My problem is that I like small cars and always get stuck with larger vehicles I am not comfortable in. I lived quite awhile in Europe and became fond of the smaller cars.
I feel like my grandfather or someone of his generation traveling around in a land yacht sometimes when I get upgrades. Once I was stuck with a double upgrade and ended up with some huge Lincoln of some sort and I was miserable in the thing.
If you don’t rent cars frequently, you might not notice that some of the junk mail that gets stuffed in the envelope with your credit card statements and/or bills sometimes has rental car discounts. AAA and AARP have been mentioned, but quite a few large organizations have rental car discount deals. I usually end up saving with an AOPA or EAA code for my non-business travel. I’ve found that if I’m courteous and friendly with the person behind the desk, I’m more likely to get the upgrade or a better deal, even without asking.
Good advice above, so on a somewhat different tack…
Consider joining something like Hertz’s #1 Gold program. You don’t have to stand in line at the rental counter. Just go to the sign, look for your name and stall number, get in the car, the documents are already there, show them and your license on the way out. You’re gone.
Not stumping for Hertz, but they do have the NeverLost system you can get. Sometimes this is priceless. Depends on your situation, of course.
National has, or had, the Emerald Isle where you don’t have to worry about upgrades, just get off the bus and pick the best car available. Kind of hit & miss, but sometimes results in your getting a pretty nice car.
If you’re at the counter, ask if there are any special deals today. You can sometimes get a good rate on a big car/convertible/sporty model/SUV which might be appealing, and maybe even cheaper.
Before I reserve a car, I always call in advance to ensure that they have tiny little imports (Subaru, Honda, etc.) available. Hertz is pretty good about this.
Budget has a “Fastbreak” plan that makes check-in and check-out a lot faster. I imagine most car-rental companies have something like this now.
And, before I commit to a car, I physically sit in it to check for cigarette smoke. There’s nothing grosser than being stuck with that smell for a couple of days.
Either ask the people at the rental center or look and find the nearest gas station from the rental place before you drive away. I have sometimes spent nearly half an hour looking for that gas station.
When you return, check the car thoroughly for your stuff. Every car that is new to you has some weird compartment that you think is cool when you first get in and you forget about when you drop off the car and your cell phone or your sunglasses are sitting in there.
Ooo, I almost forgot: While your personal car insurance will cover accidents in your vehicle and a rental, it often does NOT cover theft or fire, which is something to think about. If your insurance doesn’t cover theft, then you’re stuck with the cost of replacing the rental if it’s stolen.
Don’t forget to press “Eject” on the CD player. I almost left 6 cd’s in a Ford Explorer one time.
Right. Think about it. Do you really want to depend on your credit card company? Do you think dealing with them will be easy?
A long time ago, I had a credit card that offered rental car insurance when the card was used to rent the car. Prior to renting acar, I called the credit card company and asked for the details of the insurance to be sent to me. They never sent it. Not a good sign, so I decided to get the insurance offered by the rental car place.
Also, if you drive old cars like I do and carry only liability insurance on the cars you own, your insurance may not include comprehensive or collision insurance on a rental car. Maybe someone who knows more about insurance can provide more info on this.
You can also at least get a car with license plates from the state you’re visiting. The out of state plates stick out to cops.
Also, accidents are more common in rental cars than with your own personal car. When you’re traveling you are usually in an unfamiliar city driving unfamiliar roads with an unfamiliar car. Also, you are likely more tired than you are at home.
If the car is dirty, say it rained the night before and there is a light mist of dirt/dust or some mud on it, make sure it is noted on the contract. I think I ended up paying for a windshield chip because I didn’t make them wash the dust off the windshield before I checked out.
If your company has travel policies see if they will foot the bill for a preferred card membership for one of the big chains. My company has deals with National, Hertz, and Enterprise. They pick up the annual membership fee for the preferred card and I can use it for business or personal use. With National I just make my reservation, walk up to the preffered aisle(which has a large selection of vehicles from compacts to minivans to SUVs) and pick whatever I want. Same flat rate applies no matter what I drive.
Read the fine print on whatever credit card you will be using. Make sure you are covered before you decline the loss waiver insurance. Many non-gold cards have this benefit as well as additional life insurance for travelers who use the card to travel.
A lot of rental agencies publish coupons in the yellow pages, online, or in coupon books you buy from local grocery stores(like the Entertainment book). Free upgrade coupons are the most common, but sometimes you can find percentage off or free days coupons. I just glanced at my SBC Yellow pages for Dallas/Ft. Worth and there was a $10 coupon for Advantage Rental Car. Ten bucks is ten bucks.
One last bit of advice. When you are frantically rushing to make your flight back home and forget gas, turn around and find a gas station, then pump your gas and start to race back to the airport. Do NOT just throw your credit card in the passenger seat intending to pick it up later. It may well slip down in the seat and be found by some unscrupulous person who will rack up charges and you will then have to deal with dispute paperwork over the Christmas holidays.
Or maybe I’m projecting a bit…
Enjoy,
Steven
I second this. I left the first disc to “Meet Me In Margaritaville” in my rental in Maui a couple of years ago.
The prepaid gas can be very nice. Last year in the UK I got it when I picked up my car in Glasgow for a lot less than the cost of a full tank at the pump. Then I turned in the car at Gatwick with less than a gallon of gas left in it. 
Cheapest tank of gas I bought on the whole trip. 
Yeah, this is what I was going to say, except we usually go one step up from that. We reserve a compact and almost always get a free upgrade without asking for it. If you do get stuck with the compact, it’s not quite as bad as a Geo Metro.
Better yet, travel with copies of your CD’s and leave the originals at home.
Didn’t have a CD burner then.
Lok