Do you have the opportunity to explore different countries? If you do this is exciting. The one thing that you have to consider after you’ve already booked your flight and your accommodation is how you plan to get around. Hiring a car is a great option. It may not be straightforward in one country compared to another, so you need to make sure that you know what your vehicle options are and research rental companies, compare the prices and consider things like insurance and road conditions.
You may not know how to contact car accidents lawyers when you’re in a country if you’ve had an accident, so you need to make sure you do research on this in advance as well. You want to make sure that your trip is going to be one to remember for all the correct reasons, not for damaging ones such as an accident. Below, we’ve put together a handful of car hiring tips that’s going to make life easier for you if you’re traveling overseas.
- Shop around. It’s always a good idea to try and pre book your car hire or shop around on price comparison. You can use them for flights, hotels, and even currency exchanges, so it always makes sense to hire in advance as well. There are plenty of options that you can use online and websites that will help to compare prices as well as locations of pickup. This way you can be prepared and know where to go when you land in your chosen destination.
- Always read the fine print. After you’ve done your price comparisons, it’s so important that you check all of the fine print. Car hire companies are known for hidden extras, and sometimes what looks like the best and cheapest option may not be once you’ve taken into account any charges that could pop up at the end. It’s a good idea that when you are researching and calling ahead, you should look out for excess charges, insurance details, premium, location fees and even a fuel policy.
- Bring the right documents with you. If you don’t have a driving license, then you won’t be able to hire a car. In some places you have to be a certain age before you can hire a car, or you have to have a certain level of driving experience before they’ll allow you to hire. It’s always a smart idea to have your driving license with you wherever you go, but take the right documents for insurance. Not every car hire company will ask for a refundable deposit, but almost all of them will. They will withhold a certain level of money from your account until the car is returned in a safe condition.
- Inspect the hire car before you get in it. You don’t need to go through the whole car with a fine toothed comb, but you do need to think about having a once over of the car and be sure to note down or photograph any damage or scratches you may see. Hire cars are not perfect and they will have been driven before. The last thing that you want is to be blamed for an accident even when you haven’t been at fault for anything. You also don’t want to be blamed for scratching it!
Image: Unsplash, Sven D
