Last summer, my children wanted to go for a trip. Honestly speaking, I was not really ready for it since I had to spend a huge amount on renovating a house. However, I could not turn my back on little ones wish. I had to arrange for a short trip, but did not want to spend a lot either. Thanks to my wife who really took a lot of initiative in organizing the trip within the tight budget. She consulted many tourist agents and went through many travel magazines in order to find out a list of hotels on fewer tariffs. Much to my surprise, she also save considerable dollar on car rentals to arrange a successful, yet low budget trip.
When I asked Shelly (my wife, in case you wonder) that how she managed to do all these without spending big bucks, she replied that she came across some fascinating ways to save money on car rentals in some travel magazines. Here I would to share some of those tips that my wife followed. I hope my memory will support me in doing so, and even if it does not, my beloved wife is next to me, helping me sharing our wonderful experience on the trip and how we saved money on hotel tariffs and car rentals.
Tip 1# Shopped around – My wife shopped around a lot for finding a cheap car rental. She visited many travel sites and individual rental sites to collect the prices and estimates offered. She compared the estimates and evaluated them to determine the best deal. Apart from this, she been tricky and hired the services of a car rental located a little off-side rather than near the airport. Yes! Even I was as surprised as you are when I came to know that off-site car rentals are relatively cheaper than the ones from the airport.
Tip 2# Hired from a smaller operator – My wife really proved to be smart when hiring the services of a car rental. She hired a car rental from a small independent company rather than from a large, branded one. In fact, later on, she enlightened me with the fact that hiring a car from a well-known, large car rental incurs more cost than renting one from a smaller operator.
Tips 3# Let go of X-factor – Shelly only took the needs into consideration rather than the luxury or so called the ‘X-factor.’ She chose a small, compact car fit for our family rather than a luxurious car. Of course, this helped us save considerable cash. For instance, if you visit to Brampton and consider renting a car in brampton you might feel a severe pocket pinch. Hence, rent a simple car, considering your needs and budget.
Tip 4# Searched for virtual discounts – Shelly searched for discounts and coupons on websites that are often offered by travel agents or car rental agents. In fact, she managed to achieve considerable discounts on rental car and therefore, saved good amount on the entire trip. She (smartly) looked for rental car companies that offer discount codes to members of frequent flier programs and other organizations partnered with Costco.
Tip 5# Looked for hidden fees and charges – Shelly went through the contract over and over again in order to find out if there is any hidden fee or charges included. This really helped her avoid any unnecessary cost on car rental. Hence, I would like to advise this to my readers. Get everything in writing and read the contract scrupulously in order to ensure that there are no hidden fees or charges asked for.
The credit entirely goes to my wife for saving significant amount on car rentals. She followed the above mentioned tips and successfully found out a cheap car rental. I (rather Shelly and I) hope these tips will help you as well in getting low priced car rental.
