Travelling is an adventure. Until you realize that you cannot explore as much as you would like due to limitations. Limitations such as public transport and tour groups. It is always frustrating when you visit somewhere and are unable to explore the place as much as you would like. Even in smaller countries, where the land space is limited, you can often find yourself walking for the best parts of 30 minutes after alighting from a train station. Which is why short-term car rentals are rather popular, even in Singapore and here’s why.
To summarise, rental cars are popular due to convenience. That is the overarching reason for its popularity and benefits. Rentals allow for convenience in exploring, higher levels of comfort and of course a lower cost.
In terms of convenience in exploring, having a rental car will allow customers to explore and discover new locations. Having a rental car ultimately gives you the choice and ability to explore anywhere in the country you are visiting. Furthermore, you will get more in terms of both cost and comfort, it will cost less than taking a cab to travel around the country and will be more comfortable than taking the public transport as well.
Now that we have established the advantages of renting a car, let’s look at some ways to save costs when renting a car to make it even more affordable for you. Here are your 5 steps to saving cost when renting a car for vacation:
Step 1: Be An Early Bird
As with anything from hotel rooms to travel packages, early booking can bring you an advantage. From early-bird discounts to generally lower prices, booking earlier tends to give you a better bargain for your buck compared to if you book closer to the date you plan to use the service or product. In terms of rental cars, rental companies tend to quote a cheaper price at an earlier date due to them running on a supply-demand system. They also tend to aim to lock in as many rentals as possible, which translates to a lower price for renting a car. A side bonus is also that you will have a full choice of vehicles, as most of the vehicles provided by the rental company will still be available at an early date.
Step 2: Mind over Heart
Winding down through a country road in a convertible Lamborghini, how cool is that? We all dream of being able to do so one day in the future. But is it what you need for your trip? It’s always nice to be able to rent a car of your dreams so that you can live said dream whilst traveling through a foreign country. But practicality should always come first. A two-seater sports car with minimal space in the back seats is not ideal for your kids. Both your luggage and wallet will also not thank you for choosing it as your rental car of choice.
Step 3: Be Savvy And Smart
This is the digital age. At your fingertips is the power and prowess of a thousand libraries worth of knowledge. Use it and you will find yourselves saving much more than you can imagine. With a couple of clicks, you can easily find multiple websites that will allow you to conveniently compare the prices of the different car rental companies, allowing you to easily decide which company will enable you to save more. But don’t stop at that, be smart. The cheapest may not always be the best option for you. As the words of fellow experienced car renters will always be a trustier way of ensuring that the level of service a rental company provides is acceptable, always make it a point to check the reviews.
Step 4: Old But Gold
The age-old question is, why do our moms always carry ten different credit cards around with them, occasionally even having a whole wallet just for credit cards? The reason is always to save cost and it is a pretty efficient way of saving money too. Though with that said, no one is telling you to start hopping from one bank to another just to get the maximum discount for renting a car. As stated in the previous step, the internet is a powerful tool. Use it to find any potential card-related discounts as possible and you might just find yourself drowning in discount percentages.
Step 5: Check And Check Again
Remember when you were told repeatedly by parents and teachers alike to check your math answers again and again, just so you do not risk losing marks carelessly. Same when renting a car. Check and check, over and over again. You do not want to be charged more for something that you are not at fault for. Dents and fuel levels are the most common culprits for unexpected charges. Ensure to check the car for dents, cleanliness of interior and stains. If you spot any damages notify the rental company or else, they might just charge you for existing damages that are not caused by you. Depending on the rental company, some may have a full tank policy where you will be given a full tank of fuel to start and will be expected to return the car with the tank full. If this policy is in place always ensure that the tank is full when the car is given, or else you might end up paying extra for fuel when you don’t have to. Even if a rental company does not have a full tank policy, some companies expect you to return the car with the same level of or more fuel. So, as a good habit to have when renting a car always check the fuel level.
Those are 5 of the basic measures that you can take to ensure that you are not unknowingly spending more on renting a car. With this, you should be able to reduce a couple of dollars from the overall cost of your vacation. Looking to rent a car in Singapore? Edmund Rental Company provides leasing of long and short-term commercial vehicles and cars, from pick-ups, lorries and vans to sedan cars and minibusses suiting our customer’s every need. Get started by contacting us.
