Beat the summer rush – tips for a smoother car rental experience
With summer here and the school holidays just around the corner, independent car hire price comparison site, Carrentals.co.uk, is offering holidaymakers its top tips for getting the best car hire service and deals from start to finish.Save time booking
Searching for the best car hire deals can take time - visiting different car hire sites, calling up different suppliers, speaking to travel agents. It’s always recommended to compare prices, but use a price comparison site and you can quickly get a whole host of deals from lots of different companies in one place – saving time and effort. It also shows you exactly what is and what isn’t available with which companies, making the whole experience easier.
Book extras at the start
Items such as child seats can book up fast. The best option is to consider what items you need when you make the original booking and include everything on the reservation. You can add extras to the booking later, but doing this may mean you miss out.
Avoid the Excess
The excess that can be charged by some car hire providers is now legendary, but you can protect yourself against falling foul of this. Companies such as Insurance4carhire.com offer insurance to cover your excess, and include cover for damage to the undercarriage, tyres and windows, which many car hire companies don’t include. Prices start from just £3.99 per day through Carrentals.co.uk.
Read the documentation before you travel
Once the booking is made confirmation details will be sent to you by e-mail, post or even text. Read these carefully and contact the company you have booked with as soon as possible about any changes or queries you may have.
Be prepared
It’s always wise to print out two copies of your car hire voucher to take with you to collect the car. This way if the car hire provider keeps a copy you still have one to refer to if needed.
Want to avoid the queues?
After a long flight the last thing most people want is to stand in a lengthy queue waiting to collect a car. Some locations can be worse for this than others, but a good tip is when you’re making your reservation don’t book with the cheapest company. Most people do book on price, meaning the queues for the cheapest company tend to be longest. Spend £5 or so more and go with a more expensive provider and you’ll generally find the queues won’t be as long.
Check for bumps, scratches and the fuel level
Once the keys have been collected, check around the vehicle for any bumps or scratches, ensure you highlight these to the staff at the collection point and have them documented. You should also switch on the ignition and check the fuel level whilst on level ground before you set off. It is usually cheaper to agree to bring the car back with a full tank, but make sure you start with a full tank first.
Fill up with fuel before you return the car
Most people have been stung at some time by the cost of petrol at many airports. To avoid having to fill up in a last minute rush near the car hire returns area, fill up shortly before you arrive at the airport and you’ll find prices more reasonable. It’s also worth noting that unmanned petrol stations may not take international credit cards, especially if you don’t know your PIN code. Try locating a suitable petrol station on the way out so there are no surprises on the way back.
Carrentals.co.uk compares prices from over 40 of the leading car hire companies, including EBookers, Holiday Autos, Opodo, EasyCar, Alamo and their own Carrentals.co.uk prices, with Summer deals starting from around £10 per day in Spain and from £12 per day and Portugal.
Visitors to the site can search and compare the best deals, before transferring to the supplier’s site to make their booking. Searching is easy and can be filtered by car type, including economy, four wheel drive and people carriers.
To compare summer car hire deals visit Carrentals.co.uk.