I've rented often over the last twenty years in France and as I am gearing up for a "possible" three week trip to Italy in June I am finding the cost twice as much as a rental in France! Automatic, Citroen C3 for three weeks, one way (FCO-FLR) drop fee. The last time I rented in Italy was over twenty years ago. I'm using, as I always do, AutoEurope. Has it always been like this? The benefit of AutoEurope is that if I book I can continue to monitor pricing.
Best,
wvdthree
The first thing I'd do is compare the amount of insurance coverage in the two quotes. I haven't rented in Europe, but I believe folks have said here that there's more mandatory insurance in Italy than in many other countries.
Yes, that is part of the issue. Higher levels of insurance that are mandatory in Italy. However, I am talking about the difference between a $1,000 and $2,000 rental and I can't believe it's all due to higher insurance.
This year is a different travel year with covid. We rented in italy a couple years ago and it was the same as everwhere else. Looking at travel costs this year sometimes they seem incredibly inexpensive then other times randomly expensive. I think things are really warped now with uncertain supply and demand.
I always use Autoeurope now. I checked and got the same price ($1764 Canadian) renting from CDG or FCO: unlimited mileage, no deductible, automatic. But if I pick up in Rome and drop off in Florence, the price increases to $3242: the drop-off fee makes no sense.
In general, rentals appear to have increased by at least 40% since early last year.
The need of an automatic car doesn't help, it's seen as a luxury and rental companies take advantage of it. Like Coke after WWII!
the drop-off fee makes no sense.
I agree. Such a one way drop-off fee between two airports is quite strange, I'd get the same quote on the European sites of main companies like Avis or Hertz.
Being British, I always use the consolidator Holiday Autos. I have tried some dummy bookings and found that using the same dates, for a basic manual car, Rome is cheaper than CDG in Paris. Once you limit the search to automatics, Italy becomes much more expensive than France.
It’s more expensive to hire if you are American than British.
The one way drop fee adds significantly to the cost. Also, June is a busy month and hiring the last day of May (a cheaper month) is cheaper.
Make sure whatever you book is fully refundable. I wouldn’t rate the chances of your holiday happening too highly at present.
As suggested earlier, you might directly check with other rental companies’ Websites. We’ve often found the best prices for us with Europcar.
One way rentals can sometimes add a huge surcharge. Nineteen years ago, picking up a car in Portugal and returning it in Spain carried a €600 extra fee, but that involved 2 separate countries. At least keeping the vehicle within Italy might not carry that large a cost penalty.
The one way drop fee is contributing the least to the vast difference in price. I've plugged in several scenarios with several cities and in some cases the drop fee is $0 and in some cases it is $130. Yes, I realize the chance of going in June are starting to look slimmer by the day but I am holding out hope and will only book car rentals/flights/lodging that is 100% refundable. Lastly, although I am perfectly capable of driving a manual transmission I book automatics when in Europe due to the additional challenges of driving on their road systems. IE. Signs in different languages, hilly, narrow, sometimes treacherous roads etc.. I don't need the additional stress of driving a stick shift so pay for the convenience of a automatic.
This is a totally frivolous response, but if you’ll allow me a tiny bit of levity: Maybe in France, Citroens are considered “common” French cars, do they don’t carry such a high rental rate. Perhaps in Italy they’re exotic French cars, hence a premium price!
Seriously, though, any chance you ‘d consider a cheaper Renault, or a Fiat . . . or a Hyundai or Kia?
That's a good thought however I'm not sure you can control what kind of car you end up with. I've only ever rented from AutoEurope (but I think it works the same with most rental agencies) and you select a "class" of car IE. Mini,economy,compact,midsize,family size etc. and you get a car in that size class. They will show a specific car but make it clear you may not get that car but a similar car in that class.
A quick search today turned up a Ford Fiesta for $850 in Paris and a Peugot 208 out of Milan for $1,390 so prices have lowered substantially in the last 24 hours. And, the price difference between the two countries has narrowed. I'll likely be booking.
Have you tried Europcar? I've never paid a dropoff fee with them, as long as the dropoff location is in the same country.
You’re right, OP, the Websites usually show an example vehicle in a particular car class, rather than guaranteeing a model. I thought maybe you’d arranged for that C3 through a special program.
Glad the prices are moving in the right direction! We’re looking at a late September Italy trip, but haven’t reserved anything yet except plane tickets. I hope you get the trip you want, but that your refunds are prompt, if it comes to that.
wvd,
You may get some good information by contacting this firm - https://gemut.com/ . I believe they have a toll free number, or you can send an Email.
You may already be aware of this, but if this is your first time driving in Italy, there are a few potentially expensive caveats to be aware of. These include.....
This is not the first time driving in Italy but the last time was in the late 90's. IIRC ZTL's and speed trap cameras did not exist or if they did exist I was blissfully ignorant and/or lucky and escaped any tickets. In preparing for my Italy trip (the first one scheduled for this past June we had to cancel) I have uncovered all of the landmines of driving in Italy.
In addition to the car rental companies themselves (Europcar, Sixt, Hertz, etc), and AutoEurope, try Gemut (as recommended above) and Kemwel. I've read that AutoEurope and Kemwel are now under the same corporate umbrella, but they're separate companies. From a few years ago, I know of several stories (one mine personally) where Kemwel had a FAR better rate than others.
Personally, I've always found car rentals in Italy cheap, but I always rent a stick. I also have a credit card for primary car insurance (not secondary).
