Car Hire Tips UK

When the car rental companies are organizing their fleets and setting their prices they look at the most popular times to rent and price up accordingly. For leisure rentals this means that the most popular time to hire a car is at the weekend. No great surprises there.

The same is true when people hire vans too, as you tend to do jobs that need vans at the weekend too. This gives the rental companies something of a problem. In order to service the demand of the leisure customers at the weekend they need to provide enough cars and vans to cover their orders. This means that in the week they could be stuck with too many cars doing nothing.

As a customer, you really want to be renting when they have too many cars doing nothing because this is where you can get some really great rental bargains. One of the ways rental firms measure performance is on vehicle utilization so there’s really nothing worse than having cars sitting around doing nothing.

That’s where you come in. If you need a car at the weekend when everyone else does you’re going to pay the going rate, but imagine you turning up when the car park’s full and there’s no queue. If you get this right, you’ll be amazed at how cheap you can get that car rented for.

I know it’s often impractical to travel during the week instead of the weekend but just compare the rates you can get sometimes, before you need to travel and you might see some rates that make you think twice before you follow the crowd.

One final tip on this theme is to look out for seasonal events that can also cause this effect on rental companies. Christmas is hugely busy so imagine how many cars are parked doing nothing at the beginning of January. The same logic can apply to regional events, festivals, sports events, etc. so do some research if you can and travel when it you can get the best deals.

Most of the time when people are getting quotes for car hire they’ll go for either a compact or economy car, based on the logical assumption that these are going to return the best prices; and for the most part you’d be right. However, this is somewhere else where you could sniff out a bargain.

Because most people book economy and compact cars these are in the greatest demand, have the greatest overall fleet and the lowest holding costs for the rental company. The larger car groups are in much lower volume and have far higher costs if they don’t get rented out to customers.

Because of this the rental companies will manage their availability of the larger car groups as carefully as possible to avoid getting stuck with these cars in the car park. With this in mind if you’re making a last minute booking it’s worth checking the prices on larger cars too as you might be in for a pleasant surprise.

There’s two ways you can benefit from this situation. The first (and most obvious) way is that the rental company may well have priced a larger car cheaper than a car in the smaller but more popular compact category. If this is the case you might as well take advantage right away and get more car for your money.

The second (and less obvious) way to benefit in this situation is to try and get a free upgrade. This method can take a little more cheek on your part but it’s worth asking about free upgrades when you collect your vehicle.

If it’s late in the day on a Friday for example, the station doesn’t want to be stuck with any big cars in the car park, as it could be stuck with them until Monday. If they’re going to be stuck with anything, they’d much rather it was a small car as it’ll cost them less and there’s always the chance that they’ll shift it on Saturday.

In this scenario you could well get a car two or three groups bigger without having to pay any more (or very little more) for the privilege, and the rental station will probably be happy with the deal too, so it’s worth asking.

I recently traveled from Leeds to London on the train as I wanted a nice stress free journey, and ideally needed to get some work done on my laptop while I was traveling. Having a meeting in 4 hours time, I took a train that would arrive, leaving me half an hour to spare for the final leg across London.

Although the train ticket was more expensive than hiring and fuelling a small car to do the same journey, I thought with the journey times being so similar it would be an ideal opportunity to catch up on a bit of work on a stress free journey.

The ideal was shattered early on. I arrived for my train and was pleased to see it was waiting for me, on time and all ready to go. However, when I tried to find a seat with a table that was another matter. It wasn’t that there weren’t any; they were just all plastered with “Reserved” notices. A little disgruntled I settled down in a slightly more cramped single row seat.

Pulling down the little seat back table in front of me I realized that it wasn’t big enough to accommodate my modest (15” screen) laptop so up it went again and my lap really was the only place to use. Oh well, there was a plug to my side so providing I could get comfy, at least I knew I wouldn’t run out of juice.

The train set off and I began to work, trying out several yoga moves to either stop the pins and needles setting in or avoid the glare of the sun (yes, you remember that day too?). Suffice to say it wasn’t going great. After about half an hour I gave up, consoling myself that I could at least have a little nap and arrive fresh for my meeting later on.

Just outside Doncaster station the wagons ground to a halt. And there we sat for about twenty minutes before a voice came over the intercom apologizing for the delay while an “incident” was occurring in the Doncaster area. I never did find out what that “incident” was.

So a further half an hour later we arrive in a very busy Doncaster where we’re asked to change trains for reasons unknown. It dawns on me that I’m going to be late for my meeting so I try to find out my new ETA from a nearby rail worker. He has no idea and advises me not to trust what’s written on the computer screens either as they’re on the blink. Apparently the only reliable source of information is blaring out from the distorted station speakers.

