Many people are afraid of renting a car because they think that it is more expensive than other modes of transportation. This along with other common car rental myths are hurting the industry needlessly.
On the face of it, it may appear that it is really expensive to rent a car in Enterprise than just to ride a bus. But when you examine the topic closely, you will see that the extra expense is well deserved because of the many perks that a rented car provides.
So, in order to get to the real truth of this topic, you need to see these myths for what they really are – false notions held by the uninformed mind.
To let go of these myths, you need to know the real score. Here are some car rental myths and how they falsely paint the car rental industry.
1. The prices are not equal to the services they provide
This is simply untrue because there are many competitors today in the car rental industry. Each of the companies operating in this industry tries to add value to their services to get ahead of their competitors. Therefore you can be sure that for every erring rental company, there are more that can provide value added service to their normal rates.
2. It is cheaper to rent a smaller car
Not necessarily so. In the car rental industry, there is such a thing as seasonal demand. Therefore, when the demand is low, even a bigger car will fetch a lower rental fee than a smaller car.
For instance, a study conducted by the Abrams Travel Data Services in 2002 revealed that when corporate rental is down, there will be a surplus of big cars on the lot of every car rental company. Therefore, when the supply is up, rental rates will inevitably go down – even for luxury cars.
3. When renting a car, your insurance coverage will take care of everything.
This is not a complete and correct assessment. Car rentals only provide liability insurance, but not collision coverage. So, if you get involved in a collision, you will pay the damages out of your pocket.
Therefore it is better to get supplemental coverage whenever you rent a car. Although some credit card companies automatically provide this kind of coverage, insurance policies may vary by location of rental and the card company itself.
Most credit cards also provide secondary collision coverage only. That means it will pay for your collision damages only after exhausting the coverage of your personal insurance. Therefore, you need to check your coverage before finally putting your name on the car rental contract.
And be aware that if you upgrade your car to a luxury car, an SUV or a pickup truck, many credit card companies may not provide you the appropriate insurance coverage.
4. If you book directly with a car rental company, you will get considerable discounts.
That may be true on certain situations but not all the time. You need to understand that these rental companies use the services of many comparison websites such as Car Rentals, Expedia and others to extend their market reach.
These websites can give you comparison rates of the rental costs of many car rental companies. This is where you can get the best deals in car rental rates. One car company can give you discounts directly, but if you can find a more affordable rate for the same car with a different company listed in these sites, you will be better off than dealing directly with the car rental company.
It’s just a matter of broadening your field of search if you really want to get the best dal in car rental.
