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Note: If you have already Rented cars, you can skip this lesson. This is for those who have never rented a car before

 

For some of us, it’s hard to fathom that someone needs to have a class on how to rent a car. Honestly, there are literally millions of people who haven’t had to rent a car, EVER. Well folks, this lesson is for you.

The goal of this lesson is to give you a basic walkthrough of the rules and steps that will occur when you reserve, rent, return a rental car. Although the individual methods may vary, these basic steps are indeed common to every Rental A Car Company, called RAC for short.

There are three main ways to rent a car. Online, Call in, Walk in, and travel agent. The travel agent option is often not the most frugal method, but it can be.  If you have a great relationship with a licensed travel agent, by my guest. They can probably give you as good of advice as I can. Calling to the rental reservations line is another method. Simply call and give them your information of where you are going, when, how many in your party and your age. With this basic information they can give you some ideas to choose from. They will give you examples of what kind of car you can get and for what price. Take notes.

After you decide which car you want, what rate you are paying, you will be given a confirmation number. Write it down. This confirmation number is crucial in proving your point in case the reservation gets lost. Take that confirmation with you as part of your important papers.

Once you arrive at your destination city, you will need to locate the rental counter. There will be signs, if not, ask someone who works at the airport and they will give you directions. In some airports you can walk right to the counter, in others you may need to catch a train or a bus to get to the rental counter. If you have two or more people in your traveling party, it may be better to send one person to get the car and the other person to get the bags. This will save you time if you are comfortable doing so.

At the rental counter, you will be asked for your driver’s license and a credit card. to rent a car, most agencies require some sort of plastic. You are reservation will be looked up by confirmation number, and you will be asked questions about where you will be staying, your home address, contact phone numbers (cell phones are okay), and depending on state law, they may ask for your car insurance card (make sure you bring a copy with you).

If you plan on having someone else drive, there may be a fee and a form to have that person drive. Additional drivers typically need to be 25. Some agencies allow spouses to drive for free. At the counter, they will then ask you about insurance and gas. Insurance you can read about in the lesson called “insurance basics.” Gas is a prepaid tank of gas. What they are trying to do is to get you to prepay for a full tank of gas so you don’t have to fill it up on the way back. Often the prepaid tank per gallon price is the average of the three closest gas stations to the airport, so this isn’t necessarily the worst deal out there, however whether you bring the tank back full, or half full, or bone dry, you pay the same price. So unless you are planning on bringing it bone dry or you really would rather not bother with stopping for convenience, the prepaid gas deal should be declined.

With that you are on your way.  Do a good look-over of the car before you leave. You need to really make sure that the car is in tip top order. Make sure the car is clean and that you know where all the turn signals, the jack, the hazard lights are and are in order before you leave. After you leave the lot is not the time to find something wrong with the car. Remember they see hundreds of cars a day and rely on people like you to tell them when something is wrong. If someone didn’t say something, they may not find it. As you leave, be sure to take note of where the car rental return is, you will need to be there at the end of your trip.

At the end of your trip, fill up the gas and drop off your party at the curb (if it’s more convenient). Drive to the car rental return location and place your car at the designated lanes. There will usually be people pointing to you where to go. Someone may or may not come up to you at the car, look around for a sign that says “please return car inside.” if that’s the case, take the keys and the ending mileage of the car and head into the rental return location. If someone comes up to you, leave the keys in the car and provide that person with the same information. They will provide you a receipt. Before you leave, make sure the price quoted in your reservation is the same as the price on the receipt. If not then do not hesitate to ask immediately. There are some ways to check after the fact, but it’s just better to get it taken care of right away. And with that, you have just completed your first car rental trip!