Hiring a car and roaming around to explore cities, villages, and natural landscapes is a fun way to make the most of a business trip or holiday. Not everyone has tried this because it is an added expense. What if we told you that hiring a car can be an affordable service, providing travellers with the ultimate travel experience? If this excites you for a fun holiday, read our tips on how to save on car hire and avoid getting ripped off!
Tip 1: Check online deals
Since you are reading this article, you know how useful the internet is for learning and doing many things, including preparing for a trip. What you may not know is that there are comparison websites that gather various deals on specific topics. For example, holidaycars.com collects affordable car hire deals for different car sizes and styles so that visitors can compare them and find the ideal one for them, without having to search the fleet of hundreds of suppliers individually. It is this gathering of deals on one virtual place that allows travellers to compare prices and save on car hire.
Tip 2: Be aware of the policies
If you are new to the car hire world, there are a lot of policies that may lead to extra charges. However, you can avoid these charges by being aware of the policies. If you are under 25 years old, you should not consider hiring a car due to the young driver surcharge. Fuel policy is one of the most known potential fees, which means that it’s important to check if you should return the car with a full or empty tank. Additionally, you should know if there is a mileage limit or not. If there is one and you drive over the kilometre limit, you’ll get charged. Thus, you should know what you are agreeing to before making a booking.
Tip 3: Be clever with the hire period
This might not be suitable for everyone, but if you have the flexibility, consider hiring a car during the off-season. Travel services usually get higher in summer or holidays like Christmas and Easter. You can save on car hire by simply avoiding these time periods.
Tip 4: Avoid extras you don’t need
Let’s continue with ways to save on car hire by simply declining extras that you don’t need. For example, why pay for a GPS navigation system or satellite radio since you can get your mobile phone to do all these functions for free. In the same logic, you can be critical about the insurance package, whether you need one or not.
Tip 5: You damage, you pay
A simple and logical rule is that if you cause any damage to the car, you will have to pay for it. However, you should take a video showing the condition of the car when you received it so that you don’t get charged for dents or marks that were pre-existing and you didn’t cause.
