You guys know I love contests…. any time I can get something for my readers I go for it!! So here is one from our friends at National Car Rental. I am giving away a five-day rental from National. Enter by writing a comment to this post about the following: What is your best tip for a business traveler renting a car for the first time? A winner will be chosen by a random drawing on Wednesday, May 18. So easy!!! Only one entry per person.
My own favorite tip? Besides the obvious (make sure you’re in the right car!!), if your employer has a rental company that they require you to use, sign up for the club. Not all of them give you points, but the time saved when you can bypass the counter is a huge bonus. Plus they will often upgrade you for free.
Use a credit card that covers the collision deductible. Check your own/company insurance to see what it covers. Sometimes the cost of the damage waiver is more than the cost of the rental.
This is truely a great rental car outf it . It is kind of sad that there isso much consolidation with the rental car world, but such is life.
Make sure the attendant gives you a signed form stating your car has no damage when returning the car.
Return the car on time. The extra charge for late is crazy!
Consider renting a car for some business travel you might have used your own car for. I recently saved my company and my personal car by renting a car for a short trip. Got better gas mileage than my truck, and got more peaceful highway miles as I enjoyed a nice new CLEAN car!
Realize that from economy class to midsize the price basis of the car is pretty much the same to the rental company, so asking nicely can sometimes net you a free two-car class upgrade. Not that you need a reason to have a smile on your face and treat other people nicely…but it never hurts.
After my recent experience at SFO this past weekend — Whatever you do.. once you enter to return your rental Car, and for some reason you entered a wrong rental agency, DO NOT try to back up your car when there are HUGE signs posted saying “SEVERE DAMAGE TO TIRES IF YOU BACK UP”.. — yeah lesson learned and a good advise to noobies not to do the same as well.!!
If the agency is located outside of the airport, make sure that the shuttles come by frequently.
My suggestion would be make sure to keep the rental contract in the vehicle all the time! And make sure if you don’t want the steep charges of automatic toll payment transponder, then make sure to shut it or ask the rental company to take it off the car.
Find out (1) if there are tollroads that you might be traveling on, (2) what the rental cars policy is on tolls, and (3) your own companies policy on tolls and their reimbursements. National is great in they charge $2/day plus tolls which helps greatly So many cities now have unmanned tollroads.
If you’re not familiar with the area you’re traveling to, make sure you are able to get a GPS in your vehicle.
My advice for a first-timer…sign up with one of the large car rental agencies frequent flyer programs(National, Hertz, Alamo,etc)and stay away from the smaller, regional car rental companies.
Check under the seat, seat pockets, glove box, etc for your belongings before arriving at the airport. You are usually so rushed to return the car and check in for a flight, you can easily forget something.
Best tip would be to try to earn miles on your rental if your company allows it and make sure you check so in order to earn some type of credit if they don’t due the extra fee charge then pick rental credits instead. Try to rent with the company that will offer the best reward for your loyalty!
See if they have a better deal at the counter as most rentals do not carry a cancellation penalty. You might get a “free” upgrade out of this.
Sign up for reward programs
If you’re using your own GPS, (1) Enter in your addresses before you leave home, (2) Power it on your way to the rental lot. Often a GPS will take a while to pick up your current location after you’ve been traveling and many rental car facilities are indoors which makes it nearly impossible to get a signal, (3) On your way out of the lot, add the rental car facility as a new location (use Current Location function) to expedite the return trip
Adjust your mirrors before you back up. If you have to leave your suitcase in the vehicle during a meeting, get a car with a trunk so it thieves are less tempted. Try to get a car with local State license plates.
Others have already mentioned this, but photographing the car before driving it off the lot is essential.