so you can make your reservation and change it later. I do not use a consolidator as I find the prices tend to change often on car rentals, so I will not prepay. I check back every few weeks and if the price is lower I make a new res and cancel the other one. I almost always get a much lower rate than the one I start with. You will not get a refund for turning in early, but just be sure how much more those extra days will cost if you add them at the last minute, and also whether it will be possible. You have to call them to add the days, or you will be charge a penalty (late fee) not just the additional days.

Same as renting in the US, there will never be a credit for returning early. I would be more questioning if there is ever a early drop off penalty or surcharge rather than thinking there might be a credit.

If you keep beyond expect to have to pay the local rate not the discount rated you get through a consolidator. This could end up being very expensive and you would have to let them know if you just keep the car past the turn in date without informing them it could be reported stolen so would definitely advise renting for the longest you might want the car and just return early if you change your mind later, just make sure there is no early drop off penalty.

Both of the above would apply to a US rental as well.

Don't assume there is never a charge for dropping off in a different location than pickup, it seems like that is often the case in Italy and never the case in the US so is a difference but still should be looking into before assuming.