If your travel plans include local transportation it’s a good idea to investigate and make reservations for discount car rentals before you go on your trip, because many companies will lower their rates even more for advanced bookings.
The comparison websites for discount car rental companies have become very popular over the last few years online, but there are many cases where the quote you were given when you made your reservation is not the same as the amount stated on your bill.
The difference between the quote and the actual cost are the hidden charges that many discount car rental companies include such as include early return fees, 24-hour clock charges, mileage charges, license fees, peak season charges and additional driver charges. In some cases these hidden charges can cause your bill to be as much as 25% higher.
But it’s also important to realize that your decisions can also influence the amount of money you must pay for your discount car rentals. For instance, if you request unlimited mileage as part of your discount car rental plan may be losing money if your travel does not extend further than 50 miles.
Chart your travel plans carefully and if you find that most of your travel will be within a 50 mile radius, you might be able to get an even lower rate at a discount car rental company offers a 50 mile plan, which will also lower your insurance costs. Or better still check with your personal car insurance company and find out whether or not they provide car rental insurance coverage as part of your policy.
You should be sure to ask your travel agencies if they offer discount car rentals as part of your travel package. In some cases the discount car rental rate you receive through a travel agent can be as much as 60% lower than if you reserve the car directly through the agency.
In most states businesses are required to collect sales tax from the goods and services they provide to the public. While sales tax can’t be avoided in most cases the hidden cost of airport charges, such as concession recovery fees or customer facility charges are avoidable.
And you can realize even greater savings by going to a car rental agency location instead of having the company deliver the car to the airport for you. When you make your reservations for your discount car rentals one good strategy to get the absolute best price is to request the smallest car that can accommodate you and if this car is not available you will receive a large car at the same rate.

You can avoid gasoline charges on discount car rentals that companies will make you pay by returning the car to the facility with a full tank of gas. By returning the car to the location where you rented it from you can avoid the drop-off charge which can be as much as $1000.