The “incident” continues; the station gets fuller as other trains arrive. About an hour later a train for London is on the platform and a sweaty, angry horde of commuter clamber onboard in search of a seat. I refuse the cattle train option, reasoning that if the “incident” is over another train should be along soon.

Sure enough, after another ten minutes there’s another train going my way and this one is a little less cramped so I climb on. Finding one of the few available seats I take a deep breath and work out how late I’m going to be for the meeting. It all adds up to just over two hours so I join the throng of people ringing through to let people know when they’ll arrive.
The meeting was scheduled for two hours and other participants needed to be elsewhere after so it looked like my day was pretty much ruined at this point. Having no other reason to continue the journey I got off at Peterborough, swapped platforms and headed home.

Now I know I was unlucky, I know that trains sometimes run on-time too, but I couldn’t escape that feeling of helplessness that there was nothing I could do to escape my fate. At least, stuck in traffic, I can plan alternate routes, take short cuts, avoid traffic jams. On balance, next time I’ll take the car.

If you’re looking for cheap car hire, most of the tips you’ll read, including a lot of those here, will tell you how to get the cheapest price when you rent a car. But there are more ways to cut the cost of your car hire than just the price you pay for the rental.

With the ever increasing price of fuel these days following a few simple rules to cut the amount of petrol (or diesel) you use could end up saving you a lot of money. Luckily, rental cars are usually well maintained and the tyres correctly inflated so they should already be reasonably efficient to start with.

Avoid short trips
Avoid taking lots of short journeys if possible. Try to combine short trips so that once you warm up the engine, you keep it running for a while. Continually warming up your engine for lots of short journeys will waste fuel.

Turn off the air conditioning
Try not to excessively use your air conditioning, as this will cause your car to burn more fuel. On the other hand, driving with the windows down is also inefficient as the drag on the car increases, especially at high speeds.

As a general rule, it’s most efficient to use air conditioning for motorway driving only when necessary and wind the windows down on slower journeys.

Drive Slower
Avoid erratic driving. Driving like a boy-racer by flooring the accelerator at the lights when in a rush or slamming on the brakes when driving too fast you will increase your cars fuel consumption (up to 60%). Try to accelerate and brake smoothly and steadily to improve fuel economy as well as your road safety.

Drive at the recommended speed. If you drive too fast you will notice your fuel gauge dropping quickly. Every 5 miles per hour that you drive over 60mph can reduce your fuel economy by 10%. If you’re not in a hurry to get anywhere, doing 70mph will use between 20% and 30% more fuel than doing 50mph - suddenly being stuck behind a lorry doesn’t seem so bad!

Don’t rev the engine. Revving the engine whilst stationary does nothing except waste fuel!

Lose excess weight
Avoid driving with an unnecessarily full car. An empty roof rack or a full boot will add to your fuel consumption.

Avoid idling
Avoid excessive idling of your engine. Many people run their engines whilst stationary in order to warm them up but the car is then consuming fuel but not going anywhere. Instead invest in some decent de-icer and try to drive off straight away.

If waiting somewhere for more than a few minutes, waiting to pick someone up or stuck in a  traffic jam then it is often more economical to switch the engine off. Idling also adds to pollution.

Use the gears wisely
Drive in the correct gear. The correct use of gears can make savings on your fuel bill of up to 15%! Most fuel is consumed in the lower gears when starting as more power is needed but when driving at higher speeds you should drive in the highest gear possible for best fuel economy.

Read the road ahead
When driving, try to look ahead and read the conditions of the road. Look out for anything that might require you to slow down or stop such as traffic lights or someone attempting to park. By anticipate what is coming up, you’ll not only be a safer driver, but you’ll save fuel by starting to slow down early and not needing to come to a stop.

So, follow this simple guide and you save a few more pounds.

Car hire is widely available throughout the United States of America (USA) from all the major car rental companies. The USA is enormous in comparison to other countries, so much so that the car rental business of the state of California is worth more to the industry in revenue that the whole of the UK market!

With a land of such size and scope it’s hard to sum up what the United States has in a few short paragraphs. From the cosmopolitan chic of New York, the wild western states, the swamps of the Deep South, the glamour of the sunshine state of California through to the tropical paradise of Hawaii, the states surely has a claim more than that of any other country of having “something for everyone”.

Driving in the USA
If you’re planning to rent a car while in the USA there’s some basic information you’re going to need to get you on your way. Firstly, and quite importantly if you’re British, get ready to drive on the right hand side of the road. That’s the wrong side if you’re British! This means you should always overtake on the left.

Local Laws
Forty-nine states (all except New Hampshire) and the District of Columbia have mandatory safety belt laws. In most states, these laws cover front-seat occupants only, although belt laws in 12 states (Alaska, California, District of Columbia, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington) cover all rear seat occupants, too.

Beware of the strange custom in Georgia where if you ‘carve up’ a driver, you should raise two fingers (v sign) to them to indicate your regret.

