Tips to hire a cheap Self-Drive Car Rental in India

Tips to hire a cheap Self-Drive Car Rental in India

You logged on to a company website that stated only 50 INR for an hour for a hatchback Self-Drive Car, but the actual price of the daily rental turned out to be more than 2,500 per day when you were about to pay! If you have ever rented a Self-Drive Car, you might have experienced the extreme anger raging inside you when you got to know that the company does not offer the car at its quoted rate; they, in fact, double the price during weekends and other holidays, charge enormous amounts of taxes, and add several other fees. Nevertheless, you have several way outs to save money on car rentals if you act smart and use these tips.

Membership programs

If you are fond of driving cars on the gliding boulevards and snaky roads on the hills, and you do not own a car, you must sign up for the membership programs offered by various car rental companies. These programs are meant to provide immediate benefits to the customers; it is imprudent not to take them. The car rental membership programs are not like the frequent-flyer programs of airlines that compel you to use their credit card to avail the benefits. The car rental affiliations are generally free of cost and start giving benefits quite early.

Use the discount codes

Since the car rental companies are relatively new in India, they keep offering various discount coupons and coupon codes. You can keep a watch on such offers or log in to websites dedicated to provide discount codes. For example, Groupon, Coupondunia, Couponguru, Grabthedeal are a few websites that provide exciting offers of hundreds of companies.

Get free upgrade of car for membership programs

The self-drive car booking is sometimes not available because of various reasons such as the location of the car, the weekend is sluggish, or the car is in the garage for service. In such cases, a few companies may provide free upgrades for cars, but the other companies may not do so for to non-members in case the booked car is not available. In that case, if you are have enrolled for a membership program, the company gives you preference for providing an upgraded car. However, do take care that you talk politely to your agent while asking for an upgrade. The insiders of this trade say that the companies are often willing to offer cars in the name of up-gradation that are not rented often, which ultimately benefits the customers. You never know, you may get a Cruze when you have booked only Renault Scala.

Make advance booking

You can get the best bet if you make advance booking for a Self-Drive Car; afterward, you must keep checking the rates to watch if they have fallen. The car rental companies have software that connects to travel sites to adjust their prices according to the inventory available and listed prices. The prices usually go up during extended weekends and gazetted holidays; people make booking a month in advance for such bookings. If you are able to plan sooner than a month, you can crack great deals. Moreover, if you find that the prices have fallen after your booking, you can ask the company for a price adjustment.

Call the car rental company for longer trips

The car rental companies are run by humans after all, who can definitely negotiate unlike computer software or mobile apps. Most people hesitate to call the company office just because they assume that they will not get better deals. If you are planning a trip for more than a week, you can ask the company for options like mini-lease, monthly rental, or weekly rental; which are cheaper than the daily rates published on the websites.

Cancel free of cost

The car rental companies let you cancel the booking for the self-driving car if you do so before the stipulated time. Moreover, if you have not provided your credit card details, you do not need to worry about any penalty being levied by the company. Even if you have paid in advance, you can cancel your booking 24 hours prior to traveling. Do read the company policies written in fine print before you book a car.

Consider weekdays or weekends for bookings

A few car rental businesses have a dedicated fleet for Self-Drive Car rentals, and the others provide their cars for their corporate clients during weekdays. With the latter, you may find it difficult to get cheaper rates during weekdays because their corporate clients provide them a promised rate, which is usually higher. That is why; they give lesser importance to retail clients during weekdays. With such companies, you may find cheaper rates during weekends, but the options of cars may be significantly fewer.

Do not pre-pay for fuel

Pre-paying in advance for fuel is not a smart move as you never know the exact amount of fuel you will be using for your short or long trip. Look for such companies that let you pay for your own fuel, which lets you save money. You do not have to pay for the unused fuel in the tank.

The self-drive car prices keep fluctuating on a daily basis, so it is better to use the tips mentioned above to get the best bargain rates and plan your vacation well in advance to get the maximum worth of your money.