Five Tips on Renting a Car Abroad

Our first day in Iceland. That Chevy had our back.

Ok, before I continue I will give you our rental car CV (to date):

• All over North America
• Hawaii
• Germany
• England
• Ireland
• Northern Ireland
• Iceland
• Argentina
• Chile
• Norway
• Scotland
• Mexico
• St. Martin
• New Zealand
• France

So, when I give you rental car advice this is where I'm coming from. I don't know if what I tell you will work in other countries, but my feelings and thoughts on the matter have been shaped by these experiences.

So, here are FIVE tips for renting a car abroad.

1. Always book as soon as possible, and then go back and check pricing periodically. Every rental car I have ever booked has had simple/no cost cancellation. So what's my strategy to save my precious money? Book the car right away, and then every couple of months (just for funsies) go back and check to see if rental prices have changed. If they have, book your new car FIRST, then go back and cancel your old reservation. I most recently did this for Norway and saved almost $400.

2. Consider your insurance options. Ok, I know this doesn't sound like a tip but it really is. I think the rental car insurance thing is confusing, so I will break it down for you as I understand and use it. You can a) purchase rental car insurance through your rental agency OR b) through a 3rd party broker (i.e. Orbitz) OR c) you can use your credit card insurance d) your local provider may cover you internationally OR e) you can skip it all together and be 100% responsible for any charges that come up. I am not even going to address the last item because if you're doing that you don't really give two $hits about any travel tips so you're not reading this.

a) Purchasing through your rental agency. If me and Jorge are feeling especially bougie we will throw all our dollar bills onto the rental car counter and say "WE'LL TAKE IT!" All the insurance, that is. This is obviously the most cover your ass way of doing things, you will probably still have a deductible but if you drive your car over a cliff a la Fresh Prince of Belair you will be covered.

b) You can buy insurance through a 3rd party broker such as Orbitz, when you reserve your rental car. This is usually cheaper (but not always!) than directly through the rental agency. If you do this, you need to make sure you decline rental coverage when you actually pick up your car. We have never done this, but it would have been a good option for Norway because they make you buy SOME kind of insurance - if we had 3rd party insurance instead of doing item a), it would have saved us a little money.

c) Here is where you can save some money. Most credit card companies have perks associated with their signature cards. We use Visa, so that's what I can speak to. You need to go through and read YOUR policy. Here's Visa's. The bottom line (for Visa) is that for other than a few countries (Ireland, Israel, Jamaica) if you book the reservation with a Visa Signature card in the driver's name, you can decline CDW coverage and they will cover it. Just CAREFULLY read your credit card provider's documentation on this, as there might be slight variations. We have used this several times and (thankfully) never needed to file a claim, and it saved us a lot of money.

d) This is an UPDATE! It is POSSIBLE that your local rental insurance may cover you abroad. Ours does not, and most don't, but it would only take you a few minutes to call your local provider and find out.

3. (Maybe) Never get the GPS. So, if I hadn't been to Northern Norway this is what I would say: Decline the GPS because the rental car agencies haven't figured out how to lock the automatic navigation systems in most newer cars, and you'll be able to use it for free anyway. Northern Norway sort of ruined that statement for me, because the navigation system was not enabled. Now, I don't know if that was on purpose or what but other than that, every single time we've gotten a newer car with a nav system, it's been enabled for free. Even if it isn't, you can download offline maps on your phone or IMAGINE THIS, stop at a gas station and ask for help if you're really confused. I will say the times we've gotten the MOST lost we have had a GPS and it didn't know what the hell to tell us to do anyway. If you can't imagine a car without GPS, then maybe you should purchase it, but if you are on a budget AND have a smart phone with cellular/data enabled you will be fine without.

4. Get the smallest car possible. They are actually roomy! Especially if you keep your packing light (like you should). It will make everything 1000X easier: easier to park, less gas, more room for when you invariably hit a 2 lane road thats really 1.5 at best. The only time we ever got a big car was in France because we were traveling with my parents, and we had the worst transportation related experience as a result. I checked to make sure the hotel we were staying at in Reims had a parking garage, but the big honking ass car we had didn't fit (height wise) so we had to stay in a pay parking lot around the corner. Madness ensued.

5. All things being equal (price, availability) it's better to book directly through the rental car agency. Sometimes they are unable to make changes at the counter if you have booked from a 3rd party vendor. I always double check the pricing and if that and the conditions are the same, I will book direct. This way if something comes up at the last minute, you can make adjustments directly with the rental car counter.

The biggest thing I've learned through all our rental car adventures is to take extra time if you need it. Jorge is so good at this - I'm impatient and more of the "GO!" type of driver. He's more of the "wait, and then wait some more because I don't trust OTHER drivers" type and that has really kept us (knock on wood) safe. Here's to many more rental car miles.

Happy driving!