There are no roundabouts in the USA but lots of crossroads. Therefore, everyone sits and waits - there seems to be an unwritten courtesy about who goes first.

When leaving an interstate, slow down only when you are totally in the deceleration lane.

While a school bus is loading or unloading, traffic in both directions must stop.

Speed Limits
There are 50 states in the USA, each with their own laws and varying speed limits. Interstate speed limits range between 55 and 75 mph and in Montana there are none.

Drink Driving
All states except Massachusetts, South Carolina and the District of Columbia prohibit drinking and driving. In some states, blood alcohol concentration can be as low as 0.08% for conviction, so don’t do it.

Car hire in Malta is widely available from all the major car rental companies, despite its size. Malta is an island nation in the Mediterranean. The country is an archipelago, with only the three largest islands (Malta, Gozo, and Comino) being inhabited.

As a very popular holiday destination Malta has much on offer to the tourist with its ideal placement in the Mediterranean with a warm, dry climate. Winter days can be wet, cool and windy or mild and sunny while in spring and autumn the latter is more usual. Summers are virtually guaranteed to be dry and hot.

As the Malta is so popular it’s recommended to book your car rental before you leave as you’ll almost definitely get a better price booking in advance than you will at the counter.

Driving in Malta
If you’re planning to rent a car while in Malta there’s some basic information you’re going to need to get you on your way. Firstly, and quite importantly get ready to drive on the left hand side of the road. This is different to most other countries so could take some getting used to. This means that you should always overtake vehicles on the right, and give priority to traffic coming from the right at roundabouts (traffic islands).

As with large portions of Europe, it is compulsory to carry a warning triangle. Seat belts are also compulsory in the front and, if fitted, in the rear.

Speed Limits
The common speed limits are 40 km/h (25mph) in built up areas and 64 km/h (40mph) out of town. Malta doesn’t have any motorways.

Drink Driving
As with most other European countries drink driving is heavily frowned upon in Malta and the limit is quite low (currently 80mg) at the same level it is in the UK so it’s not worth taking any risks.

You’ll have no doubt seen all the press coverage about environmentally friendly hybrid cars, how green they are (or not) and how you should consider one if you’re going to rent a car in the future. So, let’s take a look at them and see if it’s the right choice for you.

Firstly, what is a hybrid car? Hybrid cars combine the use of two power sources to power the car. There are a number of different hybrid car types available including electric cars, bio-ethanol cars, diesel cars, bio-diesel cars, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cars, and alternate fuel cars such as hydrogen cars, but the most common hybrids cars available on the market today use a combination of both petrol combustion engines and electric motors.

The benefits come from driving a car which combines a petrol engine with other fuel sources, which will then produce less CO2 and pollution. This is better for the environment in the long run but in addition to this there are some financial benefits as often hybrid cars are exempt from the London congestion charge and can qualify for cheaper car tax.

So, if you’re looking to rent a car sometime in the near future, you now know a bit more about your choices when it comes to a hybrid.

Car hire is widely available throughout Italy from all the major car rental companies. Italy is home to the greatest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites - art and monuments are everywhere around the country. It is also famous worldwide for its cuisine, its fashion, sports cars and motorcycles, as well as for its beautiful coasts, lakes and mountains (the Alps and Appennines).

Two independent mini-states lie within Italy: San Marino and Vatican City. While technically not part of the European Union, both of these states are also part of the Schengen Region and the European Monetary Union.

Driving in the Italy
If you’re planning to rent a car while in the Italy there’s some basic information you’re going to need to get you on your way. Firstly, and quite importantly if you’re British, get ready to drive on the right hand side of the road. That’s the wrong side if you’re British! This means you should always overtake on the left.

All grades of unleaded petrol (benzina), diesel (gasolio) and LPG are available as well as lead substitute additive. Leaded no longer exists. Credit and debit cards are widely accepted, although they probably won’t work at automatic pumps, which are often the only pumps open out-of-hours and at lunch-time away from the Autostrada.

Local Laws
On the spot fines are issued for a variety of traffic offences. Ensure an official receipt is issued by the officer collecting the fine.

Children under four cannot travel unless they use a suitable restraint system. Children between four and 12 cannot travel in the front unless using a suitable restraint system.

Dipped headlights must be used in poor daytime visibility and in all tunnels at all times. They must also be used when on motorways, dual carriageways, and on all out of town roads. Motorcycles must use dipped headlights during the day at all times.

Replacement bulbs and first aid kits are not currently a legal requirement to be carried at all times but are highly recommended.

Speed Limits
The common speed limits are 50 km/h (31mph) in built up areas, 90 km/h (56mph) out of town, and on motorways it’s 130 km/h (81mph). Speed limits are also quite vigorously enforced throughout Italy and the on the spot fines can be pretty expensive.

