Renting a car on vacation can be a little stressful. Usually it is quite costly, it’s a little nerve-wracking driving in a new place (or in my case, being a back-seat driver to my husband who is driving in a new place), and there’s usually pressure about upgrading and insurance.
I am by no means a car rental expert, but wanted to share a few tips I’ve learned from recent and past experiences renting a car on vacation. This is not an exhaustive list of things to consider, but these are the top things I think about before renting a vehicle.
1. Every time we’ve rented a car, we’ve been given a free upgrade by at least two classes. This is not always a guarantee – and I don’t recommend booking a lower class rental in the hopes that you get upgraded. But here is my experience:
– We were upgraded in Las Vegas, because they didn’t have what we reserved.
– We were upgraded in Hawaii, because we experienced numerous issues with three different cars.
– We were upgraded in Los Angeles, because they had a shortage of compact cars.
2. Buy insurance from the rental company. I purchased third party insurance offered through Expedia (provided by another company). When we arrived to pick up our car, we learned that if anything happened to the car, we would have to pay Alamo and then work with the insurance company to settle up. We obviously didn’t plan on being in any accidents, but as two very risk-adverse people we ended up buying collision insurance through Alamo. This meant that if anyone hit us, or there was damage to the car it wouldn’t be a hassle on our vacation.
3. Make sure you document any damage on your car before leaving the lot. Most of the vehicles are freshly washed and still have water on them, which makes spotting scratches, dings, and dents more difficult. We also took a video around the car and photos of any damage before leaving the lot. Yes, we sound paranoid. But we’re also prepared.
4. Before selecting your vehicle, check the mileage. Some of the cars have thousands of miles/kilometers on them, and some of them are brand new. I’m not saying you will have more or less problems with a well-used car, but it is something to think about.
5. Bring your own GPS. You can rent devices from the car rental place or use a map app on your phone (if you have a data plan), but we prefer to bring our own GPS. This way we can pre-populate addresses and destinations into the device so when you get in your car you can start enjoying your vacation right away.
Do you have any car rental tips? Share them in the comment section below!
