Save Money When Renting Cars Abroad

There are a few ways that you can cut some numbers off that final price tag when it comes to renting a car abroad, but what exactly are they? Doing proper research, choosing your vehicles and locations wisely and insurance are all aspects that can help you save money! Check out the other ways that you can make your rental agreement work for you. 

Scout Online

With three main options for hiring a car, you can use either a local car rental service, a broker site or a multinational company like Hertz. Each of the three options has positives and negatives, but it’s a matter of figuring out which one best suits your needs. If you want full guarantee that your rental car will be fully functioning and your insurance agreement is completely legitimate, stick with a multinational company that specializes in doing just that. When compared to a local company that might be able to help give you the insider scoop on hidden fishing villages or short cuts through the city, you’ll find that the security of a solid car and insurance is often prioritized over the personalized customer service. Make your best assessment based on what is the most important to you and even though you may be certain, check the other options available just to make certain that you are getting what you want. 

Kind of Car

When it comes to choosing the type of car you want, don’t do it based on the color. Think practically about what you need the car to do for you, where you need it to be able to go and what it needs to be able to fit inside, including people and bags. Two people would be able to fit into a smaller vehicle, while those heading for more rugged terrain should think about booking a 4x4 truck. Always check during booking to see if there are any extra charges that you won’t be using, but companies have a habit of including anyway such as air-conditioning, which you certainly wouldn’t need if you were travelling during winter. 

Pick up Location

Personalized service will always cost you more than when you are the one making the extra effort. If you organize for the rental company to deliver your car to the airport or other sort of customized location, you’ll be looking at spending a lot more than if you simply took a bus or cab into the city center and found their office and respective garage. Even once you’ve found your own way to the rental office, they will still attempt to squeeze money out of you by offering to deliver the car to your hotel. 

Some people even prefer to arrive and wait a few days before picking up a car so that they can observe traffic patterns and popular car models not to mention recovering from any exhausting travel they just concluded. Walking around town can also help you give you a better feel of the area rather than being distracted and stressed with new traffic laws and road practices. 

Insurance

Some countries require Collision Damage Waivers, while others require a CDW and excess coverage policy plans. Insurance is different all over the world, so research what you will be expected to have if you want to rent a car when you go abroad. Think about purchasing car hire excess policy from a specialist broker instead of s rental CDW and you might be able to save yourself a chunk of change. Don’t forget about other drivers that you’ll have to have insurance for as well. 

Terms and Conditions

Always double check and print a hard copy of your terms when booking online through websites or email communication. Check that the currency is what you are expecting, whether that is local or foreign, so that you won’t get any surprises when you get the bill at the end of the rental. You’ll also want to spend time with the notorious fine print, which can sometimes include important information about local surcharges that await your unsuspecting foreign self. Other instances of the fine print coming in handy include understanding late fees, such as in Portugal where they will still charge a late pick up charge if your plane is delayed. 

Gas

Car companies can make a hefty gain when it comes to gasoline. Some will give you a half tank of gas when you pick up the car, and tell you to return it with the same amount. Due to the fact that you’ll probably have to drive from the gas station to the company, you will over estimate how much gas to put in because they do not want a re-fuelling charge and the company ends up with a small surplus of gas in that vehicle. 

Avoid One-Way

As convenient as it can be to use a car to drive from one country to another and then lave the car there, continuing on with your journey, you’ll end up paying such exorbitant prices that you will question whether it was truly worth it. 

Save yourself the monetary regret and hold back from buying one-way tickets based on the expectation that you will be driving one of the ways. You can also employ the tactics of driving to a car location that is close to the boarder and finding other methods of transportation to complete your journey or you could possibly arrange for another car company in your next country. The fees that you can incur from international car rental, versus taking a bit of extra time to book cars in two different countries, are huge.

Avoid Sunday

Similar to the extra charges for delivering the car to you, Sunday’s are a day when most companies close down except for trains and airports.  If you do need to drop it off on a Sunday because of your travel plans, be ready for the extra fees. 

Local Currency

It might seem to make more sense to you to pay in your own country’s currency but the exchange rate may or may not be in your favor. However, most of the time the exchange rate is in favor of the car rental company so you will actually end up paying more.