Hiring Car Techniques

What you must absolutely know before hiring a car

When hiring a car, there’s more than just reserving it and paying for it;  to make sure that you get the best deal follow these steps and tips:

Steps to Hire a Car

1. Choose 3 to 4 car rental firms that fit your wants and needs, do this either by phone or through the web, remember to scan every possible firm before you make a choice: you don’t want to overlook the best car rental because you got bored from looking
2. Contact the agency and ask about their special offers, location, availability, rates or even special rates, if they have pickup sites, hotel and airline partnerships, different insurance options or extra charges,  everything you can think of that can help lower what you have to pay for your car rental, or what would make the car rental more convenient for you.
3. Choose a pickup point: find one that is close to 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 one 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 totally decided on which to take, remember to reserve it, because if some car rentals include the reservation fee on the overall rent, some make it out to be an extra fee. You should also look out for these details when hiring a car.

Some Useful Tips

For the best deals for your money, here are some tips when looking, finding and taking out a car rental:

1. When you hire a car, check for available upgrades at no charge, you’d want the best deal so you’d want the best car. To do this, you should go pickup your car early in the morning, when the other cars haven’t been returned yet, this way there would be a shortage on economy cars and the firm might just give you an upgrade for a lower price.
2. Use the internet to hire your car. These types of rentals offer internet only discounts, and sometimes even accepts find a car at your own price methods where you just give them your budget and they’ll find the best deal for you, plus you wont have to go anywhere to get a rental.
3. 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 is often included. You can find these packages on must travel agencies.
5. Flyer discount about to expire. If this is the case, there are some car rental companies that offer to exchange these discounts to discounts on your car rental, although it’s more cost effective to just fly with your frequent flyer discount, if its going to expire anyway, why wait?

Other Things to consider when hiring a car

✓ Will you hire the car for a business trip or are you traveling with the whole family? Who will drive the car? Does the car you plan to rent big enough, considering the luggage you have (hand luggage and big suitcases)? If not, consider to change to a mini van or a car with extra large trunk.

✓ Do you need an infant seat or a child booster? If so, make sure it is mentioned clearly with your order. Usually this type of seat is provided with an extra charge. Check the state laws for where you’re travelling. A new law in Denver for instance, requires booster seats for all 4 & 5 year old childs who are not 55 inches tall.

✓ Do you really need the car in the town for the first few days? If not, consider to take a taxi, a bus, a train or the hotel shuttle into the city and when it’s time for you to go out of town and travel around, then, rent the car from the city location and by that, save up to 15% on Air-Port charges as well as on city parking fees.

✓ Even if most major rental car companies allow for unlimited mileage in the same state, it’s always better to check their policy before confirming. This precaution to avoid any surprise because many smaller local independent companies use to charge mileage after 100-200 free miles per day.

✓ Price is not the only factor to consider when choosing a car rental company. If you choose a very small, no-name company, don’t expect them a service across all nation or continent. Moreover, what would you do if the car is needed to be replaced or serviced for some reason?

Car rental insurance terms to remember

• LDW: Loss Damage Waiver,
• PAI: Personal Accident Insurance
• CDW: Collision Damage Waiver
• PDW: Physical Damage, Waiver
• PEC: Personal Effects Coverage
• ALI: Additional Liability Insurance

Even if most international credit cards have most of these coverage, therefore it’s not mandatory to purchase excessive coverage. It’s better to check this issue with your travel agent, your insurance agent and your credit card company before leaving home. Remember that sometimes, some car rental companies require that you show proof of insurance.

Be aware that your personal insurance probably doesn’t apply to your rental car when travelling overseas, which may be confusing as there are no industry standards for terminology, and policies vary by locations.

These tips are just a few of those  you’ll need to know, but always remember to be pesky: ask questions, ask for discounts.  The only reason why people don’t get better value for the things they buy is because they’re too shy to ask.

One last thing to notice: most rental companies will only rent to someone who is at least 25 years old or even older.  However, some companies will rent cars to persons 21 years or older but often charge an additional ten to twenty dollars a day.  Also, only the driver who is renting the car is covered under the insurance, so don’t let a buddy drive because if he wrecks it, you’re responsible.