Frequently Asked Questions

Please note that one of our drivers will be waiting for you in the arrivals hall of the airport, upon exit of customs, holding up a sign stating your name and your destination.
The transfer with Pick Up at the Airport includes 45 minutes wait.
Any additional time will be charged at the standard hourly rate.
In case you loose your luggage please come outside to advise your driver so that he does not leave without you, and you do not incur any extra costs . The customs police will allow you to re-enter the lost and found zone.

I will ensure that either myself or one of the drivers will be waiting for you in the arrivals hall of the train station, at the beginning of the track , when your train arrives, holding up a sign stating your name and your destination.
The transfer with Pick Up at the Train Station includes 30 minutes wait.

Any additional time will be charged at the standard hourly rate.

NB: Clients traveling to the Naples train station: PLEASE GET OFF THE TRAIN AT NAPLES CENTRALE (ALSO KNOWN AS PIAZZA GARIBALDI), we will wait for you there. Napoli Centrale is the last stop for the city of Naples.

If you have difficulty locating your chauffeur, please call us at 346 68 40 226 (0039 346 68 40 226 outside Italy) or 081 0072114 (0039 081 0072114 outside Italy) . Leaving your pick-up location, without notifying Benvenuto, will result in a "no-show" charge.

NO DEPOSIT WILL BE CHARGED . Written notice must be received by us via fax/email at least 7 days prior to the date of the reservation, in case of cancellation or any change to a booking. In case of NO SHOW or LATE CANCELLATION (less than 7 days prior to the date of the reservation) there will be a charge of the total quoted price of service/s booked.

Benvenuto Exclusive Chauffer Services will not be held liable for missed flights. Our drivers have the right to refuse any passenger who has excess luggage which would result in the car being unsafe to drive (please make sure you book the appropriate type of vehicle, e.g. saloon, minibus, etc).

Gratuities are not mandatory in Italy , however we do feel that if the clients have been happy with their service, the driver should receive a tip as a token of appreciation.

Payments can be made by Credit Card (Mastercard, Visa and American Express only), Travellers Checks (Euros), Personal Check (USD), or in the cash amount (US Dollars or Euros), on the day of the service.

NO. The prices are for the carload, not per person. I.e. if you are 2 and the price on the web site says: from 1 to 3 passengers = 500 Euro, it means that if you are 1, 2 or 3 you will always be paying 500 Euro.

Euros are our preferred method of payment. But, you can pay with USD Cash, Travellers Checks or with a personal check. The USD rate applied will reflect the exchange rate of that day plus 7% for cash in USD or plus 10% for personal check in USD.

Tip is not included in the quote.

Gratuities are not mandatory in Italy , however we do feel that if the clients have been happy with their service, the driver should receive a tip as a token of appreciation.

Standard gratuities in Europe run between 10 – 25% depending on the service received.

YES. We have now made it so that you can book Shore Excursions, Tours and Transfers en route (transfer from city to city with some touring on the way) online directly through our website. If you would like to book a transfer, we recommend sending us a Quote Request so that we can provide proper instructions on how to book your transfer/s.

The easiest way to book online is to create an account under the SIGN IN tab on the main menu of our website. Then you can click on the Sign Up tab to create your account. Once you have entered all of your details, you will be sent an activation email. Please remember to activate your account by clicking on the link sent to you via email. Once your account is activated, you can select any Shore Excursion or Tour on our website and ADD TO YOUR CART at the bottom left of each excursion page.

IMPORTANT: rates quoted includeall taxes, vehicle and English speaking driver, tolls, car fuel and parking but excludelunch, entrance tickets and guides in sites.

Payments can be made in the cash amount in US Dollars or Euros, Traveller’s Checks in Euros or Personal Check in the USD amount ON THE DAY OF THE SERVICE. Your credit card cannot be used as final payment.

NOTE: If you choose to pay in the US Dollar amount, your driver will provide you with the correct conversion rate. The most current exchange rate valid on the day of your service will apply to the correct USD total. Please note that there is also a $0.07 bank fee added to all payments made in the US Dollar amount either by personal check or in the cash amount.

CANCELLATION POLICY

NO DEPOSIT WILL BE CHARGED. Written notice must be received by us via fax/email at least 7 days prior to the date of the reservation, in case of cancellation or any change to a booking. In case of NO SHOW or LATE CANCELLATION (less than 7 days prior to the date of the reservation) there will be a charge of the total quoted price of service/s booked.

Gratuities are not mandatory in Italy, however we do feel that if the clients have been happy with their service, the driver should receive a tip as a token of appreciation. Standard gratuities in Europe run between 10 – 25% depending on the service received.

For those of you who are booking private tours for the first time, perhaps a little clarification would help. A tour driver and a tour guide are not the same. It is to your advantage when booking a private tour to be sure that you understand the difference and know in advance what you are paying for. A tour guide has a license, usually issued by the state / country. He or she has attended school to learn all about the sites you will see. A guide is permitted to go into the historical sites with you and tell you about the history. Naturally, their services will cost more.

