Morgan

I have a quote for about $72 per day to rent a car from Florence--they are asking for payment up front in full $217 (supposedly to guarantee what they call a good price). I usually, well at least here in US, have some idea of what the small print is--just in case my plans change--oh say Next week!

Mary Ann

Hi <BR>We prepaid with DER in 1999 (rented for 21 days at about $32 per day manual). You do not say what the terms were. DER indicated we would get a full refund if we did not pick up the car or would deduct proportionately if we returned it a day or two earlier. I would have them fax or email the terms to you.

Sherry

We rented from Kemwel and prepaid for France last year. We made the arrangements quite a bit in advance and had no problem with the prepaying. The only extra charges were those they tell you are always charged locally, i.e. if you choose to add other drivers. I believe it is a good idea to get a fax copy of the agreement. Make two copies. One I gave to the rental agent and one I kept for my records. I also made sure that I retained the credit card bill. There was never any problem with any hidden charges. Of course, my plans didn't change. I believe their policy is a full refund. Last year I also rented through Hertz and prepaid in Florence. I did return one day early and had no problem getting a credit. I do not know with whom you are renting, but I could not get credit from Hertz at the local office in Italy for returning early. With them, you must contact Hertz on your return, and the corporate office in the States will issue the credit.

Sherry

Morgan. sorry you did say AutoEuope. I have rented from them twice, but was not required to prepay, only a deposit by a certain date. They really are pretty reputable. If you get a fax copy of the agreement, I believe they will stick to it.

Walter

This is a recent post of mine on r.t.e, the original poster meant AutoEurope not Auto Europa. <BR>Group: rec.travel.europe Date: Tue, Feb 20, 2001, 2:05pm From: [email protected] (Poetic Justice) <BR>Jerry DeNigris wrote: <BR>Has anyone had any experience with Auto <BR>Europa for car rentals in Italy. Their rates seem to be significantly lower than the <BR>other companies. Any comments about <BR>service would be greatly appreciated. <BR>&lt;My reply&gt; I've used them twice in Greece, once I had to cancel within 24hrs of pick-up due to a medical emergency. And was refunded my CC charge with no problems except for 1 days' rental, which was fair. If you cancel before 24hrs from pick-up you are fully refunded. <BR> As another poster mentioned there are specials and I got one yesterday for Italy with a March 3 pick-up. They called it a "free upgrade" but it's really a "price downgrade" in my case, I ordered a mid-size car for 9 days and was charged for a Compact. It came out to $325US with VAT and full coverage insurance. The only extra charge is an Italian Road Tax @$2.50 per day with a max of $45US *if* I remember correctly. HTH Regards, Walter <BR>

liz

Morgan, I have rented from Auto Europe and both times I have prepaid. I have prepaid for this summer but was told to call and check for sales, they would then credit me the difference. Well I've called 3 times and twice I got a reduction! I'm hoping that by the time I go I'll get the car for free! So prepay and remind yourself to call every couple of weeks!

Paulo

I rented through AutoEurope 4 times and have always prepaid. Like Liz, twice I got a reduction (they credited the difference to my cc account) and once I got an upgrade (a full size for a midsize rental). <BR> <BR>Paulo <BR> <BR>PS. You're getting your car downtown Milan, aren't you, Walter? What is the current deductible on CDW as practiced by AutoEurope? <BR>

Walter

Paulo: Yes I'm picking-up at the Stazione Centrale in Milan where I'm staying close too and dropping-off at FCO. I choose the airport drop-off because it's easier and although I didn't check about Termini it seems that at Milan Stazione it closes at 1230 Sat and doesn't reopen until Monday. I plan on dropping off early (8days, the discount was for 9days but I'll get refunded for that 1 day early return) on a Sunday and didn't want to hassle with overnight parking and a 9am Monday return if Termini was closed. Plus I'm staying very close to Termini. <BR>This is from AutoEurope's website regarding the deductible "Rates include unlimited mileage, mandatory public liability insurance ,fire insurance, collision damage waiver, theft protection with zero deductible,.." Regards, Walter <BR>

Marilyn Ham

We rented from Auto Europe and prepaid 6 months in advance. We picked up the car at Perugia Airport and had faxed the arrangements to the Auto Europe desk; however, there was no one there when we arrived; HOWEVER, Auto Europe made it good and got us an Avis car for the same price and Auto Europe was very responsive we just called their 800 number in Italy. Marilyn

StCirq

&lt;&lt;they are asking for payment up front in full.&gt;&gt; <BR> <BR>I doubt that. I have rented from AutoEurope several times a year for more than 10 years (mostly France and Italy) and have never once been asked to pay in full up front. The procedure is you pay one-third as a deposit and two-thirds upon return of the car. Their policy on this has never wavered in the years I've been renting. I would call them back immediately if they have proposed a different arrangement for you. As for the small print, the voucher they presumably sent you has all the details, as does their website. I have also found on many trips that if I needed a car longer than expected, or wanted to turn one in sooner, AutoEurope is entirely flexible and adjusts the price accordingly.

Patrick

Last summer we did four different rentals with Auto Europe. Two of them came with a 10% discount if we prepaid them in full, which we did. The other two did not. I called to see if I could get the discount on those also and was told no. The discount ones were in Greece and Turkey, so apparently they operated a little differently there than the ones we did in Spain and England.

Leslie

We did three separate one-way rentals through AutoEurope in England and Ireland in '99. They beat everone else's prices and all went smoothly with no surprises, had excellent/new cars and service. I've just booked again with them for next month in Italy and again, they beat others' prices. For both these experiences I was asked to prepay for the discount I received (one was a bestfares.com discount and the other was just a 5% discount via KarenBrown's web site) - but they were both fully refundable.

wendy

I use them often and always prepay, no problems. I've even canceled the day before with a full refund. <BR> <BR>Walter, I just used the Stazione Centrale in Milano, and when I finally got there through all the traffic at 7:00p.m., they'd posted a note on the door saying,"We're closed. Got to the Linate airport!" <BR> <BR>But all in all, I've always been happy with them...come to think of it, I have been getting 'new' cars lately with only 20km on them. <BR> <BR>Best of luck to you!

Rex

Wendy, <BR> <BR>Just out of curiosity, what company did this to you? You say you rented "from" Autoeurope - - but I like to clarify, especially for novices here, that Autoeurope doesn't rent cars per se. What car rental company did they have you with? <BR>

Patrick

Rex, I know that AutoEurope doesn't rent cars directly. But in Turkey we picked the car up from Sixt in Kesyseri and returned it to EuropeCar in Kusadasi. Apparently they have connections with just about every company and are even able to do that sort of crossover. I don't believe they had a company that had pick up and drop off both in the pairing of cities we wanted, so they set this up for us.

Patrick

To Marilyn: are you sure you went to the right desk? What was the name of the company on it? I have never seen an AutoEurope desk anywhere in Europe, although perhaps there is one somewhere. Usually they tell you to go to Avis, Hertz, Europecar, or whatever, as they arrange their rentals through other companies. Are you sure you weren't confused and went to Europcar or something that sounded like AutoEurope instead of where you were supposed to go?