Renting a car while on vacation can get a little pricey. Most people will just pay whatever the final total is because they tell you they are giving you the best deal, when in reality that isn’t the case at all. Car rental companies can tack on loads of fees that you may not even notice. You can’t always get out of paying these fees entirely, but with some planning ahead of time and research on what car rental company you use, you can lower the overall cost of the booking or even eliminate some of those pesky hidden fees. Here are some of the fees and how to avoid them.
Young Driver Fee
Most car rental companies will charge you a young driver fee if you are under the age of 25. Personal car insurance companies charge extra for new drivers and so will the rental company for a little added protection on their end. A way around this is to have someone in your travel group that’s over 25 make the booking. Then either have them drive for the duration of the trip or if you really have your heart set on being behind the wheel, after the booking has been paid for you can add alternate drivers to the booking. You will still have to upload your driver’s license so they will know your age, but if they decide to add a young driver fee to your bill it will be less because you are not the primary driver if they even add the fee at all.
Delivery and Airport Fee
Of course you can bundle your flights with car rentals when you make the initial booking, but sometimes it cheaper to use the peer to peer rental hosts like Turo or Getaround rather than commercial car rental companies. The downside of using rentals like Turo is that they can charge car delivery fees and airport fees. Basically the host can charge whatever price they want to get the car to you if it is inconvenient for them. If you want them to bring the car to the airport that can be another additional fee. A way to soften or eliminate that fee is to read the description of where they typically like to meet up for the car exchange. You can use a normal ride sharing option to get to that location and avoid an airport or delivery fee.
Mileage
Be sure to pay attention to the allotted free mileage that the rental comes with. Do some pre planning, if your trip is going to require a lot of driving around be sure to check the price charged per mile and if that is in your budget. A lot of car rental companies will offer up to 1000 miles free to drive, so if you stay within that limit you avoid the additional mileage fee.
Renting a car can be tricky, but don’t let it ruin your vacation. Keep in mind too that the further in advance you book the rental, the more of a discount you will get. Do your research ahead of time so while you’re on your trip you can just relax knowing you scored the best bang for your buck. Happy travels!