Booking your vehicle for a self-drive trip around African can look to be a bit cheap and easy; however, there are various catches that can make you pay a lot more than you anticipated. Look at our best tips on the perfect way to get hot deals on your car rental with no terrible stuns when you reach the rental.
Book now and change later
Think you’ve got the perfect vehicle however not really sure? Several booking websites will recommend that you “save for later”. Be careful, however – frequently this doesn’t really secure in the price, and the price has raised by the time you really book. Rather, book through a broker where it’s possible to do free cancellations and amendments, giving you a chance to amend your booking in case there is a change in plans.
Simply don’t forget to get a clear explanation of the cancellation policy – always you have to amend or cancel within a set time allotment to avoid acquiring any charges. Set a reminder in your schedule for the last days that you can do some amendments to your booking free of charge.
Check on offers from different rental agencies
Am sure what will come first in your mind when planning to hire a vehicle will be to search for the most common and big car rental company. but in case you looking for the best deals, this is not a perfect option. it’s better you first search around in several companies to see which one is offering the best.
More flexibility means better rates
In the event that your trip dates are flexible, you can simply sacrifice a little comfort for the best deals. Much the same as with flights, slightly less convenient pickup days for example during working days and working hours can really bring down the price of a rental.
Most car rental agencies do full-day rentals, implying that a 25hour rental price is the same price as a 48hour rental. To alter your time of travel to get a better offer out of your rental.
One thing to know about this strategy – ensure there are no “Outside Office Hours” charges, as this can easily cancel out the savings made by picking up at a less famous time.
Avoid complicated fuel policies
Most clients don’t consider fuel policies when they book their rental car – surely every car rental company does the only logical and reasonable thing of offering a rental vehicle full tank of fuel and the vehicle should be full on return?
Sadly, this isn’t the situation. There are some car rental companies who rather offer a “full-to-empty” policy. This means you prepay for a full tank, so need to return the vehicle as near to empty as possible to get your cash’s worth. In principle, this is fine – some people love the convenience of not filling up the vehicle toward the end of the rental period– but in reality, it’s always the advantage of the rental company to get more cash out of you. In case you’re considering booking a vehicle with a “full-to-empty” fuel policy (also known as “prepay”), check the Terms and conditions for the following:
– The price of a full Tank? Does the rental agency focus on charging the same amount to what it would cost you to refuel yourself?
– Is there a “refueling charge” – which is quite often compulsory – in the list of extra expenses?
– Do you get a discount on any unused fuel? If not, consider whether you’ll certainly be driving enough to get a full tank.
Pick up Location
Pay special mind to the rental depot location – some car rental booking websites show the pick-up area at the closest known landmark when they might be some way away. This particularly applies to airport rentals, where the pickup area can be a long and exhausting shuttle bus far from the airport itself.
Most car rental booking websites nowadays give the exact pickup area somewhere on the page – track it down before you book.
There is also another convenient way to get your vehicle easily, there are several rental companies that offer free airport pick up and drop off, meaning they can deliver your vehicle at the airport during your arrival and you drop it at the airport or your hotel at the end of your rental period.
The delayed flight should not affect your car hire
Give flight details in case you’re hiring from an airport – this is passed on to the rental provider so they can respond accordingly if there is a flight delay. This stops them from thinking that you’re a no-show and renting out your vehicle to another person while you’re at 30,000 feet. You can also avoid this by booking with flexible and dependable companies like 4×4 Uganda Ltd, 4×4 Self Drive Kenya Ltd, Rental Cars Uganda Ltd, or 4×4 Tanzania Ltd who can keep your car for about 24hours before they rent it out to another person, and even just a call to their offices informing them about your flight delay they can keep your vehicle until you come for it.