It's easy to rent a car for your trip through the internet. I use two websites to compare prices:
RentalCars – offers support for many languages, to suit customers worldwide.
Economy Car Rentals – they partner with small rental companies, offering the lowest rates in the industry, and convenient delivery hours.
In order for you to enjoy the best rates the site has to offer I’ve written a post that explains in detail how to book a car through Economy Car Rentals.
Why do I prefer these two?
• Low rates. I save 20%-30% compared to other sites.
• An option to cancel or modify an order for no charge, up to 48 hours before the date of pickup (most sites only offer 48 hours after making an order to cancel or modify it)
• Accessible and user friendly
Advice from my experience:
Booking early usually saves money. The price goes up the closer you get to the rent day.
Keep the voucher, rental agreement and order confirmation for at least a month after returning the car.
What’s needed for driving overseas?
International drivers license – Most countries require an international drivers license.
Safety boosters – A family traveling with 2 or 3 children that require safety seats might double the rent rate.
There’s a better solution – purchase inflatable boosters before the trip, here on Ebay.
These boosters are suitable for children over 3 years old, depending on weight, just as in your own car.
For toddlers that don’t sit on boosters yet, you’ll have to either bring a safety seat from home or rent one for the trip.
A travel system stroller is the perfect solution for a baby – for the car and for walking excursions.
GPS and navigation apps for the car – I think that renting GPS is expensive and unnecessary as there are great mobile navigation apps. It is best to install them before going away so you so you can see which one works best for you.
Find here the navigation apps I use.
To make navigation easier I use a simple smartphone mount that attaches to the car’s air vents. I’ve bought it here on eBay for only 3$.
In my traveling backpack I keep a driving set that includes a smartphone charger, car mount and my international drivers license.
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 are entitled to it as part of their social security. For this reason in US you’ll find two rental options: one that includes basic insurance and one that doesn’t.
It is possible to expand the insurance to ‘excess’ coverage and additional drivers.
Where should you buy ‘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.
Keep in mind that when booking a car online the website will offer the same excess insurance. I recommend you don’t purchase the insurance there, because in case of damages you’ll have to pay the rental company for the damage, collect receipts and sue the money back from the websitesite which sold you the insurance, many times located across the ocean.
Find here the explanation how to book a car without ‘excess’ insurance.
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, but 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.
Across the border rentals
In the rental Terms & Price Details you’ll find information about international rentals.
I suggest that after receiving the voucher, you contact the rental company and notify them about your intention to cross the border. You 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.
Consider 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.
Enjoy the ride! 🙂
