Should you rent a car on your next vacation?  There are a few things to consider:

Are you going to be in a city?  

  • If you are, how easy is it to get around by public transportation?
  • How difficult is it to park (OR how expensive is it to park)?
  • Do you need a car for the entire time or just for a day or 2 to explore outside of the city?

Are you going to be driving in a foreign country?

  • Will you need an international driver’s license?  Check this link for info on which countries will require one.
  • Do you need to include auto insurance?  Will your auto insurance policy cover you if you are in an accident out of the country?
  • Can you drive a manual transmission or only an automatic?  Automatics are not available all over so you may need to rent your car at the airport.
  • What happens if you get a ticket while you are renting a car?

Some other things to consider:

Do you need to pick up your car in one location and drop it off elsewhere ?

  • Ask out about drop off charges that you may incur by doing this.

Will you be sharing the driving with someone else?  

  • Many of the car rental agencies will only allow 1 driver on the contract so consider paying the extra fee upon pick up for the 2nd driver.

Will your GPS work or should you rent one with your car rental? 

  • If you are going to be abroad, you can rack up enormous data charges by using your phone for navigation, so you should consider a GPS.
  • If you have a GPS, will it work in the destination in which you will be traveling?  Check it our before you leave.
  • If you need to rent a GPS, pre-reserve it when you rent your car so that you know you’ll be able to get it.

Do you need a car or booster seat for the kids?

  • If you don’t want to bring yours on the flight, reserve the car seat when you rent the car.
  • Consider taking a fabric car seat cover with you because you may not know how clean the rented car seat may be.

YOU WILL NEED A VALID CREDIT CARD IN YOUR NAME IN ORDER TO PICK UP YOUR CAR RENTAL!!!

My Vacation Lady will suggest car rentals in some destinations and not in others.  That’s one of the things that we’ll talk about when you are ready to book your vacation or honeymoon with My Vacation Lady.  There’s no reason to rent a car and have it sit in a parking lot if you don’t want to leave a resort but if you are going to some destinations like Hawaii– Maui, Kauai or the Big Island, we do recommend getting in a car and exploring.  That’s just part of the personalized service that we provide to our clients.