car hire from Lamezia Airport

[Hev&Steve]

Hi to everyone - we are new to all this so don't really know what we are doing?? So here goes....

We are coming to Scalea on April 2nd and are thinking about hiring a car this time from the airport. Has anyone had any good or bad experiences with this. Our italian is limited to asking for a beer and a barcardi and coke so an english speaking person in Lamezia would help.

Thanks
Ps The steam train to the mountains sounds really good could this be a day trip

:? Heather

[Di]

Hi Heather,

We rented a car at the airport and it went very well. Painless. We even dropped it off when they were closed in the mornng by putting keys in the slot. Car rentals are not cheap in Italy, however. One week 338 Euro.

[JanetC]

Hi Heather:

We have rented cars from Lamezia and Rome (usually Budget/Thrifty) and have had no problems at all.

Welcome to the forum - it is a great place to learn about the area and to make new friends!

Janet

[cool]

Hi ,,We rent all the time and its all good.We come in most of the tome in Rome or Naples, so cant fill you in on Lamesia.Only thing I will say is that its a shocking waste of money .I spent 1000 euros over the year last year :x .Anyway, welcome to the forum,Hev and steve ,I could not live without it,,Cool :wink:

[italianirish]

Hi, we rent from Hertz at Lamezia all the time (about 7 times last year). If you are going by ryanair it is a lot cheaper booking hertz through the ryanair site. At easter it is only costing us £135 for the week. And they understand english.

Michael & Elie

[caoimho]

hi hev and steve
nice to see someone from wickford on here..we were over there visiting friends this weekend .we always fly into lamezia and rent from economy car hire .they have no excess on their cars and it costs about 150 ish a week for the basic model,which always does for us and there s 5 of us :lol: .also the small car is handy on the narrow streets you are bound to encounter!!if you hire from them, when you go to the carhire section(which is outside the terminal ,across the street and slightly to the right)the window you go to says sicily by car.the people there have a bit of english but you can get by with no problems at all.we have experienced no problems whatsoever with this company and we will continue to use them.hope this helps and welcome aboard.
ciao a presto
kev and niamh :P

[bella_ciao]

Originally Posted by italianirish

Hi, we rent from Hertz at Lamezia all the time (about 7 times last year). If you are going by ryanair it is a lot cheaper booking hertz through the ryanair site. At easter it is only costing us £135 for the week. And they understand english.

Michael & Elie

Hi,
Having trawled the web several times for best prices, I have to agree that car hire through Ryanair from Lamezia is the most economical option (handy for frequent travellers). However, it doesn't include the excess cover, which I do feel is important. Last year we took another poster's advice and backed it up with an excess policy from Insurance4carhire, which cost all of £49. We took this extra document with us as proof that we already had excess, as you are offered three upgrade options when you get to the airport. Just watch that you don't make the same mistake as we did and accidentally sign for the excess when you're there! (Ooops!) We did manage to get the full amount back from Hertz later, although you shouldn't have any problems as a general rule - it was just a misunderstanding, so you just need to make sure you don't sign that extra paper, as the excess can amount to as much as or more than the actual car hire.
We are still plumping for Hertz through Ryanair this year - we will be travelling with our English, Italian-speaking relatives - it's their first time in Calabria, so we can watch out for eachother!
As a guide, our total costing for the car hire for two weeks in May, for a basic model, is as follows:

Lancia Ypsilon or similar.........£223.89
Excess through Insurance4carhire..£ 49.00
_______

£272.89
_______

Hope this helps and it's always good to know if there's a better deal.
Kind regards,
Frances.

[bella_ciao]

Hi again,
We just had a really pleasant surprise when we were about to book our excess cover through Insurance4carhire (as mentioned in my previous post). We took out this insurance last year to cover our excess for the car hire we'd booked with Ryanair for Hertz. For just £49 it's a really good deal as it can be used with any car hire company and covers all additional drivers, too. When I went to the website to book this year's cover, I realised that we were covered for a whole year in any 31 day period - so, since we went in June last year and are going in May this year, our original Insurance policy also covers us for this trip! We called the company to make sure we'd got it right and they confirmed that we would be covered for this year's trip, too, because it falls within the year of cover. That has to be good value, so here is the link to the website, where you will also be able to view their TV ad on video:

http://www.insurance4carhire.com/ind...efID=813&pID=3

I think it will be really useful for frequent travellers to the area.

Ciao,
Frances.

[italianirish]

Thanks Frances for the information. I have just booked the insurance. I used to book the excess with hertz. I found it very expensive. £49 is a gift. Looking forward to easter. Ciao, Grazie

[bella_ciao]

Originally Posted by italianirish

Thanks Frances for the information. I have just booked the insurance. I used to book the excess with hertz. I found it very expensive. £49 is a gift. Looking forward to easter. Ciao, Grazie

Hi,
You are most welcome and I agree, it is a gift. In fact, we thought it was too good to be true that we would be covered for this year's trip to Italy as well, which is why we called the company to make sure it was right. It was, because we are fortunate enough to be travelling within the same year.
I don't know about you, but we found that the excess came to as much as or more than the actual price of the car hire!
I think there are some other good deals around but this one is ideal, I think, if you travel to Italy regularly and need to have your own transport.
Always open to new suggestions.
Ciao,
Frances.

[Italy_lover]

I have used these guys on many occassions and they have never let me down - lamezia airport car hire