Renting a car abroad. Seven tips for students

Those students, who like to travel a lot, are often interested not only in leisure activities on the coast and resorts, but also in independent travels to different cities. In this case, you can use public transport or rent a car to get around. The second option is always better, because you can make a route yourself and travel at a convenient time. In order to avoid any troubles, it is worth considering several rules in case of renting a car. The following tips should be followed to protect yourself from possible trouble on vacation.

1. Talking about rest in exotic countries- if you want to leave South Africa for Swaziland or Zimbabwe, then you will have to pay a fee of $ 50-100 and get written permission in advance when you are at the rental company. Moreover, if you want to go to Thailand from Malaysia for a couple of days, you will need to buy car insurance at the border (about $ 4 per day), since Thai insurance does not work in Malaysia.
2. If you take the car, for example, at five in the afternoon, then it means that you have to bring it back on the appropriate day by five in the afternoon. Therefore, plan your time well so that not to pay extra money for a few extra hours, like for a whole day.
3. It is better to use the “full-to-full” option when renting a car. It means that you get a car with a full tank of petrol and you bring the car back with a full tank of petrol. It will release you from the necessity to pay for the fuel additionally.
4. Watch carefully, whether all the possible damages of the car are recorded in the car’s transfer protocol. Keep this document for a couple of months so that in case of problems you can prove to the bank that the demand for extra payments by the rental company at the end of the contract is unreasonable – in this case, the bank will return the funds illegally withdrawn from your account.
5. It is better to choose tariffs without a mileage limit so that, in case of exceeding the limit, you do not have to pay for extra kilometers. After all, on vacation it will be unpleasant to constantly monitor the number of kilometers.
6. Do not forget to discuss in advance the possibility to use the optional services, for example, the rent of a navigation device or a child car seat. Prices for these services can differ significantly in different companies. You can ask about the additional services, when you order car rental under 25.
7. If you do not want to pay for the navigation device, you can bring your own device or download maps for your mobile application.

What are you undersigning?

Having chosen the car, we pass to the most important thing – we read the section “Terms and conditions”. It is very important to read the entire document, because at the office of the company you will put your signature under these rules, after which any misunderstanding on your part can turn into a big problem.

Perhaps the most important point is your responsibility to the company in the event of a breakdown, accident or car theft. Usually in the base rental price, damage in the event of a third party is included at the insurance. At the same time, damage caused to the car or to third parties through your fault is often not covered by insurance or is covered, but partially. In this case, you will have to pay from $ 1,000 to the full cost of the car, depending on your contract. But when booking, rental companies always offer to get full insurance for an additional fee – this way you will be protected from large monetary losses, and only you can decide whether you are willing to take the risk or not. Unfortunately, full insurance is not issued to persons whose driving experience is one year or less (in some rental companies – 3 years or less).

Taking everything above written into consideration, do not forget about the rules of taking the rented car back. Unless otherwise provided by contract, return the car with a full tank (or the amount of fuel must match what it was when you took the car). It is advisable to wash the car before delivery. Not one clause of the contract says this, but a clean car gives less desire to withdraw additional funds from your credit card for real or alleged damage.