| Car Rental-you know where you start, but you don’t know how it ends. | | Posted Wednesday, January 25, 2006 5:06:20 PM by Alex Molin | 
Renting a car is a very confusing process. You know where you start, but you don’t know how it ends.
Actually it is really not that complicated if you dig all the information in advance and arrive to the rental company after you are prepared.
With today’s online renting options this procedure seems so easy – just sign and drive.... Are you sure that’s really all?
To better understand the industry terms and how fees are calculated, and to make sure your renting costs don't become a huge expense, read the following tips
Choosing the right car
- If you don’t know in advance what size of car you really want and need, or how much you are willing to spend, you might find yourself making a decision that you may regret later.
- Make sure you know the vehicle classification in the company you are going to rent from. Companies relate differently to the terms: "compact," "mid-size," and "luxury". Even different branches of the same company, located in different countries, sometimes vary in their classification descriptions.
 Choosing the right company
- Before you choose the one company you are going to rent from, compare prices, or at lease get price estimation.
- If you are traveling you can check rates through your travel agent.
- If your plans are flexible, you may be able to save money by renting a car when price breaks are available. How ever, special offers usually come with some restrictions – make sure to read the fine print.
- Even if you have a confirmed reservation, you may be disqualified from renting a car for moving violations within the last few years. Before you rent the car, find out whether your driving record will be checked and what violations can disqualify you from renting a car in that specific company.
Extra charges
- Always find out if there are additional charges and fees you should be aware of, before you sign your rental agreement. This will help avoiding disputes when the time comes to pay your bill.
- Never assume the quoted price is a final price, this is just the basic rate, and there are always a few charges and fees hiding from you. Some companies give you the bad news right away while others just state in their final page "rates provided do not include sales tax or additional charges."
- What charges should you expect? a deposit or refundable charge, airport surcharges and drop-off fees, fuel charges, mileage fees, taxes, additional-driver fees, underage-driver fees, out-of-state charges, and equipment-rental fees (for items such as ski racks and car seats).
- Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) – some states allow the company to offer you a so called “collision damage” coverage. The charge is $9 to $13 a day. This is not insurance but just a "guarantee" that the rental company will pay for damages to your rented car.
- By declining the waiver, you accept responsibility for any damages. Some CDWs exclude coverage under certain circumstances. For example, coverage may be revoked if you damage the car when driving it in a negligent manner, on unpaved roads, or out of the state in which you rented the vehicle.
- If you already have insurance – the coverage offered by rental car companies may be duplicated. Make sure you really need the coverage they offer.
- If you're traveling on business, your employer may have insurance that covers you.
- Some credit card companies and motor clubs provide members with free rental protection when you use their cards to pay for rentals.
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| | | Be careful with Europe car insurance | | Posted Sunday, January 14, 2007 2:50:43 PM by Blog57 Team | | If you plan to rent a car in Europe, you have to be more careful than ever about avoiding exorbitant insurance costs. That means renting with a credit card that provides no-cost collision coverage. And--on some rentals--it means paying with AmEx or Visa, not MasterCard. Unless you've checked lately, you're in for sticker shock about insurance costs. Not only are collision-damage waiver (CDW) costs higher than they are in the U.S., but also you're apt to be hit with two different kinds of CDW. Regular CDW, which used to provide full coverage, now generally has a deductible of $500 to $2,500. To get full coverage, you have to add "super" coverage. And that adds up to a super expense: On a recent check for a compact rental in Frankfurt, for example, I found that the regular CDW was $34 a day and "super" added an additional $22, for a total of $56.... | |
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| | | Alleged fine-dodgers appear in court | | Posted Monday, November 27, 2006 12:50:12 PM by Blog57 Team | | A CAR rental business owner charged over an alleged fine dodging scam is expected to face more offences, a Sydney court was told today. Charlie Touma, 31, of Drummoyne, was one of 18 people listed to face Downing Centre Local Court today after allegedly submitting false statutory declarations to avoid paying traffic fines. The group is among at least 76 people charged after an audit of more than 700,000 statutory declarations over the past three years was conducted by the State Debt Recovery Office. The audit was instigated after it was revealed former Federal Court justice Marcus Einfeld allegedly blamed a $77 speeding fine on a visiting US academic who had died three years earlier. Officers are still considering whether charges should be laid against Mr Einfeld.... | |
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| | | Franchisee Acquisition Program Going Strong at Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group; Company Acquires Thrifty Car Rental | | Posted Sunday, November 12, 2006 6:51:57 AM by Blog57 Team | | TULSA, Okla., Nov. 6, 2006 -- Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. today announced the acquisition of the Thrifty Car Rental franchise operations in San Antonio, Texas. The acquisition adds 550 vehicles to the Company's corporate fleet and includes the in-terminal location serving San Antonio International Airport as well as a local market store. The franchise was sold by Clearwater Transportation, Ltd., owned by Monty Merrill. Terms of the deal, effective November 6, were not disclosed. Merrill, a franchisee since 2001, will continue to own and operate the Dollar Rent A Car and Thrifty Car Rental franchises in Austin, Texas. Each brand operates in-terminal at Austin International Airport. Additionally, he retains the in-terminal Thrifty Car Rental location at Killeen-Fort Hood Regional Airport.... | |
