Car Rentals

With the high cost of car rental, the price is sometimes no longer worth the convenience. Sure, the rising price of gasoline at the pump has something to do with high car rental fees. But what most of us don’t realize is that most of what’s in your rental bill is due to hidden charges. These charges can actually contribute to half of what they charge for your bill.

Most rental car agencies won’t tell you this, but most of those hidden charges are optional. You can save money by having them removed in your car rental bill. We’ll show you what these hidden charges are, what they mean, and how you can talk your way out of them.

* Airport taxes and surcharges is what car rental agencies charge you extra for the convenience of picking up your rental car at the airport. This extra service can actually amount to 10% of your total bill. The reason they charge you more when you want your car bought to the airport is because of taxes and concession fees. Car rental agencies have to pay concession fees to the airport management every time they bring a rental to the airport. The agency also has to pay business taxes to the local government for doing business at the airport.

Most airports and some rental companies have free shuttle service with fixed routes. To remove this hidden charge from your car rental bill, take advantage of this free service and just have your car dropped off at a location away from the airport. That way, the car rental reduces cost and you don’t get charged extra for their service.

* Collision Damage or Loss Damage Waiver is the extra $10-$25 you have to pay per day in order to avoid liability for any damage on your rental car, provided that the damage wasn’t caused by gross negligence.

Most car insurance and credit card insurance cover rental cars as part of their standard coverage. Check if your insurance company covers rental cars and if they do, have the Loss Damage Waiver removed. You’re just wasting money if you’re paying for collision damage on top of your regular insurance.

* At first glance, gasoline charges seem like a great idea. Imagine getting your rental car with a full tank. You don’t need to stop by gas stations along the way and you can return the car with an empty tank if you want to.

However, most car renters can’t completely consume a full tank of gas. You won’t get a refund if you don’t use up all your gas but you could get penalties added up to your bill. It’s still cheaper to gas up your own rental car you only have to pay for the amount of fuel that you need.

* If you drop of your rental car at a different location from where you picked it up, you may get charged with a drop-off fee. Drop-off fees vary from state to state. Some states don’t have drop-off fees while some have fees that can go as high as $1000.

So as much as possible, return your car at its original pick-up point. If it’s not possible to return your car back in the same place, look for drop-off places where the fee is minimal.

* The early return fee is something that car rental agencies charge you when you return your car too early. A car rental company can charge you $10-$15 per day for early returns. And if that’s not enough, they’ll also change your rental rates. Instead of charging you their weekly rate, they’ll charge you their daily rate. Not only do you have to pay for your early return fees, you have to pay for that rate difference too. In order to save yourself from paying hundreds of dollars in fees, make sure you return your rental car on the exact date stated in your policy.

Most of the hidden charges that car rental companies add to your bill are due to penalties for breaking your rental policy. This is why you should read and understand your rental policy before signing the contract. Ask your car rental company to make sure you have everything covered in your contract. By knowing everything there is to know about your policy, you’ll be able to avoid any penalties and keep your car rental costs at a minimum.

Nowadays, exotic car rentals are growing in popularity. This is most probably due to the expensive price of antique and luxury cars that people have to resort to rentals because they simply cannot afford to own a brand new one. Most people don’t want to invest in something so expensive that even maintenance fees are too costly. If you are looking for cars that you have always dreamt of owning, you might benefit from car rentals instead of owning a new one.

Have you ever experienced driving one day and seeing a luxury car drive past you? Don’t you wish you could own one and feel the thrill of driving that kind of car? Dream no more, because it is about to become a reality. With car rentals, your dreams are about to come true.

Or perhaps, you have to attend a special black tie occasion. Surely you don’t want to drive your old car to the event, do you? Whether you are attending a special occasion or you don’t have access to your sports car because you are travelling, rental cars will help you with that.

