I just got home today. Let me share my experience of renting a car in Italy for your reference. I picked up the car on October 6th and returned it on the 28th, a total of 22 days. I rented from AVIS for a total of 374.6 euros. They tried to sell me insurance, but I refused and said I would take responsibility for any issues. They didn't force me to buy the insurance in the end. They pre-authorized 94.86 euros on my card as a deposit. I booked a BMW 3 series, but they gave me a BMW X1 with navigation. I had heard about people getting downgraded cars before, so I didn't expect much and didn't argue about getting the X1. When I picked up the car, there were noticeable scratches on the front and back. I asked the AVIS staff to record them before I drove off, and they used a yellow marker to mark them on the contract, then circled and signed them with a black pen. The gas tank was not full, and they marked it with a stamp. The car wasn't very clean when I picked it up. When I returned the car, I made sure it was relatively clean. I told the person who received the car that all the scratches were old and showed him the previous markings. I also said that I take good care of the car, and he said I was a good renter . He told me there were no issues and I could leave. I was still worried about any potential problems, so I took new photos of the car from all angles with the date displayed. It's only been a few days since I returned the car, so I don't know if there will be any issues ?
Italy Q&A
Yesterday, I rented a car from Europcar at Frankfurt Airport. I had booked a Golf estate car and requested a diesel vehicle in the notes of my reservation. However, I was given an Opel estate car, which was diesel and automatic, and I had to pay a pre-authorization deposit of over 800 euros. The trunk could only fit two 28-inch suitcases and one 24-inch suitcase, along with some backpacks. The cover for the trunk couldn't be pulled up, and the luggage was exposed. Additionally, the previous renter had clearly broken one of the clips on the cover, so I took photos as evidence. I'm not sure if having exposed luggage will cause any issues when I go to Poland. Yesterday, I drove 400 kilometers, and the fuel gauge showed that I had used almost half of the fuel ?
Poland Q&A
We arrived in Paris on the 13th and stayed for 6 days, then drove to Fontainebleau, Lyon, Nice, Monaco, Genoa, Florence, and arrived in Rome yesterday. We were on edge the whole way... First of all, the temperature here is not hot. The wind is quite cold. We have to wear down jackets and woolen hats to keep warm. It is not recommended to drive in the city of Paris. It is difficult to find parking spaces on the road surface. The entrances and exits of underground parking lots are too narrow and difficult to find. Navigation mainly relies on the map built into the Apple phone, which is actually a collaboration with Tom Tom and is very accurate. The maps we downloaded at home are not very reliable, including Google Maps. We were misled several times, even guided to a snow-covered mountain road at night. Maybe it's because we didn't enter the address accurately. Remember to enter the postal code of the region. Google Play needs to be installed to have offline maps, so you must have wireless WiFi. The high-speed rail here is very fast. France is 130 and Italy is 110. I think this is the lowest speed. There will always be cars following me to drive. After all, the car company gave me a top-of-the-line Mercedes-Benz E200 station wagon, black German license plate, which is too eye-catching. This caused me to park in the underground garage and dare not park on the road, for fear that my car windows would be broken and my bag would be stolen. All overtaking must be done from the left side, and then the left lane must be given up. It is forbidden to occupy the left lane for a long time. Right-hand overtaking is strictly prohibited, which is very dangerous! Highways need to prepare some 50, 20, 10, 5, 2, 1, and 0.5 euro banknotes and coins in advance. Do not enter the electronic payment channel by mistake. France and Italy have many dark tunnels that are relatively narrow. Overtaking and turning do not slow down. It feels like you're driving a race car, so small cars are popular here. Their control performance is good. Remember not to rent big cars! My Mercedes-Benz is too long, and the city control is really a bit difficult. Those streets, tunnels, and parking lot passages are really narrow! Bring fewer luggage when you go out ?
France Q&A
Istanbul is really quite chaotic, everyone must be careful with their property. We arrived on the evening of the 15th, and on the 16th day yesterday, when we recharged our bus card at Taksim subway station, we were forcibly replaced. The situation was like this. We planned to recharge 100 lira, which was two 50-yuan notes. The first recharge was successful, and then when we recharged the second 50 yuan, the money was spit out several times. Suddenly, a man reached out his hand directly to take our card and walked towards the recharge machine behind us, telling us that we had to go to another recharge machine to recharge. I instinctively reached out to grab our card, but he avoided my hand and didn't let me grab it because he was tall and I couldn't grab it. In just a few seconds, when we got to the other recharge machine, he returned the card to us. Because there was someone recharging, we waited for a while, and then when the card was put on the machine, we found that the card had been replaced with an empty card. Fortunately, there was still some money left. After that, we felt quite afraid all the way, and reminded everyone to be careful with their property ?
Turkey Q&A
I'm still working hard to get back the cost of a tank of gas. On the way back from the South Island to Auckland, I took half a day to go to Muriwai Beach and spent half a day looking for a rental car company near the airport. I found a Corolla for 480 yuan with full insurance. When I picked up the car, the salesperson tried to sell me an additional 27 New Zealand dollars of insurance, but I ignored her. When I looked inside the car, the fuel tank only had enough fuel to run 121 kilometers. I told her about it, and she said it was no problem as long as I returned the car with an empty fuel tank. Since the pickup and return process had gone smoothly before, I didn't think much of it. When I returned the car the next morning, there was still enough fuel in the tank to run for more than 130 kilometers. But as soon as I arrived at the airport, I received information that I had been charged 134.11 New Zealand dollars, and when I asked, it turned out to be for fuel. Can you imagine where the credibility comes from ?
