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Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Ways To Make Your Car Rental Experience More Enjoyable

By A Noton

When you decide to use a car rental service, there are things that you can do to have a much more pleasurable experience. Everyone wants to save money and there are many things that you can do to save money. There are other things that you can do as well to increase your overall satisfaction.

If you walk away from the experience feeling like you had the best deal, you probably will be walking away feeling like your rental car experience was good. One of the most essential things that you can do to save money and get the best deal is to make your reservation online. Rental car and rental truck rates online are typically much lower than renting over the phone or at the front counter at the rental company.

If you can, begin your reservation on a weekday. Weekend rates are usually quite a bit higher. By starting your reservation on a weekday, a lower rate will sometimes be applied to even the weekend rental rates. Also, the longer you have the rental car, the cheaper the rental will usually be. Renting for a full week rather than four to five days can save quite a bit of money.

Make sure you get the size that you need. Sure, it is nice to have a fancy luxury car, but do you really need it. Not only will getting an economy or standard size be much cheaper, but it will save you considerably in gas. Getting the right size is especially important during a truck rental. Renting a truck that is too small will cost you higher amounts of money for gas and mileage than getting one that is too big. However, getting one that is too big wastes money, so try to guesstimate the ideal truck size for your needs.

If you can, pass up one way trips, keep away from them. The charges associated with returning a vehicle to a destination other than its original one can be quite dramatic. You will need to determine if the costs are worth it for you and your needs. Regardless of where you return the rental car, ensure you fill up the gas tank before returning it. Car rental businesses usually charge excessively high rates to fill an empty tank. It is best to fill the tank within a few miles or kilometers of the return station.

Before you depart the rental station when picking up a rental car, make sure that all damage is accounted for on the rental agreement. If you leave with undocumented damage, they may hold you responsible for repairs when you return the vehicle to the rental car company. In the same token, make sure the gas tank is full when you leave because once you depart, you are responsible for filling up the fuel tank, even if you did no use the fuel.

You should also be completely aware of everything in your rental contract. If the vehicle has a mileage limitation, be sure that you do not exceed it or you may face extremely high fees. It may be more affordable for you to pay extra to have increased or unlimited mileage. Also, some rental companies will not allow you to go across borders or certain distances from the rental station, so you should be aware of these limitations as well.

Be sure to get the insurance coverage that suits you. Some private insurance companies offer coverage to rental cars and rental trucks, but they may have different policies, deductibles, or other stipulations. All rental companies offer their own insurance policies which usually are free of a deductible and have little hassle in case of an accident.

Whatever your reason for getting a rental car, there are a lot of things that you can do to make your experience more enjoyable and cheaper. These were just some simple ideas for ways you can have a better renting experience.

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