Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Tips For Renting a Car

Nobody wants to spend too much money renting a car, especially when that money could be better used for other vacation or business expenses. Fortunately, ther are ways to save money on car rental. Here are some ways to help you do that.

Steps

1.Examine several car rental companies that fit your needs. Use the phone book or Internet to help you find special deals.

2.Contact the agency and ask about their special offers, location, availability, pickup sites, rates, special rates, hotel and airline partnerships, extra charges, and insurance.

3.Choose a pickup point; find one that is near you so it won’t be a hassle, some car rental companies pay for the cab ride you have to take, some pick you up at your home or at the airport to take you to your rental.

4.Pick a car, depending on your needs, find a car that could fit all the people you’ll have in it, and if you’re alone just use a compact, some rentals charge higher for larger vehicles.

5.The next thing to do, after you’ve decided on which car to rent, is to reserve it, some car rentals include the reservation fee on the overall rent, some make it an extra fee, you should look out for this when you rent a car.

TIPS

1.When getting a car rental check for available upgrades at no charge, you can go pickup your car early in the morning, when the other cars haven’t been returned yet, this way there may be a shortage on economy cars and the firm might just give you an upgrade for a lower price.

2.Get an Internet car rental. These types of rentals offer Internet only discounts, and sometimes they even accept find a car at your own price methods where you just give them your budget and they’ll find the best deal for you.

3.Remember to fill the gas tank before you return your car, car rentals will charge you, at an inflated price, the cost of the gas needed to fill the tank.

4.Look for packages like fly-drive-stay or fly-drive, these will get you great discounts on rentals, and what’s more you won’t have to worry about other details like a hotel or an airline, everything’s there. You can find these packages on must travel agencies.

5.If your frequent flyer discount or free flight is about to expire, there are some car rental companies that will exchange these discounts for discounts on your car rental, although its more cost effective to just fly with your frequent flyer discount, if its going to expire anyway, why wait?

These are just a few of the things that can help you. Remember to be pesky, ask questions and ask for discounts. Do your research ahead of time and get ready to get a good deal on car rental.