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| | | Big 3 cuts bring higher rental prices | | Posted Tuesday, November 07, 2006 2:50:20 PM by Blog57 Team | | As the nation's Big Three automakers remake themselves into smaller, leaner companies, the rental car business is suffering collateral damage. All three have cut production this year to bring supply in line with lower demand for their products, and further cuts are inevitable next year. They're also trying to wean themselves of rebates and other incentives to bring sales prices closer to the sticker. .... | |
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| | | Car sales slowdown hits Ford, Chrysler | | Posted Thursday, November 02, 2006 10:52:00 PM by Blog57 Team | | Sales of new vehicles from dealer showrooms have been worse for Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG than the companies' already-weak figures from July to September suggest -- largely because sales to rental car companies, businesses and governments camouflage how slowly their vehicles really are selling to consumers. The soft sales show up in quarterly estimates of U.S. retail-only market share prepared for the Free Press by the Power Information Network, a subsidiary of consumer research firm J.D. Power and Associates. Toyota Motor Corp. was strongly in second place at 17.8% of retail share, 4.2 percentage points behind General Motors Corp.'s steady 22%, but easily ahead of Ford's 16.1%. The retail numbers -- those vehicles sold to consumers -- are in contrast to total monthly sales reported by automakers, which include fleet sales.... | |
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| | | Germany's Sixt eyes 10 pct of India's car rentals | | Posted Sunday, October 29, 2006 2:50:55 AM by Blog57 Team | | NEW DELHI, Oct 26 (Reuters) - German car rental firm Sixt hopes to win at least 10 percent of India's car rental and leasing market by 2011, an official said on Thursday. "We are transferring the know-how of this business (to the Indian partner). In return there are certain royalties and fees on a percentage of turnover," Sixt's vice president, Rudiger Proske, said as the firm marked its formal arrival in India. "Over the next five years we see at least 10 percent market share in car rentals business and car leasing business each." India's Sona Group, which is heading Sixt's foray into India, has been running a rental service through Sona Mobility Services Ltd. for the past 9 months and clients include top mobile services provider Bharti Airtel Ltd., Microsoft, Nestle and Dell.... | |
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| | | Europcar aims for 20% market share | | Posted Tuesday, October 24, 2006 2:48:23 PM by Blog57 Team | | The European rental provider Europcar is seeking a 20% share in Thailand's car-rental market within three years and aims to overtake the Asian market leader Hertz by the end of 2007, according to Doug Hunt, the executive director of Europcar Asia Pacific. "We've experienced amazing growth in Asia, despite the fact that we are the newcomer, so we tend to expand aggressively," he said in Bangkok yesterday. The company has spent around US$5 million for its Asia-Pacific expansion, with another $2 million to be invested over the next few months, mainly for its online reservation system. He said Europcar saw its online system was superior to those of its global competitors in delivering customer satisfaction. The company is expanding its rental stations across the globe by providing its local partners with master franchise rights.... | |
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| | | CPA cites 'inconsistencies' in lease agreements | | Posted Tuesday, October 24, 2006 12:48:42 PM by Blog57 Team | | The Commonwealth Ports Authority now wants to impose uniform requirements for all its tenants following findings of "inconsistencies" in their lease agreements.For instance, some tenants are not required to secure bonds, leaving the CPA no options in collecting funds but through a lawsuit."Some tenants are not required to have bonding. Those with bonding, we're able to recover costs, while some who don't have anything, we have to take them to court," said CPA executive director Clyde Norita.Pursuing legal actions cost the CPA more money.He said other requirements would cover compliance with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations."We want to create a uniform lease agreement that will set the standards like bonding requirements, compliance with EPA. The issue with the tenants is that some [leases] are not the same as other leases.... | |
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| | | Amadeus develops Amadeus e-Direct Connect for Cars | | Posted Thursday, October 19, 2006 10:48:20 PM by Blog57 Team | | Amadeus has developed "Amadeus e-Direct Connect for Cars" that gives corporate travellers the option to book Hertz and Sixt via a direct link from Amadeus e-Travel Management with the desired car rental company. Using Amadeus technology, car rental direct links are fully integrated with travel management companies' computer systems, according to the company. "Through direct connectivity with our inventory of rates, Hertz seeks to satisfy the needs of the corporate customer wanting to book directly with us, whilst ensuring travel management companies retain full visibility on bookings made by their customers through the direct link," said Bill Jones, division vice president, marketing and sales, Hertz Europe. Corporations signing up to "Amadeus e-Direct Connect for cars" will benefit from the following features: Retained access to the full range of content and pricing; Integrated shopping basket experience including direct car reservations along with flight, hotel and rail service; Seamless connectivity to the inventory and rates of the content provider of their choice; Access to airport and non-airport car office locations; Direct invoicing via unique billing reference number.... | |
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| | | GPS updates, office suites and music rental packages | | Posted Sunday, October 15, 2006 10:49:50 AM by Blog57 Team | | Letters fill the space this week as readers have some thoughts and comments about recent columns. Q: Your column about the TomTom One was pretty enthusiastic. I am in the market for a GPS for my car. How are map updates handled when new roads are added and things like that? Or are you stuck with what comes with the unit? A: You periodically connect the TomTom One to your computer and download map updates to the memory card in the unit. Already I have seen some roads so new that my TomTom doesn't have them (just completed Interstate spurs for example). But updates are released relatively regularly. Still, after a month with my $499 TomTom One I could not be more pleased. Q: Your column saying that office suites were heading in different directions didn't make that much sense to me.... | |
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