Before you decide to hire a car abroad ask yourself three questions:
- Do I really need a car? – How often will I be driving? Could I use public transport instead?
- Could I take my own car? – Depending on where you are going, it may be relatively easy to take your own car – i.e. to France
- What kind of car do I need? – The less popular models are naturally cheaper, as are manual drive cars apart from in America where the reverse is true.
If you are going to drive abroad you must have an international driving permit (IDP) which is recognised around the world. It is used in conjunction with a normal UK driving licence to validate drivers but cannot be used instead of a UK licence. It can be obtained from the post office or from certain driving organisations, see the AA website. The card costs around £4 including postage.
Getting the Best Deal
The market for cars is very competitive and if you book early you can get a very reasonable price on the cost of hire. It is the cost of being insured which bumps up the price of the car so adhere to the following steps for how to get the best deal on a hire-car.
- Use a comparison website to shop around and compare the prices of the different hire companies. The best comparison sites are:
It is better to take out the insurance policy separately, so only compare the actual cost of hire at this stage.
- Check the sites which the comparison sites don’t pick up on, which may still be just as competitive:
- Consider booking a package deal, which allows your flights and car hire to be booked all in one – the two main sites offering this are expedia.co.uk and travelocity.com .
- If you have spare loyalty vouchers for Tesco you can use these to get car hire from Avis . Tesco Clubcard vouchers are worth four times their face value when used in conjunction with one of the participating Clubcard organisations.
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Reducing the Cost Further
- Try using foreign websites (i.e. companies based in the country you are going to). Hire companies based in your destination country may have cheaper prices available on their local web addresses.
- Priceline.com is a reverse auction website where you decide how much you are willing to pay for car hire. Software then searches for a company willing to release a car to you at your chosen price. If a car is found your credit-card is billed – so you must be certain before you make a decision. They will issue a suggested price for the hire, but other users have reported success with undercutting the given price by 30%.
- Use a cash-back site and cash-back credit card if you can. Search for vouchers and incentives on hotukdeals.com .
- You may incur a surcharge for being under 25, particularly in America. Transhire.com waives the fee for car hire for under 25’s – compare their prices to alternatives.
- If you don’t need extras such as car seats or satellite navigation, get rid of them. There will often be a supplement for these – increasing the cost of hire to you.
Hints and tips
- If you are paying for your trip with a credit card you will be protected by section 75, if the cost of your hire is over £100
- Prior to driving the car inspect it fully and if you do spot any bumps or dents take a photo so you have protections if the hire company later claims you are liable
- Ensure you know the companies fuel policy. Some companies may ask for you to fill the car with petrol before returning the car.
- Ask for emergency phone numbers so that if anything is to go wrong, you can get assistance
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Arranging the Insurance
Before you pay for insurance you need to decide what insurance protection you wish to have. Some holiday or travel insurance policies will cover certain elements of the following, so make sure you aren’t paying for the same protection twice. These are the different types of insurance policy which you may be offered:
CDW (Collision Damage Waiver): This is the most basic of insurance policies, which offers you reduced liability in the event of an accident – meaning that if an accident is to occur you will not be forced to replace the car.
SCDW (Super Collision Damage Waiver): This is a step up from CDW, and offers complete exclusion for liability if damage is caused to the car. It includes insurance for the car’s tyres, roof and windscreen.
TW (Theft Waiver): This provides insurance against the car gets stolen, meaning you won’t have to pay for the replacement of the car.
PI (Personal Insurance): This form of insurance will protect you if you hurt, injure or kill someone while driving the hire car. It will pay out for any legal fees you may incur (although this is usually covered in your travel insurance )
PEC (Personal Effects Cover): This policy offers you protection if your hire car is stolen, but again this is normally covered by everyday travel insurance.
Check your travel insurance policy for what you are already covered for, and only take out what is missing.
To reduce the cost of large excess charges, but still protect yourself, take out this insurance policy independently, try:
If you travel frequently or are going on an extended holiday, insurance4carhire.com^ offers annual rates, greatly reducing the comparable prices offered by the hire agents. If you do incur a parking ticket while in a hire, or your own, car see pepipoo.com for information on your rights, liabilities and advice from other motorists on how to act.
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