Rental automobiles are frequently an important aspect of any trip (business or pleasure). And, if you’re a business traveler, you’ll almost certainly be spending a lot of time in a rental car. If you’re a leisure traveler, a rental automobile will almost certainly play a key role in your trip’s success.
The cost of renting a car has risen dramatically in recent years. Rental vehicle firms sold large portions of their inventory in the aftermath of a terrible epidemic in order to survive. However, as travel resumed, they immediately discovered that they lacked sufficient supplies to meet demand.
For this reason, RentCubo, an industry-leading car rental management software development company, brings you the five best car rental hacks that can change your car rental business for good in this blog.
Check Prices on Several Versions of a Car Rental Company’s Website:
When hiring a car in a foreign nation, use both your home country and the local version of the car rental company’s website. A user, for example, compared costs for a three-day automobile rental in Glasgow, Scotland, on Alamo.com (the company’s US site) and Alamo.co.uk (the company’s UK site) (the U.K. site). The U.S. site quoted me a cost of $111.71 for a small car with a manual gearbox, whereas Alamo.co.uk offered a rate of 65.88 GBP for the identical vehicle, which works out to just $80.21 at the current conversion rate—a roughly 30% savings.
Couple of things to remember, first, if the price difference is insignificant, your credit card may cancel it out totally if you pay in a foreign currency. Second, if you’re trying to reserve a car rental on a website in a language you don’t understand, this car rental hack can be difficult. Google Translate and other machine translators aren’t always accurate, and you should double-check the terms and conditions before booking.
Make Use of Group Memberships:
Do you belong to an organization like AAA, AARP, Costco, BJ’s, or USAA? If this is the case, you may be entitled to car rental savings. The AARP’s member advantages include partnerships with Avis, Budget, Payless, and Zipcar, while Hertz provides AAA members exceptional discounts.
AAA members between the ages of 18 and 24 will also be exempt from the youth driving cost. Costco, BJ’s, and USAA all feature search engines where you may check for vehicle rental deals via their affiliates. Remember that group memberships are only one type of discount and that other, more generous deals are occasionally available. You’re unlikely to be able to combine the two, so shop around before settling on your favorite group pricing.
Save One-Way Rental Fee:
One-way automobile rentals are notoriously costly, as the rental company typically levies a fee to cover the cost of returning the vehicle to its original location. But what if you’re truly helping the corporation by driving it to its destination? That’s the basis of Transfercar, a website that advertises vehicles that need to be relocated from one location to another; if you’re willing to drive, you may get a car or camper for a very low price—or even for free.
Transfercar, for example, may have a compact campervan with an automatic transmission that has to be transported from Perth to Broome within the next few weeks. To assist them in getting the campervan back to where it needs to be, you’d be able to drive it for up to eight days for free (with insurance).
Look for Benefits on your Credit Card before Buying Insurance:
Is the costly insurance that the rental vehicle salesman is attempting to sell you truly necessary? Perhaps not. If you pay for your rental car using a credit card, you may be eligible for some forms of rental car insurance. It’s worth calling your credit card issuer or checking the terms and conditions of your card to see what coverage you already have. Your personal auto insurance coverage at home may also cover you.
Better yet, your personal automobile insurance, or, if you’re on business, your company’s insurance, should cover the rental. It isn’t necessary unless you have no other insurance options. You’re probably not a business traveler if that’s the case.
Take Ample Photos and Videos when Inspecting the Car:
Make sure you stroll around the car you’re renting and inspect it for any damage. Take a picture of it if you discover it, and let the staff know if you have time so they can add it to your rental car record. There’s no use in paying for something that isn’t your fault. Take out your phone and take a few pictures or maybe a video of any dings or scratches during your initial walk around the rental vehicle.
This isn’t a replacement for reporting these faults to a rental business employee as soon as you notice them, but it does provide proof in case your rental company tries to charge you for damages you didn’t cause after the fact. Text the photos to someone for a quick timestamp that verifies the dings and scrapes were present at the time of rental.
Conclusion:
Now, rental car safety exists, and as unpleasant as it is, we are all concerned about becoming ill when renting a car. The good news is that it’s a long shot. You can boost your chances by just carrying some Sani-wipes and wiping out the interior of the car before getting too comfortable.
We hope you find these rental vehicle tricks quite useful on your next trip. We’re looking forward to hearing from you. What worked and what didn’t? What rental vehicle tips did we leave out? Join the conversation by tweeting us or leaving a comment.
