If you are hiring a car there is often a good chance you are in an unfamiliar location – on a holiday or business trip for example. In these cases, you may not have appropriate maps for the area and you certainly won’t want the time and hassle of getting lost.

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.

Picking up a hire car at the airport is a common scenario – whether you are on a fly-drive holiday or a business trip that requires you to get travel independently.

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.

We all try to be organised and never forget anything, but returning your hire car can be a bit hectic and people do often end up leaving something behind – especially if it’s the end of the holiday, you’re at the airport and you are trying to look after your children, too.

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.

We often get asked questions about adding extras to hire cars – roof racks, ski racks, baby seats and so on.

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.

If you are planning to hire a car whilst abroad in Europe, you need to remember more than just which side of the road to drive on. There are also a plethora of charges for using certain roads or entering certain areas – including in the UK.

Tolls

Tolls, low-emission zones, congestion charges and other such systems are springing up all over Europe (including the UK & Ireland) with ever-increasing frequency.

Firstly, many European countries operate some kind of charging system on their motorways. France‘s superb tolled Autoroutes (the best motorways in Europe, in my experience) are the best known, but Switzerland and Austria require you to buy a permit to use their motorways and Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Italy also have some tolled motorway routes.

There are other countries with motorway charging in place, too, so check before you go – one of the best resources is the AA’s website – click here for its guide to European tolls.

Low-Emission & Congestion Charging Zones

The other popular trend in recent years has been the introduciton of congestion charging and low emission zones, with the twin goals of reducing congestion and improving air quality.

These zones are naturally in urban areas, usually around big cities. However, you may be surprised just how many countries have them.

Apart from the UK’s dearly beloved London Congestion Charge, here are just a few other countries that have similar (but different) schemes in operation:

• Germany
• Netherlands (Holland)
• Norway
• Denmark
• Sweden
• Italy

I am not even going to attempt to provide a comprehensive guide to these zones here, as the scope of the schemes is constantly changing. However, there is an excellent, publicly-funded site that I would recommend you check before you are due to drive abroad, especially if your route will take you near any cities:

• Low Emission Zones in Europe

As always, ignorance is no excuse and you can expect to be penalised if you break any of the rules – just as you would be in London.

If you’re renting a car abroad, then check with the rental agency office for the latest local information. You will probably be required to make any congestion charge payments yourself but may find that your first day is included – especially if you hire a car within a low emission zone.

For example, with Avis, you first day’s congestion charge is included if you rent a car within the London Congestion Charge zone. Subsequent days are your responsibility, however.

If it all sounds a bit intimidating, don’t be put off. A small amount of preparation goes a long way and most of these systems are not too difficult to navigate, even if you don’t speak the language. Just remember – be prepared and don’t be afraid to ask. With modern number plate recognition cameras as good as they are, sticking your head in the sand and hoping to get away with it isn’t a wise approach.

Despite the credit crunch, Alpine ski resorts are hoping for a bumper year this year following October’s unusually early snowfall.

Ski resorts in areas such as Switzerland, Italy, Austria and France have opened early to take advantage of the conditions and even estate agents in the area are reporting an upturn in enquiries from November onwards – such is the addicitve nature of skiing.

Recent years have seen the occasional shortage of snow in some resorts – this doesn’t look likely this year but what may be possible is a shortage of cheap hire cars.

If you are planning a skiing trip this winter and will need to hire a car, it may pay you to book early and avoid the inflated rates that might be on offer if you leave it to the last minute. Our booking system searches through more than 450 suppliers in 134 countries and provides some of the most competitive quotes available.

To get an instant ski car rental quote, click here.

When booking a hire car for collection at an airport, you will often be required to provide your flight number. Make sure you provide it, or it could cost you dearly – as this story in the Birmingham Mail illustrates.

In this case, the customer’s flight was delayed, resulting in the car hire company’s airport office being closed for the night when she arrived. She then had to take a taxi to her hotel and another taxi to return to the airport the following day and collect her hire car – hardly a dream start to a holiday.

However, this whole situation could have been avoided had the customer provided her flight number. The hire car was booked through Holiday Autos, whose spokesman told the Birmingham Mail that “Had the flight details been added, the car rental desk would have waited for the customers’ arrival.”

As no flight details had been provided (it’s optional, not compulsory), Holiday Autos had simply found a the cheapest supplier that was open at the times specified by the customer.

Although it must have been a frustrating experience, you can’t really criticse Holiday Autos – they ask for flight details and just take your times on trust if you don’t provide them. Their whole business model is based on providing the cheapest quote – and customers would soon complain if they were paying extra for 24-hour availability when they hadn’t asked for it.

The lesson here is always provide your flight details when booking airport car hire – it really does pay.

Hiring a car abroad is pretty much the same as doing it in when you’re at home. Except it isn’t quite.

Different language.

(Slightly) Different rules of the road.

Vehicles with the steering wheel on the opposite side to normal.

And so on…

Consumer organisation Which? have recognised that there can be a few pitfalls when hiring a car abroad and published this useful guide to hiring a car abroad.

While this is a sensible and helpful guide, I would point out that you shouldn’t exaggerate the potential problems. Most of them apply when you are at home, too and it really is just a case of being careful and checking everything that needs checking. The only things that can make it harder abroad are language difficulties and unfamiliar geographic surroundings.

Don’t let the fear of problems put you off renting, however. Like so many things, the vast majority of people do it without any problems whatsoever, but you only hear about the tiny minority of people who did have problems.

How’s this for a frustrating scenario?

You arrive at a foreign airport and head to the car rental counter to pick up your pre-booked car.

The rental company staff tell you they have run out of cars and they won’t be able to help you. Sorry.

Blood pressure rising, you chase round all of the other car rental companies in the airport and eventually manage to rent a car – although you are now running several hours late and having to pay more than you budgeted…

If you aren’t sure how you would handle this situation, check out this article on DallasNews.com. It turns out that most large companies’ standard operating procedure is to help you find another car – even if it has to be hired on your behalf from a competitor.

Don’t take a refusal from the counter staff – ask to see a manager and politely but firmly request that they honour your reservation and arrange a car for you.

In a way, I can sympathise with car hire companies who overbook their cars – given how many customer no-shows they get, they don’t really have much choice. The important thing is how they handle it when things don’t go to plan.

As always, however, you will be in a stronger position if you understand how the system works, which I hope I have helped you to do.

Hire companies all over the world group their hire cars into fairly standard groups – such as ‘Intermediate’ and ‘Full Size’. The problem is that these don’t have the same meaning in different countries – most notably there are differences between the UK & Europe, Australia and the USA & Canada.

At CarHirePlace.com, we understand this difficulty and have already published a ‘What Size Car Guide‘ to help you understand the car rental companies’ descriptions of size and luggage capacity.

However, you can’t have too much good information, and The Car Hire Insider (an Australian website) has just published an even better guide focusing on Australian car hire sizes but including examples of equivalent cars in the UK and the USA.

They’ve even indicated which cars will fit a fifth person but “will be more comfortable without” – an experience most people who’ve travelled in the back seats of European-size cars will be familiar with.

You can check out the Car Hire Insider’s guide to Australian Rental Car Models here – it’s well worth a read if you aren’t sure how car sizes are described in different countries.

Need a quote for car hire in Australia? Click here