Rental Cars: What you need to know about rental cars

Read these tips before getting a ride to your local rental car provider

When you’re not keen on taking the cab to work or using public transportation for your errands – at a time when your car’s being tinkered on in the garage for repairs, going to your local car rental company might simply be the thing for you.  Rental cars, when used for a limited time affords you with almost all the benefits you experience from driving your own car, sans ownership of course. While it’s highly convenient to rent a car in times when you can’t use your car, it’s important to keep a close eye on the particulars anyone needs to know about renting a car. Indeed, there are benefits to renting a car, but there certainly are a few notable catches as well.

1. Your age matters

Rental cars are not made available to everyone with a drivers license.  Rental car companies are certainly aware of the numerous risks involved in their business – they know the circumstances that make car rental deals risky for certain people and situations. Be that as it may, you have to understand that part of what makes rental car charges more expensive – and that’s because of extra charges, by the way, is the age of the registered driver.

Younger drivers – those that hover just above the minimum legal age for driving, are deemed riskier for handling rental cars. Any self-respecting car rental company wouldn’t go to great lengths to explain that, if not for the simple reason that drivers under 25 years old are relatively inexperienced on the road, and are thus more prone to road-related accidents.

Thus, you have to understand that if you’re 25 years old and below, you’re deemed to be more of a liability than those way above that age range. Consider limiting the ages of the people you’re planning to register as drivers with the rental car company – chances are, you’ll end up paying more than what’s needed, especially if those young drivers registered aren’t going to drive as much.

2. Your credit card may have rental car insurance

In several cases, rental cars are offered to consumers with an extra fee for rental car insurance.  Rental car companies would charge you an additional fee for insurance in case your rental car incurs damages. However, such over-the-counter offerings are typically expensive – at around $25 –  $30 per day, you know you’d rather not spend on something that much, especially if you’re the type who plays safe on the road.

But as accidents are as unpredictable as they can get, you know that you have to get the right kind of financial protection that wouldn’t risk burning an unnecessary hole in your pocket. That’s when your credit card comes in handy – chances are, it provides you with rental insurance once you use it to pay for rental cars.

What makes rental insurance offered by credit cards all the more convenient is the fact that auto insurance policies typically don’t extend protection to rental cars. But of course, make it a point to check if your credit card company does offer rental insurance for your credit card, as well as the kinds of damages covered so that you’ll know if you’ll have to cover out-of-pocket expenses.

3. You may be getting too many extras

Third, and certainly not the least, you have to pay close attention to the kind of extras you may be getting from your car rental company. Indeed, not all car rental deals are as cost-efficient as you may think, and that aspect has a lot to do with the kind of extras your car rental company offers you.

Extra payments are one thing – you simply can’t avoid them lest you plan carefully. When coming from an airport, see if you can spend less by opting to rent from the downtown area than from the terminal (which is usually more expensive). Also, make sure how much your car rental company charges you if you return your rental car without filling it up to full tank.

You can also earn valuable savings if you choose to bring extra amenities that are otherwise available from your car rental company for additional fees. If, for example, bringing your own baby seat would be worth waiting for the extra charges your car rental company offers for one, then, by all means, you should go for it.