How To Choose a Rental Company

Choosing a car rental company sounds like a very difficult decision, but it all comes down to a few very basic criterias. In general, if you never hired a car before I would recommend to start with the large companies, such as Hertz, Sixt, AVIS, Alamo, Enterprise, Budget and so on. These companies are reputable and well-established, hence they are less likely to play tricky games with you.

When comparing quotes from different companies you should take the following things into account:

• Are the quotes for the same car group? - Sometimes it's hard to tell if the two models offered are equivalent. Your best bet is to look at the engine volume, number of doors, seats and trunk size.
• Do they offer the same insurance policy (liability) - Some companies would give you a CDW - collision damage waiver. You'll be surprised that in case of a damage to the car, you may still be liable up to a certain amount. You should compare this amount. For longer rentals and if you intend to drive on unfamiliar roads, we recommend that you ask to buy an insurance policy that would bring your liability to zero in case damage occurs to the car.

What else should you care about when choosing a car rental company? One more thing would be their office location. If you will have to take a taxi or a bus to reach the car rental office, don't forget to take that into account; you'll have to pay for it and you need to factor this in.

Sometimes, especially if the office is located at an airport, there maybe long lines infront of the rental desk. Another tip that was sent to us by a reader would be to call the rental desk at the same hour of the day that you intend to rent, and ask them how busy it is right now.