Not All Car Rental Services Are Created Equal
What You Need to Know About Car Rental Services
You'd think with the Internet making the travel industry more competitive than ever, car rental services would have gotten their acts together by offering competitive pricing and good customer service. While many car rental services have adapted to meet the changing needs of consumers, some have not. Here are some things to consider when comparing car rental services.
Mileage Matters
Before you sign any car rental agreement, make sure you understand exactly what you're going to be paying -- and that means understanding whether mileage is included in the rental price. Most car rental services offer unlimited mileage nowadays, but there are still car rental companies that charge per mile or only offer unlimited mileage if you stay in the same state or states bordering the location you rented from.
Your Cash Isn't Welcome Here
Most consumer-orientated businesses are more than happy to accept cash as payment. The car rental industry isn't one of them. When it comes to car rental services, you'd better have a credit card in your name or you might not be able to rent a car. And debit cards or pre-paid cards are NOT considered credit cards in the world of car rentals.
Shop Around
Of course, when renting a car, you need to shop around. You might assume that all car rental services charge approximately the same amount. Guess again. I checked out one area's car rental prices just for the sake of curiosity and found that there was a difference of more than $50 per day for a standard-size car between two of the six agencies we got quotes from.
Watch Those Fees
Many car rental companies will try to tack on extra fees. Want a GPS? That will run you about $10 to $15 a day extra. Want added liability? That's another $10 to $20 a day too. Personal protection? That's $5 per day more.
You might double your daily car rental rate before you know it if you're not careful and unless you don't have any travel insurance, you probably don't even need the added insurance offered by the car rental services. Don't tack on any extras to your rental agreement unless you have to.
Get References
If you can, try to get an idea of how the car rental service you're thinking of using treats their customers. Ask friends and family and check online reviews. After all, the wrong car rental service can make your vacation a living nightmare.
Comments
It is true regarding cash matters and credit cards that if you don't have one, you might not be able to make any rentals if you need one.
Unless you are here in my country where you can rent in any payment matters from credit cards to cash.
If you happen to visit Cebu /Philippines, just look for the best car rental service in our Cebu Trip company.
Posted by: sam casuncad | August 18, 2007 8:47 PM