An essential part of any road trip is, of course: your car!
And, with most of us flying into cities these days, you're gonna need to rent some wheels.
Ever since we made our California Road Trip video, our most asked questions are: how did
you rent the convertible? And, do you have any tips for hiring a car? Well, for the convertible,
we simply found the cheapest normal car and clicked on 'open top' so we had the same deal.
As for our top tips? Well, that's going to need a whole video!
And, keep watching because we've also found a way to rent a car for half the normal price!!
Whoa $730?! This is nuts!
We love traveling for less but enjoy giving away our secrets just as much.
Before we book anything let's do a quick fire car rental Q&A
to see if we can save you even more cash, really quickly
Book as early as you can. Don't wait until the week before your trip or anything like that.
Do it as soon as you book the plane tickets if you can,
okay! It's always going to be cheaper to book earlier!
Yes and no!! No, because it's included in so many prices these days
but yes if you want peace of mind. Plus, it will open up another hack for you!
Yes!! Bonus hack, unlocked!!
Funny how that question was more of a tip - it's almost as though I write the questions myself!!
Yep, totally check your car rental price a few weeks before you travel,
that way you can see if the prices come down.
Cancel for free and then suddenly you'll have a bit of extra spending money,
which you can put some more important things on the trip!!
Nope. Most airlines will actually let you check them as baggage on the flight for free,
so why throw your money away?!
Yeah, sure, is a bit more hassle when you're getting everything checked and
when you're actually at baggage reclaim but it's totally worth it, for the money you'll save.
I've actually got a hack for when you're traveling
with loads of luggage and kids and you need to pick up a rental car.
So, instead of you ALL getting a shuttle bus with all the luggage
and all the baby carriers - and all the things you've got.
Leave everyone with your other half and you go solo to go pick up the car,
okay? That way, everyone can sit, they can get a coffee, get some snacks
and you can just chill while you get the shuttle bus by yourself.
When you've picked up the car,
simply phone ahead and glide into the arrivals to pick up the kids with no hassle at all.
Yes, it is always cheaper to get something away from the airport.
But, is it really worth the hassle for the money that you actually have to pay to do it?
If you haven't got kids, you may want to try it but we found that when we've done it before you
actually lose a bit of the day of the holiday by actually going to pick up the car, and everything.
So, for us, it's not really worth the hassle.
Yes. Sometimes. And no!
Yes, it always will be cheaper to pick up and drop off from the same location
but if you're traveling to major cities, you'll find that the cost isn't really that much, either.
So, if you're traveling down Highway One from San Francisco to San Diego,
you'll probably find it hasn't gone up too much.
Plus, it would cost way more to have to drive it all the
way back up to San Francisco - and what a waste of time?!
So, sometimes, just suck it up and pay it.
They're essential these days, aren't they?! But you have them on your phone
so why pay $5 a day or £5 a day to hire one?
Take your charger. Take your holder from home and use that in the car. And,
quite often, they have CarPlay and Apple Play, and all those kind of things,
so it's actually even better - and you don't actually have to look on your phone for it.
It will zoom up to a big screen for you, so way better!!
Brits, if you're worried about getting stung by roaming fees internationally,
don't worry. Three have a great SIM card which lets you take it over to 70 different countries.
And, it mirrors the plan you've got in the UK, so you can actually use it for, pretty much, free.
So that's my top tip for that one. Not sponsored, just saying!
Maybe, if you want to share the driving. This is one of those perks
that's actually given for free by a lot of car rental places nowadays.
Alicia's not really bothered about driving when we're out in the States,
so if it's free, I'll add her, if it's not, we don't worry.
But, if you do want to share the driving,
check two quotes and see which one comes out the best price and if it's worth it.
Americans coming to the UK: I would say yes because you've got a lot to contend with.
You've got the wrong side of the road, you've got roundabouts, you've got lots
of passing - the last thing you need is a stick shift to have to deal with as well.
Brits coming to the States: don't pay extra! Automatic is always included, as standard.
