Having a car overseas is a real treat! You obviously know the perks of having one with on vacation, so let’s get going with renting a car for our next trip. 🙂
After looking through many sites on internet, I eventually found the best one for me, and I use to order cars for there for most my trips. It has good prices and it's easy to use, but for the best value there are two important points to notice…
So click here to go on the homepage, select your destination, dates and let's see how to order a really cheap car.
You'll see a list of available cars when lowest price on top.
Now choose the car that suits you – consider the number of passengers and amount of luggage. See if the car has AC, if it's automatic or manual, and what rating the rental company got.
There are offers that include free bonuses such as a second driver, border crossing card, child seats or winter tires.
Before you go through with the order click on “Terms & Price Details” to see full terms of this deal.
This is where all the details you need to know will be: border crossing and excess in case of damage.
If everything here is acceptable to you, click “Book This Car” button.
You've reached the booking page, seems like all that’s left is filling credit card details and hitting the road, but wait!
Look at this: I picked a $263 car including a free cross border card, so how come the price jumped to $425??
Well… the company automatically added an ‘excess’ insurance at the cost without asking me. This is an excellent insurance, I’ll sure take it for a short time rental, but not on this site!
I’ll tell you why and what’s best later, but in the mean time we’ll cancel this extra insurance by clicking the checkbox and the original price returns.
So here is the original price, but we aren't done yet.
The free cross border car won’t be included unless we manually add it to the order.
(When I started traveling I thought the bonus was automatically added, but when I arrived at the rental desk I found out I had to pay for this “gift”. A little misleading, but I learnt from past mistakes).
Let’s add this free cross border car to our order – so click the “Add Options” button.
Here is a list of options. Select cross border card and click “Search Including Options”.
(If you need a child seat, additional driver or any other extra – this is the place to add them too).
Now let's make sure the final price hasn’t changed after adding the free bonus.
Wonderful, now click “Get This Deal”
Now we really have finished. All that’s left is filling a payment method.
Within a few minutes you'll receive an a confirmation email.
The initial confirmation only acknowledges the order. A voucher will be sent later – you should print it and show it at the rental desk.
Check at the voucher that everything is correct. If you spot a mistake or if you forgot something there’s no need to worry, it’s possible to cancel this order free of charge up to 48 hours before collecting the car, and place a new order.
Car Insurance
In most countries the insurance is included with the rental fee and it covers one driver and damages that exceed personal liability fees.
In the United States it’s possible to rent a car without any basic insurance, because US citizens have it as part of their social security. For this reason, in US you’ll find two rental options: one that includes basic insurance and the other that doesn’t.
It is possible to expand the basic insurance to ‘excess’ coverage that cancels any liability fees.
Where should you buy the ‘excess’ insurance?
When I receive the voucher with the rental car company’s details I contact them and find out how much they charge for this type of insurance and compare it with my insurance company. If the difference is insignificant, I’ll prefer to get the insurance at the rental desk. But if there’s a big difference, or if they don’t offer full coverage, I’ll turn to my insurance company.
Why purchase an ‘excess’ insurance in the first place?
I prefer traveling without having to worry about paying for a scratched car.
For short term rentals purchasing an ‘excess’ insurance is worthwhile, although for long term rentals its cost may reach the same amount as that of personal liability costs.
The insurance you buy usually applies for a single country.
For the Across the Border Rentals – contact the rental company after receiving the voucher and notify them about your intention to cross the border. They may need to arrange documents for border control.
Confirm with the rental company the international insurance costs, and make sure it includes 24/7 road assistance in all the countries you intend to visit.
Take into account that if you’re planning a cross-border trip with a rented car it will either be impossible or very expensive to return it in a different country.
My tips for driving overseas
1. Most countries require an international drivers license – so get them in advance.
2. Safety seat/booster – if you travel with kids and need to hire safety seats, be prepared to double the rental fee…. So I suggest you purchase inflatable booster instead. These booster are suitable for children from 3 years old, depending on their weight, just as in your own car.
You can find them here on eBay.
A travel system stroller is the perfect solution for a baby for both – the car and for walking trips.
(For toddlers that don’t sit on boosters yet, you’ll have to either bring a safety seat from home or rent one).
3. GPS and navigation – there are great free apps, find and install them before going away.
Here you’ll find the navigation apps I use overseas.
To make navigation convenient, I use a simple car air vent holder.
I got it here on eBay for $3.
In my traveling backpack I keep a driving set that includes a smartphone charger, the holder, and my international driving license.
Bon Voyage! 🙂
