Here’s why.

1. Cost
2. Availability
3. Simplicity

Cost

Booking in advance is often cheaper – the hire company gets some or all of your money in advance and has guaranteed demand for its cars. This means that they can let you have the car for a little less than if you walk in off the street to book a car (not always true, but often).

Availability

This summer has seen unprecedented demand for hire cars in popular holiday locations such as Spain. The reason for this is that the global economic downturn has resulted in many car rental companies reducing the size of their fleets – meaning less slack in low season but extremely high demand for available cars in high season.

There have been plenty of car hire companies that have been fully booked this summer – if you leave booking a hire car until you arrive, you may be disappointed.

Simplicity

While foreign car hire offices are usually pretty helpful and many speak English, this is not always true and booking a rental car in a foreign language can be difficult.

Booking in advance means that you can complete the booking online, in English, and know that your chosen car will be waiting for you when you arrive – all you will have to do is sign a few forms and take the keys. It’s much simpler than trying to arrange a hire car from scratch.

Click here for an instant online car hire quote

1. Ask first. Don’t travel outside a hire car’s country of registration without getting prior approval from the car rental company. You will probably have to pay an additional insurance and/or breakdown assistance fee and failure to do this may well mean you are driving illegally – resulting a raft of potential problems.
2. Know where you are going. If you are crossing to and from the UK, be prepared to drive on the opposite side of the road when you get off the ferry. Whether your hire car is left-hand drive or right-hand drive, at some point you will be on the ‘wrong’ side of the road for you car. Take care.
3. Make sure you are familiar with the rules of the road (e.g. speed limits) in the countries you are visiting. The AA’s website has an excellent guide on driving requirements in different countries – check it out before you go.
4. Make sure you will be able to pay for fuel – ideally have a combination of cash and cards on you so that you will be able to buy fuel at unattended, automated fuel stations with your card and pay cash if your card is declined at manned stations – not all cards are universally accepted around Europe.
5. Remember that in virtually all cases, you can only hire cars for international use if they will be returned to the country in which you hired them – one-way international hires are not generally available, although there are a few exceptions.

Car rental companies know this and do make some effort to help. The booking system we use on CarHirePlace.com provides details on the luggage and passenger capacity of each car.

When you use our booking system to get a quote, along with the price for each car is listed its passenger capacity, luggage capacity and the number of doors it has. For example, here is a screenshot from a quote for car hire in a European location (details may vary for different locations):

Car hire luggage capacity - examples

The Volkswagen Golf is a reasonable size but has a much smaller boot than the 207 Stationwagon (basically a small estate car). This difference in boot size is reflected in the cars’ luggage capacities – the Golf can take 4 pieces of luggage but the 207 SW can take 6 pieces of luggage.

Both cars can take five people, have five doors, air conditioning and a manual gear box (reading the symbols from left to right).

These indicators are useful but they are not perfect. For example:

• All but the smallest cars can take five people but in many cars it is cramped for longer journeys
• The luggage capacity is a useful comparative indicator but you do not know how big the pieces of luggage used to calculate it are!

Despite these limitations, you should take note of  the information provided in the quote for each rental car and use them to compare the different vehicles on offer. It could save you a very uncomfortable journey!

Although this does happen, it is not very common and can usually be explained – and often prevented by you, the hirer, taking a few basic precautions. Here are a few ideas based on my own experience:

1. Make sure you return the car with the correct amount of fuel in it – normally, this means as it was when you collected it. Failure to do this will mean that the rental company will charge you an inflated rate for refuelling.
2. Check the car carefully for damage yourself when you pick it up. Make sure the rental company agent marks down all the existing damage on the check sheet – otherwise they can blame it on you when you return the vehicle.
3. Consider taking additional insurance to reduce your excess. That way, if you do cause any damage, your maximum payout will be considerably reduced.
4. Don’t be late. Late returns mess up the rental company’s bookings – they will penalise you for being late.
5. Don’t leave any litter in the inside of the car and clean up any spilled drinks, excessive mud, etc.. Although these things do happen, unusual levels of dirt may mean that the car hire company levies an additional cleaning charge on you. Don’t worry about the outside of the vehicle too much – normal road dirt is fine, although excessive mud from off-road use may arouse suspicion…
6. Pay any tolls, charges or fines you have incurred. These include parking fines, congestion charges, road tolls and speeding fines. You are liable for anything incurred while you are driving the car – don’t try and avoid them as they will come back to you and often increase with late payment. The rental company may also charge you an administration fee if they have to chase you for the money.
7. If you rent any additional accessories – such as a GPS unit – then make sure that these are returned complete, undamaged and together with the car.
8. Finally, if you have had a puncture and changed the wheel yourself, ring the hire company and notify them as soon as possible during the hire. Do not fail to mention it when you return the vehicle. Although technically you may be liable for tyre damage, I don’t think this always applies to honest, unavoidable punctures – the one time I had a puncture in a hire car (in Madeira), I did not have to pay anything extra for the damaged tyre.
9. If you are collecting your hire car from the airport, always provide your flight numbers when booking – here’s why.
10. If you have had an accident or breakdown, make sure you report it to the police and/or the hire company’s emergency assistance number, as per the instructions you are given by the hire company. Do not try to sweep it under the carpet.

So there you have it – just like most things in life, the risk of problems can be reduced by taking a few simple precautions.

It’s no fun and in some cases it can even be dangerous – if you are stuck in bad weather on a long walk, for example.

