Car rentals have become very popular all over the world, as in some places of the world car rentals are the only way to travel. Today we will be providing you with some tips that will help you if you are deciding to rent a car for your next trip. Renting a car over buying a car is a great alternative, it gives flexibility and freedom, but if certain tips and tricks are not followed, it can be really costly for you as well. You must understand the agreement with the rental company to avoid any problems with the car rental experience.
Choosing a vehicle
As attractive as some of the cars may look, you must always choose the car that is suitable for you and enough for you. If you are a family of five or more then considering renting an SUV or a large sedan would be a really good choice. But if you are not, then a normal car will be enough for you because it will be the most cost-effective.
Keep in mind that size is not the only factor that you must look at, you must look for a car that is environmentally friendly and the gear transmission to automatic transmission, GPS system, airbag system, and other things. You should avoid getting a fancy car because you only need to travel in it safely for the trip and nothing else.
Booking your car
There are many car rentals companies all over the world, some of them are the local car rental services and others may be MNCs, for example, Thrifty, National, Hertz, Enterprise, Budget, etc. Depending on your budget and the location, you can decide which company to go for. You must also look for the rates offered by different companies for the same cars and then compare before booking them. You must also make sure you read the reviews of previous customers before booking. Nowadays there are many online websites available that provide user reviews of the nearby car rental agencies, you can go through them as well.
Before booking you can ask for the recommendations of your friends or family members. You can also look for coupons or promotion codes available online and save a lot of money like that. If you think that you will need to rent a car on a regular basis, you can even consider joining some loyalty programs offered by many companies which will reduce the per-trip cost for you and you will also be eligible for some special discounts that are not available to normal customers. In the agreement, you must look for the grace period that is allowed by the car rental agency if the car is returned a little late from the decided time period. You must also make sure the cost of fees that are charged by the company for the delay in the dropping off is not too high.
Knowing your rentals
After considering all the things about the company, before confirming the booking you must always go through the terms and conditions carefully. If there is any sort of confusion you can always call the agent and ask for the clarification of the conditions. Pay Attention to some specific details that are not so common like, what happens if the car breaks down? Is your 20-year-old son old enough to drive the car? or any other such cases.
The overall cost of car rental service
You must be very aware of the overall cost that the car rental service will come at because their rates that are advertised by the companies may only be the starting rates and they can be extremely inflated after adding up the insurance fees, driver fees, deposit charges, state and local taxes and drop off charges. You need to be sure that there are no hidden fees before confirming the booking.
Some of the costs may be voluntary and you must only choose the services that you are sure that you will need and avoid those services that you will not need, eventually, this will reduce the cost substantially. For this purpose, you must always look through the reviews posted by other customers about the transparency of the car rental agency.
At the time of picking up the car
Before getting into the car you must make sure that you are familiar with all the services offered to you. You must also check whether the lights and the turn signals are working properly along with the mileage odometer. If there is any kind of damage you must report such defects at once. You must familiarise yourself with the working of the car like which side the gas tank is on, how to turn on or off the headlights, turn signal and windshield wipers. You must also memorize the color of your car, the model of the car and the make of the car in that way you will be sure that you do not forget.
Returning the car back
You must always be aware of the gasoline plans. You should make sure that that you pay for the amount of gasoline that you used and not the extra. To do that, you must make sure that you avoid any gas stations before the drop-off spot because prices near the airport are generally higher. You must also plan your trip, so as to avoid any delay in returning the car. Delay in returning will cost you additional charges. You must be aware of the grace period allowed by the car rental agency.
Before leaving the car for good, make sure that you do not have any personal belongings left inside the car, during this check the trunk as well. During the payment, time makes sure you carefully inspect the bill provided to you and you understand each and every cost that is being charged and if there is any issue you must always ask for an explanation from the agent.
