Tips to make the best car rental deal

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Here are some tips to make your best car rental deal ever:

1.  Compare rates on the Internet.  This is the place to start, once you have an idea of when you’ll need the car and what type of car you wish.  All the national companies have websites where you can input your criteria and get back price quotes.  And don’t forget the travel websites.  Travelocity, Kayak, Sidestep and others compare prices from a huge number of companies and deliver the information right to your monitor.  What could be easier?

2.  Check a day either way.  Could you rent a day earlier or later?  Could you keep the car a day or two longer?  If you did, would that make the rental a week-long one?  In many instances you’ll realize substantial savings by keeping the car a full week.  Your 6-day rental might be more expensive than renting by the week, so be sure to check variations on the length of your contract.

3.  Try different locations.  Most people think they have to rent at the airport for the best deal.  Not so!  So many more people are renting cars for reasons other than business travel these days that rental companies offer thousands of in-town locations.  Get a quote for the airport location, then a quote for the closest location to your home.  You may well find that not only is the in-town location closer, it’s cheaper, too!

4.  Ask about insurance ahead of time.  And don’t ask the car rental company.  Ask your regular auto insurance company what rental coverage is included in your contract.  In some states, loss of use (by the rental company) is covered, in some states it’s not.  If your auto insurance policy doesn’t cover this, call any credit-card company with which you have an account.  They may cover this.  If not, find out ahead of time what the Loss Damage Waiver (LDW) will cost when you rent the vehicle so there are no surprises at the rental counter.

5.  Get gas yourself.  Yes, the rental car companies dangle the convenience of “gassing up” right there and they even advertise a reasonable price per gallon.  But read the small print.  They’ll usually charge you for a full tank whether or not your car needs it.  You might think that if you return a car with a 20-gallon fuel tank half-full you will get charged for 10 gallons of gas.  No!  They’ll charge you for 20 gallons because that’s how much the tank holds.  That $2.50 per gallon of gas now just cost you $5.00 per gallon.  Not such a good deal.

6.  Plan ahead.  If you can reserve your car at least 7 days in advance, you’ll likely see not only savings, but the type of car you want.  Especially during the summer travel months, rental cars are hot commodities, and without advance planning, you could end up trying to squeeze your family of five—plus all your luggage—into a Mini Cooper.  Not fun.  Reserve at least a week, preferably two, ahead of time and you’ll be a much happier camper.

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admin @ February 28, 2008