Unlimited mileage is becoming more and more popular these days,
and quite often you get it for free.
Sometimes, there might be a standard amount of miles, like 3,000 miles,
that you get - and it might be a bit cheaper to do that.
One time, I was actually wondering whether it was worth taking the cheaper option for 3000
miles, or whatever it was, and I actually googled mapped out our trips and realized,
actually we weren't going to go over that. So, it was fine to book and get the cheaper option.
So something to watch out for, but yeah, quite often it's included.
Just always check what the deal is before hitting book.
Why would you pay their price for fuel when there's loads of gas stations around airports?!
Don't book it.
Yes, it's all great evidence in case something happens
or didn't happen - so, take photos of any bumps or any scratches for peace of mind.
Plus, I always take photos of the car anyway for simple reasons like:
I can find the number plate or the registration plate really quickly in a big car park
or at Disneyland - or all those kind of things where all the cars are pretty much the same.
And also take a photo of your odometer inside the car and that way you can see
if anyone's tried to add any miles on at the end of the trip as well.
Right, quick fire round over. I think we know we're looking for now.
So, let's have a go booking something together.
Now, what I'm going to do is for the American audience,
give it to you in dollars and from their websites. And for the UK audience,
who i think will like this video too, I'm going to do it on the UK versions of websites. OK?!
So, stick with me, I think I can do this in a nice, kind of simple way.
So let's get cracking. Okay, so first of all let's get a base rate to start off with, shall we?
This is what you'd pay if you were lazy and went to Expedia without going anywhere else.
Okay, I'm going to choose the same dates for everything we look at. So,
First of August to the 15th - a two-week trip.
I'm going to pick up in San Francisco and drop off in San Diego.
I'm going to base everything on a Toyota Corolla, which is a kind of a good
mid-sized car but not in that premium bracket, so more of you can go for it.
I'm also going to add Collision Protection to the American prices,
so it's a fair comparison with the other sites that we come to.
Okay, so our starting price is $1,327 on the US page.
Now, over on the UK's Expedia page.
We're starting at 807 pounds which is $1,1000 roughly, so cheaper on the UK version.
Now, the extra insurance is given as part of the deal here on the UK one,
so nothing extra to add on at all, so we're doing better already.
Now let's see how much we can save by searching together.
So, first up, let's start with rentalcars.com - they're usually really competitive.
Ahh, $1,237 on the USA website, that's more than Expedia - d'oh!
Okay, let's go to the UK login.
Yeah, it's £704 which is $965. Yeah, much cheaper to buy in the UK.
Right, I'm not going to be beaten on that USA price, quite yet!!
Let's keep going. Let's check out economybookings.com for the same trip.
US website first. It's coming out at $1,209
and they include full coverage for their insurance, which is good.
Although, you can make it even cheaper if you have your own insurance, which might cover it.
So, that's 118 cheaper than Expedia, good!
Brits okay, right now your turn on economybookings.com
Ah, it's more expensive for the Corolla, no problem.
But look at this: it's even cheaper for me today
to get a Jeep Compass for £594 pounds, that's $815 for two weeks!!
A Jeep Cherokee's £603,
that's $827. And, look at this, a really good seven seater Ford Explorer's £682, that's $936.
There must be some deal on with Europcar at the moment,
so make sure you grab deals like this when you see them!
That is awesome! I would definitely be upgrading from that Corolla to the Jeep at this point.
Now we know our best deals are from economybookings.com.
In the UK, it's through Europcar and from the US, it's from Fox Rent-a-Car.
Let's do another check to see if I can bring the price down even more!
So, I always try to go directly to the rental companies to see if we can get it any cheaper,
without going through that middle man.
So, let's go to Fox Rent-a-Car first.
$1,237. It's gone up actually, through them. And this is with the extra insurance remember,
so it'll cost even more if you went through Fox directly. So, that's that's not good.
Lets click on their City Specials too - they always usually have deals going on at some point.
There we go $1,177 or $1,120, if i pay up front.