Driving’s no different. While modern cars are equipped to deal with most normal weather, you can still be caught out if you don’t know what to expect.

Checking the weather before driving abroad is only sensible. During the winter, many European countries have far more snow than we do in the UK and snow chains or winter tyres may well be required – in some countries, winter tyres are a legal requirement during certain months (check out the AA’s excellent “Driving Requirements by Country” guides for specific details). Most hire companies will supply the appropriate tyres and/or snow chains in the winter – ask if unsure.

Other hazards to watch out for are heavy rain – especially in tropical countries that have monsoon seasons. Until you have experienced a proper tropical downpour, you don’t understand just how much water can fall out of the sky in a short period of time.

Driving in these conditions is dangerous and being swept off a flooded road into a river is possible – care is required and being caught by surprise will make things worse.

To find out about weather in different countries, my starting point is always the Met Office’s website – as well as the UK, they have sections for Europe and the rest of the World.

Here’s hoping the weather does what you expect it to on your trip – but doesn’t surprise you when it doesn’t!

While many people now seem to take the ’seat-back DVD player’ route to try and keep their children quiet on long journeys, there are other options that will keep your children occupied at without the cost and hassle of an electronic solution.

Here are some links to websites offering ideas for games and other activities to keep children occupied on long journeys:

• Tootie’s Neighbourhood – family fun from car hire company Alamo
• Car Travel Games – a specialist website that sells nothing else!
• Are We Nearly There Yet? Travel fun ideas from the AA
• MomsMiniVan – an American take on travel games for kids

Of course, however well entertained your children are, regular breaks are essential for them to stretch their legs and visit the toilet – and for you to prevent tiredness.

The Department for Transport recommends taking a break every two hours on long journeys. This will help prevent your concentration dropping off and reduce the risk of drowsiness. Remember that a quick coffee followed by fifteen minutes inspecting the inside of your eyelids can really help if you are feeling a little tired.

The answer is to hire a GPS sat nav unit from your car hire company.

Although this might have been an expensive novelty a few years ago, it isn’t any more. Major car hire companies are increasingly offering GPS units for hire. Although there usually is a small daily fee, this pales into insignificance compared to the thought of wasting an hour driving around lost on your way to the beach (or an important business meeting).

Our car hire booking system automatically gives you the option to add a satellite navigation unit to your hire once you have chosen your hire car. All you need to do is to choose a GPS unit from the list of available options.

Couldn’t be simpler.

Much of the time, it’s possible to pickup your hire car directly at the airport terminal – either at the in-terminal car hire branch or via a pre-booked airport pickup arrangement.

Sometimes, however, neither of these arrangements are possible. In these situations, you have two options:

• Make your way independently to your car hire office – via public transport or taxi
• Use a pre-booked airport transfer service

Public transport might seem cheaper at first glance – but when you account for the time, hassle and general inconvenience, it starts to look much less attractive.

Local taxis can be useful – but in some locations you will have a language barrier and taxi drivers are not always scrupulously honest in such cases, sometimes bumping up your fair to take advantage of the ‘rich tourist’.

An pre-booked airport transfer is often the best solution. The cost will be fixed in advance, you will be met at the airport by someone who already knows where you are going and you can be sure that you will get the service you need, when you need it.

One such service is Where2Guv.com. Although it has a UK focus, you can specify pickup and dropoff locations in countries all over the world and can specify different levels of service – from executive transfer down to shared transfer. (Please note I have no connection with Where2Guv.com and have not used its services, I have just used it as an illustrative example.)

Next time you need to arrange an airport transfer, why not consider it? You could remove a large portion of hassle from your journey at a relatively modest cost.

That’s why car hire companies are completely used to finding people’s lost property and normally have a procedure for returning it, should it be claimed.

Whether it’s your swim suit, your MP3 player or your son’s toy airship, the first thing to do is to contact the branch you returned the car to – directly if you have its phone number. If not, call the company’s main customer service number and explain the problem. They should tell you what you need to do and explain how their setup works.

Trust me, you won’t be the first or the last to have done this!

Remember: If you don’t claim your property, don’t expect to have it sent back to you. You do have to claim it to get it back.

There are all sorts of reasons why car hire companies don’t send back property that isn’t claimed – for starters they can’t be absolutely sure it’s yours unless you ask for it, and some objects that are left behind could compromise business (or personal) affairs if they ended up in the wrong hands.

The good news is that most large car hire companies offer these extras for hire with your car, usually for a small additional fee.

While it’s ok to use your own car seat or sat nav unit, car hire companies will take a pretty dim view of your installing your own external load racks (e.g. roof rack) to their cars. Hiring a compatible setup from your hire company is the answer if you need additional storage (or else hire a van, if you really have a lot to carry!).

If you make your car hire reservation online, you will usually be given a chance to specify the extras you need during the booking process. If not, you may need to contact the hire company direct to check whether the extras you need will be available.

To recap, here’s a list of commonly available car rental options:

• GPS satellite navigation
• Baby seat
• Toddler / child seat
• Ski rack
• Winter / snow tyres

Baby / toddler / child seats are usually available to suit different ages and you should be able to specify what’s required. However, availability differs widely around the world (especially outside western Europe & the USA) so ask your hire company before booking if unsure.

Anything that is clearly seasonal or related to outdoor activities is only likely to be available if it is relevant to the local area and the time of year – e.g. a ski rack in skiing season in a skiing area. Ask before you book if it is a deal-breaker for you.