Dear Right Way to Travel Reader,
Here’s your third special report…
This week we interviewed three travel industry experts to find their juiciest travel secrets for landing discount hotel rooms, upgrades, and more.
You’ll find our report: Confessions of a Rental Car Manager, below...
Enjoy!
Lori Allen
Director, AWAI Travel Division
P.S. Speaking of industry experts, graphic designer Lori Haller (the one who just finished a project for Oprah) will be coming to the Ultimate Money-Making Photography Workshop this March in New Orleans. She’ll tell you what kinds of photos she and other designers need most right now... and, as an attendee, you’ll be able to put your name on her go-to list of photographers. Whenever Lori needs to buy a specific image, she’ll e-mail you first.
*************************
November 22, 2008
The Right Way to Travel
Travel Insider Secrets Series - #3 Confessions of a Rental Car Manager
*************************
RENTAL CAR MANAGER’S TIPS FOR HOT DEALS, FAST SERVICE
By Bonnie Caton in Arlington, Virginia
On the hunt for good deals and insider travel tips, I stopped in to my local rental car agency. Here are a few pearls of rental car wisdom the branch manager shared with me. I hope you’ll find them useful next time you rent a car...
**1. Book ahead. Whatever price you’re given when you reserve, that’s the price you’re guaranteed. If the location where you’re renting runs out of smaller cars and has to give you a nicer one, then you still pay the same rate. But if you show up without a reservation and they’re out of small cars, you might have to pay a higher rate.
**2. Reserve the smallest car you’re comfortable driving. Chances are, when you get to the rental car location, you can upgrade to a nicer car for cheaper than you can online, and sometimes even for free. Just ask. It all depends on what they have sitting on the lot. If there aren’t any upgrades available, or you don’t want to pay for one, you’re still in a car that you’re comfortable driving.
**3. Don’t rent at the airport. State taxes, airport taxes, and airport bus fees drive prices up on airport car rentals. Instead, try booking online or by phone with a location close to where you’re staying. Sometimes it’s still cheaper, even after you factor in the price of a taxi or shuttle from the airport to the rental car location.
**4. Call ahead to check the rental agency’s rules and regulations. In many rental car agencies, you can’t rent a car with a debit card unless you have proof of your residence in that area, like a piece of mail addressed to you. Call ahead to make sure you know what you need and you can save yourself an hour or two when you get to the rental location.
**5. Consider “frequent renter” programs. Most agencies have a free program you can join, just like airline frequent flier programs. Signing up can save you loads of time when you get to the rental agency, since they’ll already have your information in their system. Contracts that would otherwise take at least half an hour to fill out will be ready for you to sign in about five minutes. Plus, you can often bypass lines, earn points, get special deals not available to all customers, have access to better vehicles, and more.
**6. Check for weekend sales and specials. Many of the big rental car agencies will offer weekend sales (sometimes even half off) and seasonal specials. Check around online before you reserve.
I also asked the manager what he’d like to tell the public... one thing that people do that he wished they wouldn’t. Without hesitating, he said, “Don’t smoke in the car.” He’s a smoker, himself, he told me, but he won’t smoke in a rental car. “It’s just not fair to the people who rent it after you.”
*************************
The Right Way to Travel is a FREE newsletter from the American Writers & Artists Inc., available to AWAI members and friends.
It is coming to you because you are either a member of The Ultimate Travel Writer's Program or Turn Your Pictures into Cash, or you have opted to receive information about getting paid to travel from the AWAI Travel Division.
(c) 2008 American Writers & Artists Inc.
245 NE 4th Ave., Ste 102
Delray Beach, FL 33483
Phone (561) 278-5557
Fax (561) 278-5929
memberservices@awaionline.com
To LEARN MORE, visit:
http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com
http://www.thephotographerslife.com
