Booking a car over the internet
As a whole, booking a car over the internet has gone from being the most frustrating part of online travel planning to one of the easiest tasks to cross off your to-do list. Until recently, none of the online travel agencies included taxes and fees in their price quotes, but only the so called base rates. Companies buried these fees under vaguely titled links like “Important Local Policy Information”.
Car rental businesses also had a reputation of padding customers’ bills with all sorts of extra charges, most of which you never found out about until you returned the car. Although the situation has changed drastically, keep in mind to ask the necessary questions in advance. With most car rental companies there is usually an extra fee for adding an additional driver’s name to the rental contract.
Also, before you drive off in a rental car, you are advised to make sure you’re insured. Hasty assumptions about your personal auto insurance or a rental agency’s additional coverage could cost you tens of thousands of dollars. Even if you are involved in an accident that was clearly the fault of another driver, the car rental company may require you to pay extra for the car repair.
Another way to save on renting a car is to ask for frequent renter programs. Many car rental companies offer such to loyal or just frequent clients. These frequent renter programs may speed up the rental process both when making reservations and when picking up a car. If there is a car rental company you prefer over others, you can apply for a frequent renter membership.
There is still one other way to make the most cost effective choice of car rental with some further investigation. Although many car rental companies tout a “best rate guarantee”, promising that their web sites always offer the lowest prices, you will find the same rates on other car rental companies’ web sites. In order to decrease the amount of your total bill, you can investigate for other companies besides the ones that were listed above. If you visit Carrentalexpress.com, you will find lots of independent agencies renting cars, some of them even featuring worldwide locations. An ordinary guidebook will also make a good job. Sometimes small local businesses are cheaper than the established car rental companies and they usually have more flexible car rental policies. Such local companies may even rent by the hour for a discount price. However, there is one shortcoming with these independent car rental businesses – you can never be sure of the quality of the service you are offered. Some preliminary investigation about the company’s reputation before signing the car rental contract may be a good idea.
Tags: Booking a car, car rental, car rental companies, insured, rent a car
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