How to find cheap car rentals

There are a few parameters while searching that influence the price of your rental. You should adjust them in order to get the best possible price.  

1. If the pickup and drop off of that car are from 2 different locations, it might make the cost more expensive. Some companies will even charge you for extra tax.
2. If you pick up the vehicle from the city and not from the airport, the price could increase. There is also a difference of price between branches, so you’d wanna pay attention to that as well.
3. Different hours may change the cost. For example, if you pick up the car late at night it could cost more if you were to pick it up in the morning.
4. The type of the car and its size.
5. If your rental is manual or automatic. A manual will be a lot cheaper.

Great websites for searching car rentals

I would always go for a website that lets you compare all the prices from all companies. I think it’s the easiest and most effective way to find the cheapest prices without a lot of effort!

PaapmPaapm and Rentalcars are the two websites I use the most. Both of these websites compare from all the different agencies and present the best offer. You could also filter your search results by the type of car, manual or automatic, and more.

After viewing your filtered results I pick the option “price low to high,” and pick the company that has the cheapest option with the best reviews.

Another plus side for renting through those websites is that you could cancel for free up to two days before the trip.

We once had to cancel a month in advance. We were already charged but once we canceled we got the money back in the account a few business days after.

Keep in mind that the websites Rentalcars and PaapmPaapm are only websites that let you compare between the prices, and you make the actual order through the agency.

It’s also recommended to go straight to the company’s website and see if there is a cheaper way while ordering directly through their website.

Insuring Your Vehicle

While ordering your rental car you will also get offered to get an insurance as well. An insurance for your car is a mandatory thing.
Who ever chooses to not insure their car could find themselves in unpleasant situations while returning the car, and paying high fees to the rental agency.

A single scratch would cost 200 euros. Even if it was not your fault! Such thing could cost you a lot of money. Besides, it provides you some peace of mind.
A lot of companies provide insurance that protects from theft, but in order to cancel it you’d have to pay a lot.

If you get your insurance online while getting your car, it will be a lot cheaper than doing it at the actual agency while renting the car. It could even be the same daily cost as it costs to rent the car!

You can get the insurance through another company. I recommend to use icarhireinsurance. They have the cheapest prices, around $4 a day.
If you rent a car for a week or more, insuring the car through the agency rather than online could end up costing you hundreds of dollars.

Before insuring the car through icarhireinsurance, I recommend checking with the agency. If you choose to not get insurance, check the car extra well the minute you get it and report every scratch, otherwise you might be the ones to pay for it!

If you get the insurance through a third party and in a case of any damage, you would have to pay the agency and then send the invoice to the insurance company to get your money back. However, icarinsurance has an agreement with some of the agencies so there is a chance that you won’t have to pay for the damage.

Extras that will make your rental more costly

While renting a car you will be asked several times if you want to add any extras like a GPS for example. Those additions will be costly, and unnecessary in some cases.
Once you have a smartphone and a sim card it will be easy to navigate with Waze or Google Maps!

You can also use Google maps without having wifi connection. Just keep your locations under your favorites tab and you can navigate using your phone’s GPS.

Fill up the tank before returning the car

In most agencies the policy about gas is the same. They give a vehicle with a full tank and you have to return it with a full tank as well. If you do, then you obviously won’t be charged for gas, and it is usually a lot more expensive than at normal gas stations.

So keep in mind that before returning your car you will have to pull over at a gas station. Make sure in advance that there is one near the agency.

More tips for lowering your costs while renting a car

It’s always important to read the fine lines of the rental agency. In some cases they would offer you a cheaper car, but if you read beneath the astrid then you will find that they will charge you more while picking it up from the airport, or dropping it off at a different location, etc… So pay attention because what may seem cheap will actually be more expensive if you won’t read the fine lines.