It’s fall! My favorite time of the year….reason being is because the air is crisp and the leaves change colors (I love it). It’s the perfect “not too hot yet not too cold” weather. And, you know what…fall is the perfect time for road trips!
Last year, Eileen and I took went on a couple of road trips in the tri-state area. Taking the plane didn’t make sense, we didn’t want to take the bus or train neither did we want to put a lot of wear and tear on our cars. So, what’s the next best thing to do….rent a car, right? Now hold on! Before you grab the keys and run out the door, take heed and listen up! Travelling savvy means not only learning from your mistakes but other people mistakes. Boy, do I have a story for you….
First time around, we rented a car as part of our vacation package. It’s an effective way of doing it but you don’t know what type of car you are going to get. Also, when you pick up your car, the sales rep is going to upsell you….remember, it’s their job 
However, if don’t need a bigger car then save your money. We didn’t upgrade because it was just the two of us and we had plenty of room. When we were told to walk to “parking space” 109, we were excited to see a Mustang. Oh yeah! Then we got a little closer, we realized the mustang was just hovering over our little Chevrolet Aveo. It was all good…the Aveo gave us plenty of room, got us to where we needed to go and was great on gas. And, we nicknamed her “nail polish.”
Next road trip, we found a car rental weekend special for $9.99 a day. Well, it sounded great and definitely fit the budget. However when I picked up the car, some important details weren’t mentioned to me during the reservation call such as $450 security deposit, debit card use policies and per pay service fuel options. A special car rental deal turned sour and we ended up using my mom’s car. It wasn’t the worst thing in the world but it almost put a dent in our plans. And, it didn’t feel good scrambling around trying to make last minute plans.
Round 3, we got a little wiser. We rented our car with ease. We got the weekend special, the car we wanted, no extra fees and unlimited mileage. How did we get all of that? We asked questions and found out a little trick….most car rentals will give deals and work with you towards the end of the week. Why? Because it’s better to rent the car at a special deal than to have car sitting in the parking lot.
So here the moral of the story, if you want, then rent a car as part of your vacation package. It’ll definitely save you some money. If not, then make sure you ask questions about hidden fees or policies when making a reservation to avoid surprises. And, you should watch out for weekend rates (they can be cheaper than weekly rates).
I know shopping around for car rental can be time consuming. So, here’s a list of great places you can look for car rental savings…..
And to add to the list of car rental tips, if you can, then use credit cards spending bonuses on car rentals, redeem points for car rental certificate and don’t over-insure yourself.
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