There are so many cities that offer car rentals services. You have to check personally with the store if they have luxury cars, sports cars, or antique cars for rent. You will have to pay a higher amount of insurance though, and your driving records will be checked. Some rental companies may require a credit card rating, so be sure you have that ready.

If you are curious about the price of car rentals, these special cars usually cost as much as a night in a grand hotel. Most companies usually set their price at about one percent of the original price of the car per day. That price is quite reasonable, if you think about the brand of the car and how you are going to use it.

Each company has their own perks and promotions, so be sure to check out for them. Most of these perks include free delivery of the car to your home, a complete introductory guide or instruction before using your vehicle, and a GPS system. You may want some extra services such as having a chauffeur if you are attending special occasions. Of course, car wash is entirely up to you, but most companies clean the car before you are ready to take it for a drive.

Although car rentals usually put a limit on your driving speed, this is only for the safety of you and the car. Aside from the insurance, you might be paying for other services, so be sure to ask the rental company for all the services and charges that you will need to pay before deciding to rent a luxury car.

Whether you are taking the car to impress a girl, a business client, or if you simply want to experience the thrill of driving a car that was only available in your dreams, car rentals can be of service to your needs. You don’t have to be a billionaire to be able to drive that car, an exotic car rental is all you need.

When seeking cheap car rental, many people prefer to book holiday or business car hire in advance. Car hire is usually a must for most business trips, unless you are being picked up at the airport. Driving a company car is fine for short trips, but when you have long distances to travel, or even overseas, then you have to hire a car and you want something appropriate for your needs.

Holiday car rental can be even more important to most people, particularly if they have large families involving two adults and three or four children. It’s bad enough having two children in the back of a small car let alone three! You likely know what I mean!

On vacation you might need a 4×4 or even a people carrier (strange name) that can fit your whole family comfortably and without complaints the whole way! These are not always available at airports, so you could have a problem if you don’t book in advance. The same is true of more prestigious business cars such as 7-Series BMW, Mercedes or similar, and for these you will almost certainly have to book your business car rental in advance.

That’s fine if you are seeking cheap car rental in your own country, but you may have difficulty doing so when traveling abroad. It’s difficult enough booking a car in Hawaii when you live in Colorado, but try making an advance booking in Kenya when you live in Australia! Wouldn’t it be great if you could find a simple way to book business car hire or a car for your holidays from your own home? Or have your secretary do it for you without tearing her hair out?

Most people prefer to book their car in advance when going on vacation or for business trips. Cheap car rental is easier to get by booking early online, and by doing so they make sure they get the car they need, and not just ‘what’s available’. Others don’t seem to bother about forward booking of hire cars: they will book air tickets and train tickets in advance but leave their cars to luck!

Cheap Car Rental Cost Advantage

There are several advantages of booking your holiday car rental in advance, not the least being cost. Most car hire firms will charge less for an advance booking than if you simply turn up at the desk, so booking your vacation or business car rental in advance will probably save you money – particularly if you book a car online. Sometimes that’s not possible with business trips, but you should at least know when your flight is due to arrive at its destination. You can book your car online in advance for that time and likely get a better price than somebody walking off the plane and trying to get cheap car rental at the desk.

Better Choice of Cars

There are other advantages though, not the least being the choice of cars you may be offered. Booking car hire in advance enables you choose the car you want – at least up to a point. If you hire a car from the airport you are restricted to what they have available: not just what is available for airport car rental, but to what is left, particularly if you are near the back of the queue!

It’s not easy to find a car to suit you if you have five or six in your family, and lots of luggage. In fact, you might not find anything and have to pay for a couple of taxis to your hotel so that they can help you out with renting a car big enough for your needs. It is far better to have booked your holiday car rental in advance.

Cheap Car Rental Price Comparisons

If you know the type of vehicle you need, you should be able to compare cheap car rental prices across car hire firms and also across models that meet your specifications. By hiring a car in advance you should be able to achieve that by entering your needs into a search engine and be offered a range of vehicles in order of price for any country you want.

