PICK-UP CHARGES: Remember, in considering the above rental costs, that they apply only if you yourself return the car to the city in which you've rented it. If you do not make such a round-trip, you may have to pay an extra charge for the pick-up of the car. One summer, for example, Hope and I rented a car in Barcelona, and drove it-over the course of two weeks-to Milan. Upon arriving in Milan, we had to wire the name of our hotel to the Barcelona agency, which immediately put a man on the train to Milan, where the next day he met us at the hotel, picked up the car keys, and drove the car back to Barcelona.
Are there any methods of avoiding this incredibly wasteful procedure? You will find, when you arrive in Europe, that most of the rental agencies have now progressed to the point where they waive the pick-up charge if you drop off the ear in any of several major cities in the same country where you picked it up. Thus, virtually any French-based agency will waive that charge if you drop off the car in Paris or Nice (the theory being that there are always plenty of people to whom they can rent the car in those cities). Rent the car in any city in Italy and you can drop it off, without further charge, in Florence, Genoa, Milan, Naples. . . . But cross a border, and you're sunk. You'll then have to pay the charges caused by the refusal of European agencies to work out an auto exchange system similar to those maintained by the major auto rental companies in the United States. A highly-publicized "Rent it Here-Leave It There" plan, which most of the European companies now offer, actually involves a hidden charge for pick up-and therefore you're again paying for return of the car.
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