Media post: From Air To Road: Top Tips For Navigating Overseas Car Hires
If you’re going travelling, it pays to think about how you plan to get around. Admittedly, this doesn’t matter all that much if you’re planning to stay near your hotel, but if you want to actually experience a new country, having your own vehicle is the easiest, most enjoyable way to do it.
This is why overseas car hire is becoming an increasingly popular option. Forget waiting around for buses that might never come – hiring a car could see you exploring the Australian outback with a new Toyota or traversing the Andes in a Merc. You’ll be able to stop off wherever you like and leave for your next adventure at a moment’s notice.
That said, hiring a car abroad isn’t always a walk in the park and, if you get it wrong, it could be more disruptive to your trip than public transport. Avoid that risk by considering the following simple steps to ensure your car hire goes off without a hitch.
# 1 – Choose Between Airport Or Off Site Car Hire
Your first step to a smooth car hire overseas is to simply choose between airport or off-site options. While car hire from airports like London Gatwick has obvious benefits including ease and immediacy, many travellers still choose to rent from offsite providers due to airport surcharges that could cost up to 30% of your rental fee.
When choosing between these options, it’s worth considering whether any off-site rental locations offer airport shuttles to ease your transition. It’s also important to note that, even with surcharge costs, some airport providers in locations like London will still be cheaper than inner-city options.
Weighing up the choices in your area, and considering benefits like immediate delivery and the speed of returning your vehicle, will help you make the right choice for your trip.
# 2 – Plan Your Pickup Carefully
Picking up a rental car can be a stressful process, especially if you haven’t planned well. With airport rental companies, potential delays with luggage arrivals, and also long queues as a flight comes in, can be particularly overwhelming.
The best planning step you can take is to simply leave plenty of time to pick up your vehicle from the time you arrive in Gatwick, or whichever airport you’re heading to. You certainly shouldn’t use your arrival time as your intended pick-up slot. Instead, make your vehicle pickup time at least half an hour after arrival to leave plenty of space for things like lengthy customs or baggage delays.
It’s also worth remembering that waiting for extended periods in a long queue with your luggage and family in tow will quickly get stressful. Avoid the hassle by booking luggage storage Gatwick Airport which means you can drop your bags off while you sort your rental. Equally, look into airport amenities, which in Gatwick include multiple restaurants like Pizza Express and Nando’s, as well as Starbucks, Krispy Kreme, and more. Plan your route through the airport according to these spots, and drop your family off here so they can wait in comfort while you do the hard work of rental pickup.
# 3 – Always Pre-Book
If you’re planning to turn up and simply hire a car in the moment, you can forget it. Airport rentals, in particular, tend to be at capacity. Prebooking is the only way to guarantee you’re not left at the airport with no way to get around. And, trust us when we say that’s going to make the start of your trip a whole lot more enjoyable!
Pre-booking is also beneficial because it typically means you’ll have a choice of top vehicles, instead of simply needing to settle for whatever option’s left in the warehouse once every other driver’s taken their pick. You may also find that pre-booking is significantly cheaper than bookings made on the day.
Luckily, most esteemed car rental providers will make it easy to pre-book online. Airport rentals will even often allow you to enter information like your flight number and arrival gate so that they can take things like flight delays into account for you on the day.
# 4 – Bring Your Own Extras
One thing you probably won’t see on your pre-booking form is additional extras like sat navs and other in-car tech. This is because these tend to be things you’ll have to pay for on the day depending on availability. That can result in quickly escalating costs that are difficult to factor for, but it’s an issue you can avoid by simply bringing your extras with you.
Admittedly, it might be easier to just get options like a car seat once you arrive, though airports like Gatwick do typically allow you to either board with a car seat and also use it during the flight, or check it for free with your luggage. Still, it’s a bulky thing to carry, but that’s not true with small devices like a satnav slipped into your carry-on.
Alternatively, you may be better off just making do with your phone for directions, and either bringing or buying a small windscreen phone holder that’ll cost far less than paying for this addition to your rental.
# 5 – Get on Top With Rental Returns
Rushing to the airport at the end of your trip is stressful enough, let alone if you also have to navigate a lengthy returns process with your rental car.
If you’ve opted for an off-site rental, simply returning your car a day early is the best way around this, as it saves you navigating city traffic when you should be on your way to the airport.
Equally, with an airport rental, you should leave plenty of time for arrival, and confirm in advance where you’re due to drop off your car on the day. This saves you from driving around sizable airport car parks without a clue, and ultimately missing the call for your gate.
Remember, renting a car for your travels is supposed to be a stress-free, convenient option. Make sure that’s the case by bearing these pointers in mind.