Perhaps you have different collection and drop-off points, so how would that affect the cost of your car hire? Is it easy to search over a number of car hire firms or do you have to visit the web pages of each separately? How about searching over a range of countries? If you live in the USA and are traveling to Austria or Switzerland for some skiing, wouldn’t you like to be able to book the car you want and be able to get the best price for it?

3 Kids and a Mini!

These things are not easy to do and people generally settle for trying to get as near the head of the queue as possible at immigration and customs, and reach that car hire desk as quickly as they can. Then you have the problem of how many others have hired cars that day, and is the type of business car rental you need still available. It’s all worry and stress you can do without. What if you can’t get a car? It doesn’t bear thinking about! 3 kids and a wife, and you failed to get anything but a mini! That might be taking cheap car rental a step too far.

If you are seeking car rental for worldwide travel, whether in South Africa to use in the country or are a South African with the need to hire a car elsewhere in the world for a holiday or for business, then there are global car rental services that are able to meet your requirements. Booking a car for collection in London, UK, is just as easy as renting a vehicle to drive in Cape Town.

If you intend visiting South Africa for business or even a honeymoon, then it is important that you have your car pre-booked, ready to collect at the airport. If not, then you will likely find yourself in a long queue at the car hire desk, assuming you weren’t quick enough off the plane to get near the front.

You might also be disappointed in your choice, because the best cars at the major South African airports are often snapped up quickly and you will just have to take what you get. The benefit of using a global car rental online booking system is that it doesn’t matter where you are when you use it, or where you want to collect your car, you will be able to make your booking and pay for it online.

Whether you are a South Africa with a need for a car in Pretoria or New York, or an Australian traveling to the UK, you can book your car online and have it ready for you to collect when you arrive at the airport. You can usually find some great car hire deals when you book your car this way, and also a fabulous choice of vehicles and car hire firms. The one service can frequently offer you a range of cars available in your class from a wide range of hire companies – you are not restricted to just the one as you would be if you used the website of any specific car rental firm.

You can also arrange to have your car driven to you at arrivals, so you have no need to visit the desk to pick up the keys. More time saved! You can also order a self-drive or chauffeured service, particularly useful if you have a disability. Another benefit of using an online global car rental service is that you can prearrange to drop off the car at a different destination than you collected it. That is useful if you have a long distance to drive one-way, and are flying back from a different airport.

You can check up each of the services offered to you by the booking service and select from those that offer this service. However, the one benefit that most users of global car rental agencies consider the most compelling is the ability to select the best car available at an economical price. You are no longer restricted to the cheapest an individual car rental firm can offer you, but you have wide choice of options.

For example, if you are based in London want to pick up your car at Cape Town International and drop it off a week later at Pretoria you are offered a range of 20 cars along with all their specifications at a number of prices, from lowest to highest. These are available from a range of car rental firms that can offer this particular service. You can then choose the car that fits your needs at the lowest available price.

There is no other way to achieve this using just one form. You can pay it either all in advance or just a deposit when you book according to the terms of the car rental firm. You can also choose options online, such as SatNav or child’s seat, so you have no problems with any of that when you collect your car. Everything you need can be arranged in advance, so all you do on arrival at the airport is to pick up the car – you may have to pay the balance of the rental cost or arrange to pay that in advance.

Renting a car for worldwide travel is a simply task using a global car rental booking form, because such online services take a note of your requirements then carry out a worldwide search for vehicles that meet your needs that are available at your choice of pick-up destination.

The beauty of such global car rental services is that you can do it all online, no matter where in the world you are based or where you want to collect and drop off your car. If you want to collect your car at London Heathrow and drop it off in Glasgow, Scotland, then you have 60 vehicles to choose from.

This is without doubt the best and easiest way to book a car no matter where in the world you are and where in the world you want collect it and drop it off. Renting a car for worldwide travel has never been easier than by using a global car rental service online.