farbster

We are finishing our cruise next August in Monte Carlo. Our plan is to pick up a rental car and drive it to Lake Como and then return it to the Milan Airport prior to our flight home. We will likely fly out of the LIN airport.

Does anyone know or have experience with a car rental agency that will not charge an arm and a leg for a one-way rental? I have seen fees for both 600EU and $2,000.

We could go to Nice to get the car, but that wouldn't be quite as convenient obviously.

Thanks!

YVR Cockroach

Just about all European rentals that drop off in another country will incur hefty drop off fees. Don't think anyone has found a solution around that.

One that I can think of, if you are renting for more than 17 days, is to do a buy and sellback through one of the French car manufacturers (or through Autoeurope). I've seen Milan as a pick up (and possible drop-off) point but it may not be in LIN. Rates are not cheap however as you're essentially paying for depreciation for a new car.

Your best bet would be taking a train to Ventimiglia, Italy (just across the border from France) and see if you can get a car there. Otherwise it is more likely to be Savona or Genova. I find Hertz and Euopcar generally the best for OW rentals within Italy.

slawecki

rent the car, drive to the border, wherever that is, turn thant car in, and rent another fir the next country,

farbster

I wish I was going or 17 days to Lake Como, but alas, it's not in the cards for this lifetime.

As to taking a train to another City and dropping car off etc, it's just not worth all that. I'll just suck it up and bend over.

stimpy

What I might do is take a taxi across the border to Ventimiglia, which is only a half hour from Monte Carlo, and rent a car there.

NickB

It is a long time since I last was in XXmiglia but I am not sure that one would find a car rental firm there: it is a rather small place. It should be possible to find one a little further up the coast in San Remo, however.

stimpy

Yeah it's been many years for me too. Definitely San Remo would work. Just a bit further away.

farbster

So I was able to get the price down a bit. I went via ebates to holidayautos and got a 5% coupon and 2.5% cash back.

It would be better if I drove stick, but I'd be worried I'd damage the clutch if I tried to wing it. Manual is mostly cheaper.

It is not worth it to me to take a train somewhere to get it a little cheaper. Even if I go to XYZ City, it's still going to be a one-way as I'm dropping off in Milan.

Such is life.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Gagravarr

A one-way within Italy is likely to have a fairly low (and possibly even zero with the right luck) one-way fee

A one-way from one European country to another is likely to have a very hefty one-way fee, as the rules on vehicle registration/use/rental/fleets/etc differ enough between EU countries that they'll basically need to pay someone to take the car "home". Don't think US intra-state rental, think renting a car in the USA and doing it as a one-way to Canada

YVR Cockroach

One-way fees within European countries are generally non-existent if you stick to a few companies.

Never had a OW/dropoff fee for SIxt in Austria (Vienna to INN and SZG], Europcar in France (NTE-NCE), Sixt in Croatia (Opatija to SPU) or Hertz in Italy (FCO-FLR, Sienna-Civitavecchia) and either Europcar or Hertz BRI-CTA - Sixt has OW fees in Italy.

NickB

It will not be just "a little" cheaper. It will be a completely different order of magnitude.
To draw a North American comparison, it is similar to picking up a car in Los Angeles and dropping it in Mexico versus dropping it in SFO.

farbster

Sixt has a $730.39 oneway fee from Monte Carlo-Milan (LIN).

Hertz has a 600eu fee from Monte Carlo-Milan (LIN).

I'm checking the prices from Sanremo (not finding any rental cars in Venti...). Yes, the price is cheaper. But, Rome2rio says the taxi price would be $55-65, so that eats into your savings and might make it not worth the hassle.

Gonna keep checking.

NickB

$65 is approx €59, so less than one tenth of the €600 oneway fee with Hertz.

That said, €60 for a taxi fare from Monte Carlo to San Remo sounds rather low. If it is truly around that price, then it really looks to me like a no brainer.

farbster

I'm thinking that sounds low too. I looked online at one site and they said 150EU.

That being said, I'm going to do a bit more investigation. I only have until August

I just have to figure out the price and compare it to the hassle. I'd like to minimize trains, taxis and rental cars.

we'll be getting up early for disembarkation and then have a four hour drive. Might be best to just get the taxi to rental car location in Monaco and then just go.

Otherwise, i'm dragging 2 suitcases etc. getting on the train, then getting off the train and then to rental car and then face a drive to Lake Como.

I'd have to save a lot to go through all that I think.

NickB

If you are getting into a taxi, whether that taxi drops you off at a car rental station in Monaco or in San Remo, that should not mean any more hassle.

As to the €59, I wonder they calculated it on the assumption of the taxi calculating for oneway, whereas I suspect that they would charge for the return too (and therefore twice that amount) since they won't be able to pick up a fare in San Remo.

Either way, even with a €150 fare, that is still a fraction of the cross-border oneway fee and you still stand to save circa $500 that way.