Tips For Renting A Car

Traveling is great, and it's even better when you travel to far-off destinations. If you're like most people, however, you're not going to drive your own car to these destinations. You're probably going to fly or take a train or a bus. Those options are fun and a journey in and of themselves, but they do leave you with one big problem: once you arrive at your destination, you're stuck without a way of getting around. Fortunately, there are services that offer car rentals, and if you play your cards right, your experience with renting a car can go smoothly (and cheaply!).

Avoid Big Chains

There are a lot of car rental services out there, and most of the big names know that they're well known and respected in the car rental industry. As such, they often charge an arm and a leg to rent a vehicle. Fortunately, though, there are a lot of smaller, independent car rental facilities that charge a whole lot less than the big brand name companies.

If you can find these smaller companies, you can typically save big on your rental. Don't just leave things up to chance though. Ask your travel agent for recommendations; these professionals are often aware of the smaller, more affordable options in a given area. Sometimes, they'll even book your rental for you!

Think About Your Luggage

It's always smart to book your rental car well in advance, but there are some risks in doing so. For example, you might end up packing more than expected, and if you do, your items might not fit into the car you've chosen. As such, a good plan of action is to overcompensate in terms of cargo room when you book a car. In other words, choose a car with more room than you think you'll need.

Also keep in mind that, if you're like most people, you'll be bringing extra items, such as souvenirs, back from your vacation and you'll want to have enough room for those items too. Remember, it's always better to have too much room than not enough room, so the roomier you go in terms of cargo space, the better.

Get Picked Up

Finally, make sure you have a solid plan for getting from your "landing" destination--meaning wherever the plane or bus or other transportation drops you off--to the rental car location. If you're going somewhere where it's not easy to get a cab or you don't feel comfortable doing so, know that there are many rental services that will pick you up at your destination free of charge and drive you to the rental car agency. Even if a particular company doesn't offer this service outright, it never hurts to ask; many companies will help you out in a jam, and in the end, those services--the ones that go out of their way to assist you--are the ones you want to rent from.

For more information, contact a company like Elite Shuttle KC.