Renting a car booking and haggling · Booking and haggling in Renting a car
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Booking and haggling in Renting a car
Booking and haggling in Renting a car
The decision over whether to book in advance or whether to shop around on arrival can be difficult, and depends on the location and the time.
When renting with major rental agency at major western airports a reservation doesn't guarantee your rental. On their side, the rental agencies overbook, and on your side you can usually make a reservation without any commitment and cancel at any time with no penalty. Although a reservation will not guarantee you a car in this case, it will give you priority over someone without a reservation.
Some things to consider when choosing whether to book or turn up and try for a better standby rate.
If you book a small economy car, it is quite common to get upgraded at the airport if those cars have sold, in which case you will get the upgrade at no additional cost. You can usually still change your booking at the airport if don't get upgraded.
If you don't book you run a greater risk of no availability -- particularly in a small location, or at popular times of year.
Some airports don't have all the airport rental agencies in one place to enable you to haggle effectively.
A better price can sometimes be obtained by an rental car company not in the city centre or at the airport.
If you book with a travel agent they often take a require prepayment in full, and will give you a voucher to present at the rental car desk on arrival.
You may also encounter somewhat better offers or treatment if you book through the agent/agency arranging your flight, or through or by citing your membership in clubs or large associations, e.g., AAA/AA, AARP.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Renting a car
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Renting a car - updated May 2024
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Renting a car Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.