When planning to go on your vacation, the best thing you can do is to get your vehicle from discount car rentals, which is much more cost effective than traveling in your own vehicle. In order to get the best deal however, you should plan ahead and make your reservation well in time since the prices tend to go up during holidays. If you wait till the last minute, when they realize that you are desperate for a vehicle, the rental agencies hike their prices and you will also have to take whatever car is available at that time.
Here are a few guidelines you can follow on how to get a good deal from discount car rentals:
• Check online, all the rental firms in your area to see who can give you the best price. You will be surprised to note that some of the smaller companies will give you a better rate than the larger more famous car rental firms.
• Depending on the number of people who will be traveling and the space needed for luggage, select a smaller car which will cost you less than a bigger car.
• No matter how much you are tempted to, don’t go for the flashy looking cars, if your aim is to get the cheapest car, settle for the smaller model.
• Always remember to ask the discount rental cars if they have any special packages for specific periods rather than renting the car on a daily basis. It could work out to be much cheaper if you were to buy the car for a five day period than pay the normal rates they charge for the day and multiply it by five.
• The less good looking the car is the more chances you have of getting a better rate. Most people like to travel in the larger, comfortable vehicle and therefore the rental agencies find it easy to sell them rather than the smaller cheap car in a drab color which will not catch the eye of many.
• If you belong to any automobile club you can ask them if there are any ongoing deals where you could benefit. Some of these clubs and form partnerships with rental agencies where you might be able to get discount car rentals.
• When you find the car you have been looking for, where the size, price and everything else is right, don’t hesitate, make your booking immediately by using your credit card and submitting your driver’s license. Let’s hope you have a good driving record as otherwise you might have to pay a higher rate of insurance and worse still, the rental agency might even refuse to rent you the car in view of your bad history of driving.
If you have made your booking very early, don’t forget to call the rental agency a couple of days before you are due to go on your travels, to remind them about the booking. Keep in mind that up to now you have been dealing only online and it’s always better to bring in the human factor at least once during the deal to ensure that everything is alright.