Asking car rental company the right questions can save you some money. It will also assure you get the most comfortable and convenient rental vehicle for your needs.
For example, if you let the rental company know you are only 2 people but you plan to carry a lot of luggage. They would recommend you renting a sedan over a hatchback. You might pay a little more but you will not face a trouble of trying to fit your surf board into the rental Toyota Corolla Hatch.
Unfortunately, people are still doing the same mistake. Even worse, then they shift the blame on the rental companies.
The most common mistakes:
- Hiring the cheapest vehicle thinking any non-utility vehicle can fit up to 4 people comfortably. Wrong assumption. Compact vehicles normally can accomodate up to 5 “average” people. What is the average you would ask? Exactly! If you are tall, or a little overweight, or you need to fit a child seat besides accomodating the adults, please let the car rental staff member know about.
- Hiring a 4WD when you plan to go camping. Most probably it will be the best option, but somewhat inaccurate assumption that any 4WD can go through the unsealed road conditions. And it is not only the vehicle, it is also the insurance options you have to be aware of. Letting the rental company know you are going off-road is a must.
- Hiring a medium to large size sedan just because you have a lot of luggage. This is a tricky one. You can have 1 piece of oversized bag that might not fit in anything but SUV. Or you can have 5 or 6 small bags that any compact size hatch like Hyundai Getz would fit.
- Hiring a ute or a van when moving the house. This is the most common mistake. If you only expect to deliver your old TV, a few chairs and clothes to your new home, you might even want to look into the options of renting a 7- or 8- seater where you could put the seats down and fit all your belongings. Moving the same things in the ute can be difficult and potentially dangerous, as you would have to make sure you secure your luggage in boxes, cover with moving blankets and tire up with the stripes.
Please remember, especially during the peak season, Low Cost Car Rentals gets at least 50 emails and over 200 phone calls every day. Our staff is trying their best to ask you all the important questions. Nevertheless, it is your responsibility to make the final call on which car to rent.
What is the right knowledge the car hire company needs in order to provide you the best car for rent? Think before enquiring, may be they are some circumstances about your trip you need to let the car rental company know. Here is the short list of things that you might let your car rental company know before booking the car for hire.
Things to let car rental company know:
- Number of people who travel.
- How far are you travelling.
- What are the road conditions on the way (to be sure when are where you are covered by the insurance).
- Your Driver Licence conditions and Country of Issue.
- Whether you are familiar with the area in case you need to rent a GPS.
- What are the age of the youngest and the eldest traveller (children might need the baby seats to be fit for them, elder people might need side steps to be able to comfortably get in and out of the hire vehicle).
- How much of luggage you expect to carry at most. Please note on any oversized, irregularly shaped or fragile items.
Please do the home work to make sure the list is complete. Once you got a quote, please make sure you search the car on Internet and read its specifications.
There is always that one traveller who is unique and here at Low Cost Car Rentals we are happy to assist.
