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Dealing with Car Rental Companies—Making it Within your Budget
Whether you are traveling on company account or you are on a family vacation, it is really practical if you rent a car. You won't need a tourist guide to accompany you or show you the way. Just having a detailed map of the place you are visiting should be enough. What's more you can now travel at your own pace. Also, you really do not have to worry where to find car rental companies—they are always there wherever you are, such as airports, hotels, and even in other far-flung areas which are frequented by tourists.
It is such a blessing that travelers can rent a car of any brand, model, style, and size at a competitive rate. However, just like purchasing a new car, renting a car also comes up with certain challenges that you need to overcome as well as certain requirements that you need to meet. For instance, many car rental companies require you to be at least 25 years old before you qualify to rent a car. Some are also allowing drivers below 25 but not less than 21 years of age provided that additional fees must be paid before a car is issued for rental.
If you are not familiar with car rental companies, especially if you are traveling outside of the United States, expect to allocate most of your travel money on your rented car alone. In order to avoid emptying your wallet on just a single rented car, read on and learn the things you need to consider in dealing with these car rental companies.
Before you actually rent a car, you need to identify first how you will be billed. Basically, most car rental companies have four different methods of charging you with regards on renting their cars: regular rates on a daily basis with mileage as an additional cost; regular rates on a daily basis with restricted amount of free miles; regular rates on a daily basis with unrestricted number of mileage; and varying daily rates with free mileage on an extended time table.
After knowing how you will be billed, next thing to consider is the time duration you will be using the car. If you will be staying at a place for less than a week, you can get some good deals from car rental companies that operate nationwide. If you will need the vehicle for more than a week, it is wise if you will prefer dealing with local rental companies (such as car dealers) in order to get much lower rates.
The basic rates that you are seeing on print or broadcast media ads are just the so-called “tip of the iceberg” with regards to the real cost of car rental. Usually, surcharges (mostly in the form of taxes) will make your total bill expensive. Other charges such as sales taxes, concession charges, drop-off fees, vehicle leasing charges, and airport charges are usually not included when you are cited with the basic rental fee. Make necessary research in advance to avoid such costs surfacing when billing time comes.
Another thing that you need to be aware of is the insurance coverage which these companies are attempting to sell you. Practically, the term “insurance” is not appropriate to use since car rental companies are not authorized to sell it. Instead, they are selling “waivers’, which states that they can not be held liable for damages or injuries you will get if involved in an accident. It is still best if you will keep in touch with your personal car insurance provider about their coverage on rented vehicles.
Car rental companies can be a blessing, yet they can be curse if you do not know how to deal with them. Keep in mind the aforementioned considerations and you can enjoy your rented car without emptying your wallet.
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