Car Hire Considerations

Choosing which car hire company depends on a lot of factors and often the determining factor is location or opening hours. The next determining factor for many companies is who do you have an account with. Finally which rental company has the car that appeals to you. With so much competition there may still be several car hire companies ’still in the frame’ so it comes down to price.

It is pretty important not to just choose the cheapest quote as that could be a false economy. To find the cheapest you need to work out what the final bill is going to be. Inclusive rates are likely to appear the most expensive but actually work out the cheapest when the rental is concluded. The inclusive rental includes necessary items such as insurance, CDW, mileage, theft protection, location surcharges and tax.. example, it is cheaper to have an inclusive rate at $25 a day than to pay $15 + 20c per km if you drive more than 32 kms!

It is often best not to book direct with a car hire comapny, but through a broker using their specially negotiated rates. Here again there are differences which you may wish to consider for instance Holiday Autos charge 100% cancellation fee whereas cheap-car-rental charge a cancellation charge equal to just one days rental.

Have you considered insurance. If you wish to use your own insurance cover check with your insurer that they offer full cover on a hired car. You should also check the cover provided and consider carefully the options given by the car rental company as an accident, particularly for car hire in USA and car hire in Canada could be very, very costly.

Before driving off make a close inspection of the car to see if it has any scratches or had an accident. The paint work should be checked but also remember to check the interior, the tyres and low down where the car might have hit a kerb. If you spot any defects report them to the check out staff and ensure that they are marked on both your copy and the car hire firms copy of the agreement. Failure to do this is likely to result in your being charged for damage caused by the previous hirer. Something you would wish to avoid.

We hope you enjoy using your rental car!