Although renting a car nowadays is more comfortable and less expensive than in the past, we still see that many travellers make several mistakes, generally due to naivety or inexperience. Whether you arrive in by train or plane or you need to reach regions close to a city, it happens more and more frequently that you need a car rental, especially now that prices have become more competitive. Even in some agencies, it is possible to rent a car without a credit card.
In this post, we try to summarize a series of useful tips for renting a car all over the world, starting with the most common mistakes that should be avoided. Then we also outline a series of useful observations on problems to be considered and conditions to be carefully checked in rental contracts. It’s boring, but important reading.
1) It is often believed that renting from a broker or an online offers aggregator can allow you to save money. But it is always worthwhile, once the offer and the renter have been identified, to try to contact him directly. It is still better to interact directly with the charterer rather than with an intermediary.
2) Consequently, having to deal directly with the hirer, it is easier to find out if the set price is inclusive of everything or there are supplements that are often fundamental, but some charge later only to be able to go out with a more aggressive price.
3) Always check the deductibles on insurance and evaluate with extreme rationality whether it is convenient to avoid integrating or saving on ancillary guarantees and insurance
4) Always inquire about the deposits and how they are returned.
5) Always arrive 30 minutes early or set a pickup time that takes into account that you must have plenty of time to check the car. Taking pictures of the car is a practice that we recommend to everyone!
6) Check that the car always has the warning triangle, spare wheel, and tools useful for its assembly as well as the vehicle documents.
Basic advice
We start with some concepts that should be obvious, but on which we see there is still confusion and generate a lot of negative reviews: (if you are an average expert go straight to the next paragraph)
A credit card is required to rent a car
Debit or prepaid card is not enough, and therefore Postepay is not good. And forget about renting a car for cash. Furthermore, usually, the cardholder must also be the holder of the rental agreement.
Few renters accept prepaid cards, and many bad experiences arise from not having a credit card. In particular, even if you can pay for the rental with a prepaid card, then when you collect the car you will need a credit card with embossed name and numbers.
The low-cost rental companies are the ones that give the most problems
Cars are much older than more expensive rentals, so they have a lot more miles, so they break down more easily, wasting your time (precious on your vacation) and money. They also save on staff: they have fewer employees, so the wait for pickup is longer, and they pay little, so they attract the least qualified, and overall service is poorer.
Also, you should understand for yourself that if a company rents you a car for $5 a day, then they will have to earn in other ways: in the best cases, they will try to sell you expensive insurance packages persistently, in the worst cases you may find yourself charged extra costs. Nobody gives anything away.
If you don’t understand what the rental agreement says (or don’t understand how car rental works in general), it’s your fault. And you can’t delegate understanding to others: we make a lot of useful advice available for free, we explain a lot of things, but in the end, the ultimate responsibility is always and only with the customer.
Most of the negative reviews on car rental found in forums or on TripAdvisor are from people who have not understood how car rental works and have not understood the rental agreement and conditions (in particular the ancillary policies of third parties, see following paragraphs), and then they go to vent their frustrations on the internet by complaining that they have been scammed.
A corollary of the previous point: do not blindly trust the negative reviews you find on the internet. User reviews are a very useful source of valuable information but must be read with care and discernment.
NB: We also read some articles in national newspapers written by experts who shot her really big, so be careful not to take at face value what you find in the newspapers.
Another corollary: the worse you speak foreign languages, the more problems you will have abroad. And it’s always your fault alone.
In particular: the rental cost will be inversely proportional to your command of the foreign language since the less you know how to juggle abroad, the more important it is to have complete coverage directly from the company that hires you the car (while if you are more practical you could contact to additional third-party policies, see the following paragraphs).
These first points cover most of the problems that travellers usually complain about on the internet. In this regard: We realize that my insistence on writing “it’s your fault” may seem obnoxious, but we felt the need to specify the obvious after reading so many reviews in which inexperienced travellers blame their mistakes on the alleged dishonesty of brokerage companies (which we recommend) when they are the ones who do not understand how the system works.
Obviously, there are also many operators in the sector who cause trouble and inconvenience to travellers with their lack of professionalism, even in certain cases to charge excessive or undue sums. These are unavoidable problems when travelling. This can be minimized by choosing the best rental companies and the most reliable sites through which to book.
SC Vehicle Hire was born from an idea of experts in the sector with many years of experience in the car field, and in particular in the Rental sector.
SC Vehicle Hire’s goal is to make car rental affordable for everyone by offering an easy, clear, convenient, and transparent service. We want your rental to be carefree.
Leaving you only the pleasure of driving a car-free from the bonds of ownership, taxes, and maintenance, so every day we try to guarantee innovative vehicles at advantageous prices.
SC Vehicle Hire is a young and constantly evolving company, offering flexible solutions in response to the needs of a diverse and varied clientele. SC Vehicle Hire assists the customer in all phases of the rental, and our operators make their experience available by offering a professional and friendly service.
Because we know how important it is to have a car that is always effective and how tiring and onerous it is to manage it.
This is why we offer you a complete and personalized service so you can finally focus on what really matters.