New Zealand Q&A
Regarding the recent flooding in the South Island, tourists with travel plans in the near future do not need to panic. The latest information we have is as follows: 1. The water levels in the high-water areas of Lake Wakatipu and Lake Wanaka in Queenstown have reached their peak, and the weather has cleared up. This week is expected to be mostly sunny, with no more rain predicted, so the flood risk has been alleviated. Businesses along the shores of Lake Wanaka have resumed operations. The famous Wanaka Tree will remain partially submerged for a while longer due to the still-high water levels. Queenstown is experiencing clear weather, and recent photos show that while the water levels are high, the risk of flooding has diminished. 2. The South Island highways, which were previously closed, have started to reopen. State Highway 72 has resumed traffic, although there is heavy congestion, so travelers should allow extra time if using this route. 3. There is still flooding at the Rangitata Bridge section of State Highway 1, but once the water recedes, traffic will be able to resume. There is also flooding at the intersection of State Highway 1 and State Highway 79. The Timaru District Council has stated on social media that there is no risk of the recently reopened bridges on State Highway 72 being closed again. 4. The goal is to reopen State Highway 6 on the West Coast before Christmas, but this is entirely dependent on the weather conditions. If the weather remains favorable, the road repair progress will be normal, but if there is another heavy rain, it will affect the repair schedule. Therefore, travelers planning to visit the West Coast of the South Island around Christmas and New Year's need to closely monitor the road repair progress. The New Zealand Transport Agency's update on December 10th at 4pm: SH6 - The past two days have been sunny, and road repair progress has been smooth. The agency has been working to clear the landslide section between Fox and Franz Josef towns, aiming to reopen the Hokitika - Makarora section before Christmas. The Whataroa - Harihari section, which has suffered the most damage, is still closed due to multiple landslides, and the agency is striving to reopen it before Christmas ?
New Zealand Q&A
Regarding the prepayment of fuel issue, I want to give a hint to the friends who will rent a car later. I just saw a car friend above who said something not quite right. When we paid the prepayment for fuel, we were told to pick up the car with a full tank and return it with a full tank. However, when we returned the car, we were informed that because we returned it with a full tank, the deposit would be refunded. But in reality, it did not happen. We sent an email to the car rental company Sixt to confirm this, and the reply was that after prepaying the fuel fee, it is not necessary to return the car with a full tank, and returning it with a full tank will not result in a deposit refund. (It's just a way for them to keep your money in the end.) As long as you have signed the contract, they will insist on it. (Regarding what the car friend above said, to put it bluntly, it's just a matter of not being good at English. I really want to roll my eyes at this. ️ They are lumping everyone's different situations together.) ?
United Kingdom Q&A
I just returned from Sweden in August, and I have had many appearances before, including developed countries such as Australia. In theory, there should be no problem at all. I am now worried that the Zhongzhi Visa Center is playing tricks. I was supposed to submit my documents on September 1st. At that time, the staff checked the child's documents first and said there was no ticket pre-order. The child's other documents were all qualified. I actually bought the ticket, but I was confused and didn't print it. I told her I would go to the lobby to print it and come back in ten minutes. She said that even if it was a supplementary document, all three people had to upgrade to VIP, and each person had to pay an additional 250 yuan. I thought it was not worth it and said I would come back another day. So I made another appointment on September 5th. I checked the documents at home many times and thought there should be no problem before I went. As a result, after the staff checked all our documents, they said the photo was not qualified, and the proportion of the face in the photo was too large. I said I took it when I applied for a Swedish visa in July, and most importantly, the staff who checked the documents a few days ago said that everything was fine except for the lack of a ticket pre-order, and they even asked me to paste the child's photo on the application form. Why did they say the photo was not acceptable this time? Isn't this finding fault for no reason? I was particularly angry at the time and argued with them. The staff asked for approval from their superiors, but they said that the result of today's review was final, which was simply unreasonable. Both my partner and I went to take photos again, but the child did not go. In the end, we had to go to the school to pick up the child and take photos, which was simply trying to find ways to charge extra fees, shameless to the extreme. I don't know if they have submitted our documents as required, because based on the situation of submitting documents twice, I think the conduct of the staff of the Zhongzhi Visa Center entrusted by the embassy is really not commendable ?
Switzerland Q&A
Hello everyone! I just visited Cinque Terre on July 29th. It was very difficult to find a parking space (I don't know if it's because it's the weekend). I suggest it's more convenient to take a train from La Spezia to visit Cinque Terre. Trains from La Spezia to Levanto run every half an hour and stop at all five villages. We drove to Riomaggiore first and bought tickets there for 16 euros per person, which allowed unlimited rides all day, including buses and restroom fees. Among the five villages, Manarola has the best scenery. It is said that the night view is also special, but we didn't plan our time well and left Cinque Terre before it got dark. We arrived around 10 am and left around 8 pm, spending about ten hours. We visited all five villages, and the scenery was quite similar. Monterosso, the northernmost village, is mainly a beach resort. Vernazza, Manarola, and Riomaggiore are similar, while Corniglia, after getting off the train, requires a bus ride to reach the top of the town. After 8 pm, the train back to La Spezia runs every hour. I hope my experience can be helpful to friends who are planning to visit Cinque Terre. ?
Italy Q&A