Carefully planned affordable vacations made only after athorough review of cheaptravel options such as cheap airplane tickets, discount hotel rooms, discounttravel deals, and cheap vacation packages, canend up costing much more than budgeted after paying totally unexpected buriedcar rental fees when renting cars abroad.
One of the most common overseas car rental surprises is beingfaced with mandatory liability insurance plus accompanying taxes. Renters often fruitlessly argue these chargesat rental company desks and make expensive international phone calls to theircredit card companies without any positive results. Most often renters end up simply having topay the higher asking prices.
The following are suggestions on how to avoid being surprisedby hidden car rental fees when traveling abroad according to Lotta Zachrisson:
In most countries, 3rd part liability insurance(SLI, SIL, or PLI) is required and usually included in the rental cost. Mexico and Costa Rica are known for addingthis charge at the rental counter with no way for a customer to opt out. This charge varies from $12 to $25 a day,depending on company and car model.
If you are looking online to make a car rental reservationand insurance costs are not listed, contact the U.S. branch of the rentalcompany and ask for all mandatory fees in writing. This helps in two ways: First, if the rental agent tries to chargeyou more, you can show that person the fees you were given in writing, and ifthe person is still not cooperative, you can later open a dispute with yourcredit card company regarding the additional fees charged.
Collision damage waiver (CDW) is usually easier to get outof, if that is your desire. Thiscoverage is usually optional and many credit card companies offer thisinsurance if you pay for the rental with a credit card.
Before departing you should check with your credit cardcompany to see what insurance they offer and get all the terms in writing. You should bring a hard copy with you so thatyou can show the rental company what coverage you already have, if requested.
Be careful to make certain that your cards rental coverageis valid in the particular country you are visiting. For example, the American Express PremiumProtection does not cover rentals in Australia, Jamaica, Ireland, Israel,Italy, and New Zealand.
Often such credit card insurance is secondary and will onlyapply in you decline the rental companies CDW.
If your credit card company does not offer CDW, it is oftencheaper to purchase it before you depart from a third party instead of buyingin from a rental agent.
The following are additional charges to be aware of and waysto avoid them:
-
Airporttaxes can be circumvented by picking up a car from a location outside of theairport.
-
Insteadof paying for additional drivers decide in advance who will be the designateddriver.
-
Childseat rentals tend to be expensive. Consider bringing your own, particularly because they are free on mostflights.
-
GPSrental charges can be sidestepped by purchasing a local SIM card and using yourphone to navigate. Alternatively procurea good map and ask locals for directions.
-
Driversyounger than 25 often face steep additional fees. Instead consider backpacking and taking cheaplocal public transportation.
www.cheapfares.com