Tips on Car Rental Reservations

Although you may certainly reserve a car anytime, It's best to make your car rental reservations in advance. You will have more vehicle options available to you and will generally get a better price. Car rental pricing is based on availability. The more vehicles available, the lower the prices will generally be. There are some things as "last minute specials" but they are hard to find; you have to be at the right place at the right time. Advanced bookings allow the car rental companies to manage their fleet and adjust it accordingly.

An advanced booking will hold a vehicle for the location, dates and times that you have selected, at the price you agreed to at the time of booking.

You can make an advanced reservation either online or by calling the company directly.

Most companies advertise that their lowest rate is online and there are also discount travel sites such as Expedia, Travelocity and Priceline through which you can get great rates. If you take advantage of discounts and coupons you can usually match online rates when you call the car rental companies directly.

For phone reservations you can call a location directly (this is often easier with small neighbourhood locations) or call the car rental company's toll free reservation line.

Note: It is often difficult to get through to a location directly. Keep in mind that the counter staff is trained to wait on customers. Their priority is always to the person standing in front of them over the ringing phone. I know how frustrating this is.

When booking a phone reservation, an internet reservation or checking a rate you will be asked certain information. I know there are a lot of questions and things that they need to know. The phone agents are honestly not trying to drive you crazy and the website is not trying to take up your valuable time! Every piece of information that is asked will help give you the best and most accurate rate possible.

Here's what you will need to know if you want to check a rate on a rental car or reserve one.

Where do you want to rent?

Are you flying into a city and need to pick up and return at the airport? Are you taking a rental car on a trip from your hometown? The location that you rent from will determine your price and the availability of vehicles. Prices are set at each individual location.

Airport locations can be more expensive to rent from because of the extra fees. (This fee is usually called a facility fee or airport concession recovery fee.) This is a fee that is charged to the rental car company by the airport. It's like a form of rent that the company must pay to do business at that location. It is charged to you and paid to the airport. These fees are also usually seen at hotel car rental locations.

You may get a cheaper rate by renting at an off-airport location but you should factor in the cost and inconvenience you may incur to get to the other location! Have the phone reservation agent check the prices at several locations.

Note: Sometimes you may want to pick up and return in two different places. This is often known as a one-way rental and may affect the availability of vehicles and the price of your rental.

What are the dates and times of your rental?

For phone reservations and internet reservations, the dates and times are needed in order to check availability of vehicles and pricing. The times are needed in order to calculate the rate. Most car rental companies base you rental on a 24 hour day from the time of pick up. Keep this in mind as it will affect your rate.

Let's say you want to rent at an airport and your flight arrives at Saturday at 11:40am and departs Wednesday at 1pm. If you use those times for your car rental pick up and return the computer will calculate a 5 day rate. It is more likely that you would, say, pick up your vehicle at around noon and return it by noon before you depart. This would give you a more accurate, 4 day rate.

Do you have a discount code, corporate account or frequent renter number?

If you have a discount number from an association or program, or a corporate account with that particular car rental company you would provide that. A phone reservation agent can usually look up the number for you based on the association, program or company name. If you have a frequent enter profile with that car rental company, make sure you provide it.

Note: If you give a coupon, the price given when you are making a phone reservation does not usually reflect the value of the coupon. The agent or internet site will let you know whether the reservation you are looking at will be valid for that particular coupon and if your total includes the coupon you want to use. The value of the coupon itself will be subtracted from your total at the end of the rental itself, assuming that the rental met the terms and conditions of the coupon.

Do you qualify to rent?

If You call to make a car rental reservation you will be asked if you meet the minimum age requirement and credit requirement for that particular company. You will usually also be asked at this point whether there would be other drivers of the vehicle.

If you are making an internet reservation, these types of qualification guidelines will usually be listed as terms and conditions or rental requirements. You may not see these until you are booking the vehicle.

What size vehicle are you looking for?

After you provide location, dates and times, the rental agent or website will either offer a vehicle size or ask what you prefer. If that vehicle is available, you will be able to get a rate quote.

The size or type of vehicle you need will determine your rate. Often time it's a balance between what you require (seating for 5) what you would like (comfort, large luggage capacity) and what your budget is! (Doing a lot of driving and gas prices are through the roof!) Take all of these things into account and give yourself some options. Check the prices on different sizes or types of vehicles that would meet your needs and the prices for each.

Based on all of the information provided you would be given a rate and an option to reserve. You will be given a base rate and then a total including the taxes and fees. If the total does not include taxes or location surcharges this will be noted.

If the price sounds good, go ahead and confirm it. For most reservations you don't have to give a credit card and can cancel at anytime. The exception to this would be a vehicle with a cancellation or no show policy or a prepaid booking that you do online.

If you reserve a vehicle, make sure to record your confirmation number or reservation number and request a confirming email

One more last tip on making your reservation!

If you make a phone reservation, make sure to spell you last name, even if the agent doesn't ask. If you lose your reservation number, the only way to look up your reservation is by the location, date and name on the rental. If the last name is misspelled, it can be difficult to find the reservation.

For more car rental tips on discounts, coupons and policies, check out my website below.

http://www.best-car-rental-tips.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jerry_Lyons

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