My tips for Rental Cars

We all know that shopping for prices and reserving a car well in advance of the travel dates are important to secure the best prices.

I rarely need to rent a car in my home country since I have a car. When I need one, I shop around using international sites and believe it or not, I get the best prices through them.

I usually need a car when I am abroad. With my upcoming trip I need a car for about 41 days. Rental companies allow you to rent for only 30 days so, as I am dropping the first rental, I will be picking up the other.

I have started searching and reserving good deals months ago and made and canceled several reservations. I wasn't expecting to find better deals as the date approaches but, I kept on looking and am very glad I did. This week I have been pleasantly surprised by a better deal on the first rental.

I use AUTOSLASH and a few other sites but, I found the best prices through AUTOSLASH this time. It is a real neat site where you can enter your reservation details so that they can track and find you even better deals if possible. You get to see the offers and then make the reservation online through Priceline. If you are a foreigner like I am, do use a VPN to be able to see the Autoslash offers on Priceline. If you don't, you may see higher prices. Autoslash has a pop-up that tells you this. You may always ask for help and they respond pretty quickly. I am not being paid for this post and this represents my experience.

My time frame for rentals include Thanksgiving and days close to Christmas. One of the busiest times when car rental prices sky rocket. It is always more expensive in the New York area anyway.

I am pretty comfortable with the current prices on my reservations. The killer is Damage Waiver and Additional Liability Insurance. American consumers who already own cars and car insurance do not have to purchase those since their policies cover rentals. As a foreigner I have to. I knew this from the start and have made my budget accordingly.

I have rented cars several times and have never needed the insurance but, I am not going to risk anything. Peace of mind is important. I hope never to need the insurance and always be able to pay for it.