Things you should know before renting a car

Things you should know before renting a car

Renting a car can be like choosing a guy from the phone book foundation in Springfield, Oregon. There are many brands, but only three large companies, and they work in the same way. Enterprise owns both National and Alamo. Avis owns Budget and Payless (and now, Zipcar). Hertz owns Dollar and Thrifty. Together, these three companies account for 95 percent of the national car rental industry, according to Abrams.

"From a strategic point of view, consolidation in the industry has changed the landscape," says Abrams. "Where you had eight independent brands at the same time, all fighting for the terrain, now each of these three rental companies has brands at each of the price levels: high, medium and low."

Ultimately, the greater cost efficiencies granted to larger companies, mainly in the acquisition and ownership of automobiles, benefit the consumer. However, in terms of prices, rental car companies of 5 percent - like Ace and Fox or franchises like Payless - can save tenants money.

"There are many brands that are not known," says Abrams. "They are good companies, and valuable companies, that have the same cars at all price points, they can suffer a bit from service and comfort, but it can save a lot of money."

Look beyond the airport

You do not necessarily need or want to rent a car in the terminal. Many people who fly to their destination are also looking to rent a car at the airport, which means more waiting time and more opportunities for things to go wrong. The rates can be higher when you rent from the airport, in part because of added fees, installation fees and so on, and partly because it's right where you get caught.

"If you rent an airport, you can save a lot of money," says Abrams. "The same company, the same car, the same rental period."

That depends on the city and the date, of course. You may not find a better deal outside the labyrinthine lots at the airport, but it's worth analyzing the numbers. Check how close your Airbnb is to a car rental store, for example. You can escape from the airport exit (and save money to start), which sometimes rushes, taking a tour to pick up your car.

Take the phone

Sometimes, the rental of an airport is not really at the airport. Sometimes, booking a car does not guarantee a car. And believe it or not, sometimes car rental agencies are not exactly the image of excellence in customer service.

I will spare you my own indignant criticism of a star of the experience that marked me forever. But the lesson I learned is to call the future. Choosing a car rental through a travel search engine (such as Kayak, Expedia or Travelocity) means looking for mostly identical tickets, differentiated only by the price and pick-up location.

At a minimum, check review sites such as Yelp or Google for common traps at the collection point before clicking "yes" on anything. Many airport rental locations are outside the airport or even nowhere near the airport. (My own nightmare began with a pick-up at the airport that was actually
located at an entire subway stop.