The author of the blog about life on travel Alexei Glazunov talks about pitfalls, which are likely to stumble when booking a car in the United States.
When we planned our trip to the United States, we did not even think about whether to rent a car or not. Travel experience in France, Spain and Portugal showed that there is hardly another way, comparable in effectiveness and convenience, thanks to which you can see the maximum number of places for the minimum time. Well, this applies to America to a greater extent – the distance there is huge and it is unlikely that it will be possible to get to distant natives of national parks by public transport.
Well, besides, as practice has shown, traveling around the United States by car is a complete pleasure! The roads are magnificent, wide and straight, traffic outside the cities is minimal, the drivers are neat, in general, I don’t want to go.
Book a car
In general, a car rental scheme in the States is almost the same as in Europe, but still there are features, we will talk about them in this article.
We took the car in Las Vegas, and at first we just planned to spend a couple of days there, and only then, after the wedding ceremony, go to travel to the national parks. In the city itself, we did not need a car, so we did not rent it right away, but still, it was more profitable to take it at the airport. So this is Lifehak # 1 – Compare rental points in one city, even in the same rental office, prices may differ depending on a specific point.
And maybe such that in the next town prices will be even cheaper and if the issue of savings is acute, it will be more profitable to ride there and take the car there.
The second curious moment that pleasantly surprised us is the opportunity to choose a specific car. We took the car twice – at first Ford Mustang, and then the crossover and both times we were not just given a certain car, but sent to the parking lot with the offer to choose the right color, and in the second case even the brand. But perhaps this is not a widespread practice in the USA and we were just lucky.
As for the choice of a rolling office, there are two ways – to sort out the sites of international and American companies (like Hertz, Dollar, Avis, Budget, Thrifty, Alamo, and so on),),
Or, which is much more convenient, to use the Onetwotrip reservation service. At the same time, in any case, the contract will be concluded with one of the rental offices.
What should you pay attention to:
1. Insurance. We recommend taking full coating without a franchise. Most often, insurance is included in the price, but it is better to clarify it. A certain overpayment, of course, will be, but it will not be compared with the cost of repairs, if something happens suddenly. For example, in the death valley, when trying to get to Sliding Rocks, we pierced the wheel, and so seriously that it was not subject to repair and a complete replacement was required, but since we had complete insurance, we did not have to pay extra. By the way, read the insurance conditions carefully, most often the insurance coating does not apply to the glass and wheels.
There are two types of insurance – SLI (Supplemental Liability Insurance) and LDW (Loss Damage Waver),
These are analogues of our CTP and CASCO, respectively.
In addition to the insurance that was included in the rental price, we made another one at the rental point (Roadsafe)-something like an emergency commissar, when at any point in the country you can call a special number and help will come to you. It is very actively “injected” by managers, apparently for them it is an additional sale with good commissions, so be careful, you can definitely do without this service without this service.
2. Mileage. If you plan to ride a lot, then specify that there is no restrictions on mileage (you have to pay extra over the limit). This is not a very frequent practice, but nevertheless it is found.
3. Documents. Theoretically, our usual driver’s license (plastic card) should operate in the USA,
But in many places it is precisely the international V/y (book). Therefore, in order to avoid misunderstandings, we recommend that you arrange it for yourself before the trip, all the more it is inexpensive, they make MVA quickly, and now they do not require a medical certificate for registration.
4. Additional equipment. If you need something special-car seats, navigator, wheels on wheels (well, you never know),
This should be indicated when booking, otherwise something may not be available. Most often, you will need to pay extra for this already in place.
5. Age and experience. If you are a young driver, or recently received rights, then the rental cost for you may be higher.
6. Payment and deposit. In addition to directly the money that you pay when booking, at the time of paperwork in the office, a certain amount will be additionally frozen on your bank card. In many companies, the card must belong to the one who is designed as a driver (by default, this is one person, for the 2nd, 3rd, etc., you need to pay extra). Cash as a deposit, most often, are not accepted. The deposit will be defrosted a few days after the return of the car and damage can be deducted from it (if they are not covered with insurance),
as well as possible fines for parking, speeding, etc.
7. Return. Some companies allow you to hand over the car in another office or even another city (with a surcharge). In some cases, this may be advisable, for example, if you plan to take a car in Los Angeles, but hand over to San Francisco and do not want to drive it back.
8. Gasoline. Each company can have its own fuel policy-somewhere they give a car with a full tank, and you need to pass with empty. Somewhere you can choose empty or complete and pay for fuel on the spot-most often it will not be much, but more expensive. It is cheaper to refuel yourself. By the way, consider such a moment that in different states or regions, the price of gasoline may vary significantly. So, we could not refuel before the trip to the death valley, where there are very few gas stations, and firstly, we were nervous that we would stuck in the middle of the desert, and secondly, when we finally reached the gas station, we had to fill in an expensive gasoline.
If you take the car at the airport, then check out at the exit how to get to your rental office. Most often, a shawl goes from the airport, which makes stops at different companies.
Another little trick – by default on sites for renting a car, it costs a reservation time 12:00. Many forget to change it, so at this time there may be a crowd, it is better to choose some other time.
