Car rental platform Wisecars advises preparing for the winter holiday season
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“There’s a misconception among travelers that last-minute deals are cheaper. As the car rental companies reduced their vehicles during the pandemic, this is definitely not true for car rental.” Stated Steve Brax, Wisecars spokesman. “During the holiday season, people who haven’t booked ahead might not even get a vehicle. We definitely recommend booking one beforehand when there are still plenty of offers available.”
Steve Brax’s tips from Wisecars for saving on holiday car rental:
Research the busiest travel times and avoid those. Try traveling a couple of days or weeks before the seasonal madness.
Choose a booking site with flexible cancellation terms, book early and monitor the price.
Make sure you know what size of vehicle you need. Usually, you book a car class: meaning if you book a Nissan Versa you might instead get a Toyota Corolla or Hyundai Elantra. If you find out that you need a bigger vehicle while already picking up the vehicle the cost for an upgrade might be quite high.
Check for insurance-exclusive or inclusive deals based on the coverage your credit card company offers. Buying damage waivers from car rental companies is generally much more costly than using third-party or credit card insurance providers.
The golden rule of car rental is that downtown locations are usually cheaper than airport locations.
Play around with the pick-up and drop-off times. Car rental days are usually calculated based on 24-hour “blocks”. For example, if you pick up your vehicle at 1 PM and drop it off the next day at 2 PM, most car rental companies will charge you for 2 days of the rental instead of 1. Some suppliers also have cheaper deals available for off-peak pick-up times, i.e. mornings. Sometimes, the weekly rate is also much lower, so it makes sense to extend your travel plans.
Rachel Lee
Wisecars Inc.
+1 (646) 813-0129
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