Traveling to another city or country often demands renting a car. It is so common to get a rental car that people think it is a foolproof process. However, there is plenty of room for mistakes. Unfortunately, these mistakes cost you a lot of money.
By investing a little time, you can avoid these mistakes. Let’s say that you are looking for a compact SUV rental in New Orleans. How should you handle the entire process? To answer this question, we have prepared this guide with the help of travel experts.
Postponing the SUV Rental
One of the most common mistakes is to delay the process considering the rent will remain the same. It is better to do your research as early as possible and lock it. However, make sure that when you rent a car New Orleans, they offer free cancelation.
The SUV car rental prices fluctuate a lot. Make sure that you continue to research prices to get a better deal.
Paying for Useless Insurance
While looking for cheap car rental New Orleans, many people end up paying extra for unnecessary insurance. Most credit card companies offer built-in insurance for their purchases. Hence, before you pay for New Orleans car rental insurance premium, check with your credit card provider.
Advance Payment For Gas
While paying for the standard SUV rental, you may decide to prepay for gas. On the positive side, you don’t need to worry about filling the gas before returning the vehicle. However, is it worth it?
When you prepay for gas, you pay for a full tank. Now, if you return with half a tank, you are losing money. And it is not possible to predict the usage during the trip.
Looking at the gas prices these days, you will be wasting a lot of money if you prepay for gas. It is recommended that you fill the tank yourself while returning to save you valuable money.
Charges For Luxurious Add-ons
While getting an SUV for rent, you may want to get some add-ons such as GPS. But, do you really need them? Smartphones are perfectly capable of giving directions anywhere in the world. However, you must check if the cell service is available wherever you are going.
For a car seat or booster, you pay about 15 dollars per day. If you bring your own seat, you can save a good amount of money.
At New Orleans car rental, agents will offer you many add-ons. However, you shouldn’t get anything useless and increase your expenses.
Ignore To Compare
Many people will search what is compact SUVs or the advantage of compact SUV rental. However, they will completely ignore comparing prices of different agencies. Many websites allow you to compare prices of rental cars New Orleans such as CarRentals.com.
More importantly, you should compare different vehicles. Due to the high demand for a particular vehicle, other options could be cheaper.
Renting Near The Airport
SUV car rentals near an airport are mostly expensive in comparison to companies located a few miles away. Gladly, most companies offer a shuttle service to their office.
If there is no shuttle service, you can compare the cost of Uber or a taxi. Most probably, you will find that it is still wise to pay for a taxi to rent a car from another location.
Getting Toll Packages
In most scenarios, toll packages are expensive for you. Most travel experts recommend bringing your own pass or paying with cash.
First of all, you should avoid taking routes with tolls. However, if you can’t avoid it and there is a cashless toll, go through it and pay the company while returning the vehicle. It is still better than getting an expensive toll package.
Not Examining The Vehicle
Compare the damage slip with the actual condition of the vehicle before you leave the site. From scratches to dents, look out for everything. If anything is not mentioned on the damage slip, report it immediately.
In addition, you should take a picture of the fuel gauge as well. You have to return the vehicle with the same amount of gas in the tank.
Ignoring The Discounts
While paying for rental cars New Orleans, it is common to ignore the discount opportunities. Sometimes you can save a few dollars by using hotel points. Moreover, you can redeem loyalty points from a credit card.
Apart from these, you can look for cashback options or discount coupons as well. Many websites such as CouponFollow.com offer discount coupons for various SUV car rental services.
Conclusion
Firstly, you should always ask yourself if you really need a rental car. People often rent a car in destinations where they don’t need one. So, make sure to check the public transport before renting a car.
If you truly need to rent a car New Orleans, you must avoid the above-mentioned mistakes. Paying attention to these elements will save you a good amount of money that you can divert to other causes.