A tour driver is not licensed, has not attended "guide" school, and is not permitted inside the site to tell you about the history. Naturally, their services will be more economical. Many drivers are just as well versed in the area history as the guides. The difference of course is that they have to tell you the facts before you go inside.

We offer two different services that of course are quoted differently:

a) Bus with driver and tour guide. A tour guide has a license, usually issued by the state / country. He or she has attended school to learn all about the sites you will see.

A licensed guide is permitted to go into the historical sites with you and tell you about the history. Naturally, their services will cost more.

b) Bus with driver and tour escort , which is training to be a guide but doesn't have a permit.

Honestly their service is more requested since they study a lot and most are still at school, and give more or less the same information the professional guides do. They speak English and are well mannered. However due to strict Italian laws & regulations that protect officially licensed guides, our tour escorts can explain the sights only from inside the vehicle, but are not allowed to do so once they are outside the vehicle. Naturally, their services will be more economical.

Only a limited number of visits can take place due to the particular location of the area near the tomb of St. Peter and the reduced space in the excavations. The visit, conducted by our authorized guides, lasts about an hour and a half.
Each group consists of 10 people who must be at least 15 years old.
Entrance to the Excavations Office is to the right of St. Peter's Basilica (Arco della Campane) or from Via Paolo VI (left colonnade).

With your request to visit the excavations, please e-mail us the following information:

- The exact number of visitors
- Their names (if it is a group, give the name of the group's leader and the address)
- Language desired for the visit
- The time period during which you desire the visit. (The time of the visit will be determined by the Excavations Office.) If you give us multiple dates the chances of getting tickets are higher.
- Failure to include any of this material, may cause your application to be turned down

Please note that it is very hard to get tickets to the Scavi Tour because of the increased publicity about this tour. We will try, but don't be too disappointed if we are not successful. The earlier we try, the better, as long as you know for sure the exact days and times you will be available. It is not possible to modify the date or time of the tour once it has been confirmed.

NOTES:

- Before starting the tour , the visitors must check-in all personal belongings (purses, back-packs, cameras, bags, etc.) at the designated place to the right of the Facade of the Basilica. Custodians are there to watch your belongings, and the service is free. The visit to the excavations ends near that place.
- Failure to check-in your belongings will forfeit your right to enter the excavations.
- Please dress respectfully for visiting religious monuments; local custom requires covering knees and shoulder.

PAYMENTS:

- Our reservation fee is 25.00 euro. You pay us only if the reservations are accepted by the Scavi Office.
- Individual ticket: € 10,00 per person

Upon receiving the confirmation of an appointment, the visitor will pay in advance the full entrance fee with a credit card.
No refunds are given.

The Excavation Office reserves the right to modify the schedules of the visits in case that the Basilica is closed and for other reasons. If the visit cannot be rescheduled, the Excavations Office can cancel the scheduled visit and will refund any payments made.

The tickets to the Vatican Museum can be purchased online at the following website: http://biglietteriamusei.vatican.va/tickets/do?action=booking. Once you have purchased your tickets, please let us know the time and day that you have reserved.

You can opt to buy the tickets with and without a guide, but you will have a much better tour with the private guide. Our guides are assigned to your group only.

The guided tours provided by the Vatican itself, can be groups of up to 40 people or more and the quality of the guides, from past experience is not great...

If you are booking a private guide with us, the suggested time to book the tickets would be 1.00 PM. This will give you 3 hours inside the Museums.  If you are booking just tickets, try to book them for 2.00 PM which will give you a good 2 hours around the Museum before closing.

If these times are not available, 9.30 AM or 10.00 AM will work with or without a private guide (considering your tour starts at 08.00 AM).

The Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel are closed on each Sunday except the last one of the month. The Basilica of St. Peter's is always open so you will be able to visit it and if you are lucky enough you might be able to see the Pope since he gives a Blessing on this day. When the Vatican museum is closed it will be replaced with a visit to the catacombs or something else  you would like to see. The tour is very flexible so we do not follow a strict itinerary and if you have any suggestion we will be happy to satisfy it.

We take the credit card details purely for guarantee purposes, the credit card provided will not be charged at anytime.

If the ship does not arrive into the port, this would not have been the client's fault.

However, the tour will be automatically re-scheduled once the boat is in the port, if you are still on board of course.

A fee would be charged if the tour was cancelled for any other reason within the 7 day cancellation period.

We will do our best to guarantee your driver for your requested service. However, there are many things that may change from the moment you book to the day of the service. We schedule the drivers for the service at the beginning of each week and try our best to assign to each client the driver requested. This happens most of the time, but not all the time. Please be reassured that all the drivers used by Benvenuto are trained to be friendly, informative and safe.

Temperatures are based on a period less than the 30-year average used to establish climate normals.

Temperatures are based on a period less than the 30-year average used to establish climate normals.

Temperatures are based on a period less than the 30-year average used to establish climate normals.

We reply to your email within 12/24 hours maximum.

In case you do not get a reply within this time, please give us a call to double check.