But, as I said, this is without any insurance so you'd need to add the Loss Damage Waiver and
Supplemental Liability Insurance, potentially, to match the others.
And, it's gone up to $1,500, so way more.
You could always sign up for their email newsletter, as that normally gets you some
money off too, but i think we're going to go back to Economy Bookings for this one, for that.
Now it's the UK's turn. Let's see if it's any cheaper to go through Europcar directly.
Whoa!! Now the Corolla's come up at £532 pounds, which is $730!
That is crazy!!
What does it include though?
Okay, it has an extra driver
and nearly all insurances, apart from the Supplementary Liability.
The Jeep Compass is more expensive from them directly,
but we know where to go if we want that car.
So, the Corolla is back to being the cheapest again!
Let me be cheeky and see how much it is through the American Europcar website and see it that way.
Whoa, $730!!!
And that includes Collision Damage Waiver, too. This is nuts!!!
And, if I include the Personal Accident Cover it's still under $800.
I'm a bit in shock! I wasn't expecting that to work so well at all!!
It really does go to show how important is that you do some searches and manoeuvre around,
if you've got the time to do it, doesn't it?!
Maybe the hack is to see where it's cheapest in the UK and
then book it through an American one at that point? I don't know.
And, just so you know, this isn't the sponsored post at all. Europcar have
nothing to do with this - this is just pure luck.
That is crazy!
So, let's compare our starting price to our best deal, shall we?
We began on Expedia USA, who were offering a Toyota Corolla for two weeks for $1,327.
With some searching, we got the same deal for $730 - that's nearly half!!
From Expedia UK, we started off at £807,
which isn't awful, but we got it down to £532, which is a third off. Result!
That is amazing! I'm impressed! I didn't think I was going to do THAT well.
I thought I might take a few hundred dollars off but not that much!
Now, before we hit book, three more curveballs just to help you out a bit more with your booking.
First up, check to see if you can unlock special deals through your store cards,
loyalty cards, credit cards or air miles.
Even if exactly the same price is elsewhere, you're likely to earn points on top!
Curveball 2: For some reason, Sixt is really competitive for long deal rentals.
Here are the deals for the two weeks we've been putting in so far.
So, the Toyota Camry is the most similar - it's £1,232 for two weeks, which isn't great.
If i put it in for SIX weeks though, it's only £1,379. That's not bad, is it?
On the American site, it's $1,700 for two weeks. But, again, just $200 more for six weeks!!
They don't include insurance for US residents, so on a long rental the fees can go sky high.
I'll make a video about that, if i can, to help.
Curveball 3: Is there a Cashback website you can go through before you book?
In the UK, I use TopCashback and have saved hundreds over the years.
I think, in the USA, the most popular version is called shopahome.com.
Well, putting my cheapest quote through topcashback would give me 10% back,
which would mean I'd pay a total of £479, once they paid me back.
ShopatHome was only a 3% discount but hey, that's not bad!
Also, the Honey browser extension is always good for promo codes,
so why not see if you can bring the price down through that too.
Well, we've saved hundreds today, haven't we?
I'm a bit shocked at how much we actually saved in the end but it does go to show:
don't be lazy with your searching for car rental prices.
Deals are out there, okay!
Also, we know what came out on top today but it's never the same.
If we did exactly the same searches tomorrow or the next week,
it will come out completely different. So, make sure you check those big comparison sites first
before we delve deeper and do a few more searches, okay?!
I'll leave a few links for you below.
Just because Europcar won today doesn't mean it will next time.
Don't forget, if you've got free cancellation make sure you check the price again a few weeks
before your trip to see if you can cancel it and get it for an even cheaper price, that way too!!
Now what rental car insurance do we need for our trip?
It's going to need another video, isn't it?!
Also, click down here to find out our Top Tips for driving in the USA.
For example, did you know you can go on red light?!
We hope this video helps you live the Life of Reilly for less.
Let us know how you get on, in the comments below.
See you next time!!