Car Hire advice - Pisa Airport

[London GT3]

I am flying to Pisa on Fri 6th Sep and staying for 5 nights. I have always booked my car via Holiday Autos and have had every range of service. I always book a 4 or 5 seater and select a mid size saloon. The best I ever had was a brand new high spec C Class with only 7 km on the clock. At the other extreme I have been presented with a very old and tatty Renault Scenic with stellar mileage.

Can anyone recommend a car hire firm at Pisa that I can deal with before I go? Alternatively, am I better off turning up at the airport and visiting the different desks, bearing in mind that Hertz etc will have huge queues.

Thanks

[The_Doc]

I've been to the car hire desk at Pisa airport the last three summer holidays in a row. You know where it is right? You either walk out the airport and along the path for about 10 mins following the signs (very pleasant in the evening sun with no bags, hellish in the heat of the day with your flight luggage) Or you take the free-bus, which in typical Italian style is infrequent, tiny and rubbish.

In the very new and really quite nice air-con car rental building you have all the desks. I have spent three hours queuing here and I have spend 10 minutes queuing here.

The length of the queues is solely dependant on which operator was discounting their prices that particular year. Massive queues at one desk, nothing at the other.

I've been with National, Hertz and Alamo. All very much the same and completely random for vehicles. The desk staff will not know which vehicles they have in until about 2 hours before you arrive. The modern rental market across the world is just like this. In the worst case scenario they run out of your car class and upgrade you, or in the very worst they don't have a car, but I've never had this situation.

Nothing to help you here, you'll just have to suffer the pain that is car rental. Mind you I've never had too much trouble, although National stung me for a speeding ticket (which I don't mind (40Eu)) but it was 6 months later....

[Aviz]

Use the bigger firms.. Hertz/Avis/europcar. from what i have read (and seen on watchdog etc) the smaller local firms use old cars, and love to rip off. I'm going to pisa later this year, , and am planning on leaving the family in the airport with all the luggage, and legging it to get the car rental desk, then driving back round As between 3 of us, we'll have a pushchair, baby seat, 2 hold cases, and 2 hand baggage. Theyre going to have to accept the wait If the queues are massive. I went with hertz in the end and booked direct through their website. Apparently they treat you slightly better if you've not gone through an agent who has taken 10%. The price was a matter of a few euros difference anyway.

I got separate insurance for excess from http://insurance4carhire.com/ for £40, rather than the ££££ hertz wanted. I know I'll have to stump up first to hertz if i have any damage, but it's a small price to pay.