Drink Driving
As with most other European countries drink driving is heavily frowned upon in Italy and the limit is very low (currently 50mg) even lower than in the UK so it’s not worth taking any risks.

Sixt is one of Europe’s largest car rental companies, having more that 3,500 rental locations covering 80 countries. The company was founded in 1912 as “Sixt Autofahrten und Selbstfahrer” by Martin Sixt with an initial fleet of only 7 cars, four Mercedes and three Luxus-Deutz-Landaulets.

Sixt was one of the first rent-a-car companies in Germany, specialising in day-trips and custom tours. The first clients were almost exclusively members of the British nobility and dollar-rich Americans.

Sixt suffered a setback during 1914 due to World War 1, as vehicles and drivers were placed under the High Command of the Army and confiscated. It bounced back after the war though and in 1919 the expansion of the company continued. Notably, Martin Sixt bought the Munich location, Seitzstrasse no. 11, which even today is one of the most-visited Sixt city locations.

In 1927, founder Martin Sixt handed over the company to his nephew Hans Sixt. 2 years later Sixt made the decision to make its fleet exclusively Mercedes cars because of problems getting spare parts for foreign cars.

Disaster loomed again for the company with the onset of World War II. As with the First World War, in 1939 The German Wehrmacht confiscates all of Sixt’s rental vehicles due to the war. Only a seven-seat Mercedes 230 Landaulet that was hidden in a barn made it through the war for the company. A chapter in the company’s history ended when founder Martin Sixt died in May 1945.

After the war, Sixt re-launched with the single Mercedes 230 Landaulet as a chauffeured limousine. Part of the re-launch included setting up an Export-Taxi fleet for members of the US Army. In 1948, as a first in Europe, Hans Sixt employs radio taxis in Munich. The current form of the company, as “Auto Sixt” Rent a Car, was established in 1951.

Sixt, like many other car rental firms expanded rapidly, fuelled by growth in airline travel. As part of this trend, in 1966, the first airport offices in Frankfurt am Main and Munich were opened.

“Auto Sixt”, in 1967, became the first German company to launch a leasing program for vehicles. In 1970, vans are added to the Sixt fleet. By 1977, Sixt had operations in all major airports in Germany and a license agreement with Budget Rent a Car.

As of 1980, the company changed its name from “Auto Sixt” to “Sixt Autovermietung GmbH”. As part of financing reform of the company, Sixt goes public in a stock-market launch of “Sixt Aktiengesellschaft” in 1986, during a time when the rental car business in financial troubles worldwide, partly due to strong price competition.

In 1993, the company announced a new structure of the Sixt Group with Sixt AG as a holding company. This new structure separated out the rent-a-car business as “Sixt GmbH & Co Autovermietung KG”. Sixt became the leading German rent-a-car company in 1994.

Since then, the company has been expanding, both in domestic European market, as well as in the rapidly growing Asian market, with some 646 rental cars in the inventory reported for 2006.

Car hire is widely available throughout the Belgium from all the major car rental companies even though it’s relatively small in European terms. Belgium attracts reasonable tourism, mainly from close neighbours, France, The Netherlands, UK and Germany.

Most popular is the capital, Brussels (French Bruxelles, Dutch Brussel) which is renowned for its architecture (medieval, Gothic, Art Nouveau and Art Déco), the Grand Place (an old market square surrounded by buildings from 16th - 18th centuries), the royal palace, its pubs, gallerias with expensive boutiques (some say the oldest covered shopping arcades in the world) and its lifestyle.

Driving in Belgium
If you’re planning to rent a car while in Belgium there’s some basic information you’re going to need to get you on your way. Firstly, and quite importantly if you’re British, get ready to drive on the right hand side of the road. That’s the wrong side if you’re British! This means you should always overtake on the left.

The flashing of headlights is used as a warning in Belgium and dipped headlights should be used between dusk and dawn.

Local Laws
Motoring offences attract an on-the-spot fine. An official receipt should be issued.

It is compulsory to carry a warning triangle. Also, seat belts are compulsory in both the front and rear.

Traffic entering roundabouts has priority except where signs say ‘cedez le passage’ or ‘vous n’avez pas la priorité’, where the traffic on the roundabout has priority.

Speed Limits
The common speed limits are 50 km/h (31mph) in built up areas, 90 km/h (56mph) out of town, and on motorways it’s 120 km/h (74mph).

Drink Driving
As with most other European countries drink driving is heavily frowned upon in Belgium and the limit is extremely low here (currently 50mg) which is barely 1 unit of alcohol, so you should think very carefully before touching a drop.

Parking
A ‘blue zone’ parking system operates in major towns. Discs are available from police, garages and tobacconists.

Do not park within 50 feet (15m) of a bus, tram or trolleybus stop or in the immediate vicinity of train and tram lines crossing the road.