As per reports from researchers, Portugal and Greece are perhaps the priciest places for car hiring during summer holidays and in sharp contrast, Florida is perhaps the cheapest place for hiring a car during holidays. The different add-ons, from satnavs and child seats to the excessive insurance of the rental firm can also add up to the high costs. Research reveals that there are few cases where the cost can be easily doubled. Though many can be reduced or avoided as well.
As long as arranging a holiday is concerned, deciding on a car hire can be the toughest parts. Though you may get a good-value deal, there’s the fact that when you finally reach, the desk might be closed for the evening. You may even be encountered with unpleasant tactics. By the time you reach home, you have the tension of money being whipped from your plastics to compensate for the damage which you didn’t cause for violations of traffic.
Don’t get ripped off by a car rental company
There are too many complaints from readers about the issues they face with different car hire companies. However, there are various steps that you should take in order to avert facing such problems. What are they? Let’s take a quick look at them.
- The sooner you hire, the better
Yes, if you can book your car hire as early as possible, you will be the gainer. When a tourist walks in during a summer vacation and if they have enough space for a car hire, you will have to pay $40 in a day for hiring a small car. The same cost will become $15 if you booked a few weeks earlier as this is the benefit of advanced booking. The case will be even better for you if you book your car hire months ahead of time. To get hold of the cheapest cars for hire, make sure you compare and contrast rates from the authentic websites. Once you book it, cross-check the details along with the car firm.
- Car hire companies can charge you for stealth fuel
There are some car hiring agencies which will force you to pay for an entire tank of fuel and then order you to return the tank empty. Now in case you don’t have a plan to drive for too far a distance, this will mean having to pay an extra charge. You can instead utilize the fuel policy filter to watch out for ‘full to full’ policies.
- Avert the hard-sell of insurance companies
When you hire a car, there will be a basic auto insurance policy which covers it but still if you reach the desk, you will be asked to do a hard sell. The person at the desk always reminds people that if they don’t get excess insurance, they might have to pay $1000. And this happens actually! The excess insurance is generally exorbitant and can cost you big time in the long run. The savings can be large and hence make sure you know the steps to take.
- You may need a DVLA code in order to hire a car
While hiring a car during a holiday, you would need a personal code which you have to show while picking the car so that it can check the points. Though it is also true that most firms won’t ask, yet you may need one. As per a Twitter survey of around 1800 people, just 5% said that they were asked for this code. The DVLA code is valid for 21 days from the exact date you get it and also that it can be just used once.
- Carry your international driving license
If you’re driving in the US, you have to use your American license. Outside the US, there are other countries which will ask you to have an International Driving Permit. India, Thailand and the UK will all ask you for this.
Therefore, if you’re someone who is out for a holiday and you want to take a car hire for a road trip, make sure you take into account the above mentioned points so as to drive down the costs of being ripped off by the company.
