11335 Car Hire Advice

[FONT=Arial]I don't know if it's any help - I've always used Economy Car Hire but from Pisa and they don't seem to have long queues like some of the other companies. Also, they don't require a huge deposit and have no excess - oh and they usually upgrade.[/FONT]

I can't believe that out of season it can take that long? But you could always take a train from Fiumicino to a town nearby and pick up a hire car there. We would suggest [url=http://www.holidayautos.co.uk]CHEAP CAR HIRE in the UK, Europe, USA and more - Holiday Autos Rentals[/url] or .com

I tend to use Hertz as I travel quite a bit on business, they are not the cheapest but I find them reliable which is what you want when arriving in a foreign land.

However, the point being, if you join the Hertz #1 Club which is free, you avoid the queues at Fiumicino and go straight to the car park kiosk where they already have your stuff pre-printed and ready to go. I find I / we are usually through in a few minutes and hitting the road.

The #1 club also gives a 5% discount on their prices.

Good luck.

Charlie

Three hours! good grief, do you book on the net? or just take pot-luck? I know f'cino car hire offices don't exactly rush around but I have not had such a bad experience myself.

Thanks for the tips folks. I have a few options to work on now. The bad experience was last June and it was shocking. Since then I've flown via Ciampino and had no problems at all. Its just that the dates I'm planning in April are significantly cheaper on Jet2.com than Ryanair and being a tightwad I want to take advantage. Someone else has mentioned Hertz and it makes sense to join just for the added benefits.

Thanks again

Michelangelo

Try Avis Preferred. Then make the booking via the airmiles website. Good rates, upgrades and best of all car within 3 minutes!

[quote=Cassini;107372]Try Avis Preferred. Then make the booking via the airmiles website. Good rates, upgrades and best of all car within 3 minutes![/quote]

I've used Avis [not Avis Preferred] the last 2 trips to Italy. Both times I booked [online] their cheapest car [Panda] and at the desk was offered an upgrade to a Punto for 2 Euros a day - much cheaper than booking the Punto initially.

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[FONT="Comic Sans MS"]I have loyalty cards for all the major car hire companies though I tend to book through auto-europe agency as they try to find you the cheapest and you can cancel up to 48 hours before and get your money back. Having the loyalty card number (like #1 club for hertz and preferred for Avis) quoted on the booking means you go staight to the front of the queue and your paperwork is all done. One of them says they will do everything within 90 seconds!! I have six different cards in my wallet - but its worth it to save time :yes:[/FONT]

Wow, the queues are crazy. You should definitely book your car in advance. Go to carrentals.co.uk You will be able to choose your pick up destination and dates and get a great deal too.

I just used carrentals.co.uk when I flew to Rome. The car of my choice was waiting for me exactly at the time and place I'd chosen. Fabulous.

Hello Folks

I have now gathered a number of ideas and methods to use. To set the record straight regarding Fiumicino last June, I had booked on the net using one of the links quoted on here but still had to wait for the paperwork to be sorted and there was no priority given for advance bookings.

My experiences at Ciampino have been far better and I've never had to wait more than 10 minutes.

Re car hire, we have booked our car with Avis with Airmiles, but wonder if anyone has experience of using insurance4carhire.com to avoid local excess being added on (and does anyone know how much that is? I think we got caught at Pisa for something over £10 a day a couple of years ago). European cover for the year costs £49 which sounds a much better deal.

:Dancing_biggrin:[FONT="Comic Sans MS"]Yes - would not be without it - though have never had to use it (touch wood). The excesses without it's protection are horrific. It also covers tyres, underneath - especially good if using some of the lanes around us with all the debris that can be on them and the pot holes - all of which are NOT covered by the so called 'supercover' from the car hire companies. There have been other threads about it but I am not very good at locating things like that.[/FONT]

[quote=PennyAW;113059]Wonder if anyone has experience of using insurance4carhire.com to avoid local excess being added on (and does anyone know how much that is? I think we got caught at Pisa for something over £10 a day a couple of years ago). European cover for the year costs £49 which sounds a much better deal.[/quote]

I used Insurance4carhire.com for five years until they changed their underwriters to AIG (semi politiacal reason for dropping them). I now use carhireexcess.com at a premium of £39.99. Hopefully I'll never have to use them but the saving against the rip off charges of hire car companies is substantial.

On a slightly different note watch for Avis trying to charge more than the agreed price. It has taken me a month to have money refunded.

Hi,

As I understand it, you may have to pay the original claim, then claim it back from the Insurance company. I used a comparason site, and although the company I used were cheaper than Avis and Hertz, when I got to the airport, they wanted at least 800Euro deposit on my credit card for the car, even though I was taking out their top insurance (I have never had to depoist that with Hertz / Avis). Therefore be careful and check what the claim policy is for the vendors otherwise your Credit card could take a bashing!!!

[FONT="Comic Sans MS"]Hi Rafey

I think you will find that all the car hire companies operate in the same way. They all have your credit card details and put 'a block' on the amount of 'the deposit' It is never taken from your account and then put back. That has been my experience on the many car hires we have done over the years. Again in my experience this amount they block does not affect your credit limit either.

Yes you are correct, like a lot of policies you have to pay the amount up front and then claim it back. This is one of the reasons it is cheaper than other policies. We have had breakdown and pet insurance policies that work in a similar manner. In our experience you are no more at risk than you are with any insurance not paying. If you had a accident with the car hire 'supercover', they still might find a way out of not paying and charging you. There is so much in the small print and who ever reads it at the airport?? At least with the 'insurance4carhire.com' type policies, you have them at home and can go through them and see what the 'get outs' might be.

But as with all things - you makes your choice and pays your money[/FONT]

Thanks very much everyone! We theoretically get a free car with airmiles, but two years ago, or three, a charge came up on credit card which was the excess insurance... another year we took a chance and turned it down, but that was a bit scary and not recommended. This looks like a much better deal.

Hi coppicer.

Yes, my point was not that they all do it - but the amount :eeeek:. I have never really carried more than a few hundred points credit on my card, and have been hiring cars in Italy for about 6 years. So when they asked for about 8 times the normal amount - I nearly fell over!!

We had to claim with Insurance4carhire.com last year after a stone hit our windscreen on the M20 and Avis proceeded to charge 380 pounds for the replacement. I had to pay the charge and reclaim from AIG. The whole process was painless and I would certainly echo Coppicer's view in that I would not be without it.

Sounds better and better! Does anyone know how much the excess cover is that Avis charge? I have a feeling it is between £10 - £15 a day...:no:

We hired a car with Auto Europe for a week after this last Xmas (found the rates were far better than all the others) and I forgot to renew my £49 annual excess insurance so we ended up paying £128 (on credit card and their conversion rates and commission)for the 7 days over and above the rental cost. I was so annoyed as it takes two minutes to book on the computer. And this was the first time I hadn't brought my laptop with me to do it on and my son, who could have done it on my behalf, was also away.

Needless to say I have it all booked and printed out ready for my trip in three weeks time.
Maralynx

I want to travel in April are far cheaper to Fiumicino but the thought of a 3 hour wait to get the car puts me off. Any quick solutions will be appreciated, so I can be on the road quickly.

Lisa11

the only thing we do is for one to do the baggage and the other to sprint ahead and get in the queue asap, but not possible for those travelling solo, and if queues really are that long probably wouldn't make a whole lot of difference!