3 Tips To Help You Decide Whether To Rent A Car For Your Trip Or Not
When you’ve got a trip or vacation on the books, it takes a lot of planning and preparation to ensure that the adventure you’ve been dreaming about is what’s actually going to take place. One thing that can really make or break your trip, especially if you’re traveling to an area that you’ve never been to before, is knowing whether or not you should rent a car. So whether you’re planning to road trip as part of your travels or you’ll be showing up on an airplane to this new city, here are three tips that will help you decide whether you should rent a car for your trip or if you’re better of skipping this step.
Comparing Cars For Road Trips
If you’ll be taking a road trip soon, you might be wondering whether it’d be more financially responsible for you to take your own car or to rent a car. In trying to figure this out, Trent Hamm, a contributor to The Simple Dollar, shares that you need to consider things like gas mileage for both cars, wear and tear for driving your own car, the cost of the car rental, any additional costs for insurance in the event that you get in a car accident in a rental car, and any maintenance you’ll have to do on your own vehicle to prepare it for this type of road trip. Once you’ve figured out all the numbers and see which option will save you the most money, you can then know for sure if you should rent a car for your road trip or just use your own.
Rent At The Airport Or Not?
If you’ll be flying into a city rather than flying, you might be more likely to rent a car. So when you’re set on renting a car during your trip, you then need to decide if you want to rent it from the airport directly or if you want to rent from an off-site location. According to Judd Hall, a contributor to SkyScanner.com, renting from an airport will almost always be more expensive than renting from an off-site location. So if you’re going to a city that’s decently sized, you may want to look into taking a rideshare service to a car rental establishment rather than just renting at the airport.
Size and Amenities Of The City
For those time when you’re not sure if you’ll want to or need to rent a car for your trip once you’ve arrived at the airport of your destination, Miriam Caldwell, a contributor to The Balance, recommends looking at the size of the city and the amenities it has. If you’re going to a large city that has great public transportation available, you’re likely much better off not renting a car. Not only will this have the potential to save you a lot of money, but it can also save you from having to figure things out like navigating around this new city and dealing with parking.
If you’re on the fence about renting a car for your next trip, consider using the information presented above to help you make the best decision for you.
