Online Reservations for Car Rental

You will be asked

Where do you want to rent the car?

A lot of vehicles are rented at airports around the world. For a list of Airports and their location codes, click here.

Airport locations can be more expensive to rent from because of the extra fees. (This fee is usually called a facility fee or airport concession recovery fee.) This is a fee that is charged to the rental car company by the airport. It’s like a form of rent that the company must pay to do business at that location. It is charged to you and paid to the airport. These fees are also usually seen at hotel car rental locations.

You may get a cheaper rate by renting at an off-airport location but you should factor in the cost and inconvenience you may incur to get to the other location!

Sometimes you may want to pick up and return in two different places. This will affect vehicle availability as well as pricing.

For more information on One Way Rentals, click here.

What are the dates and times of your rental?

Let’s say you want to rent at an airport and your flight arrives at Saturday at 11:40am and departs Wednesday at 1pm. If you use those times for your car rental pick up and return you will be quoted a 5 day rate. It is more likely that you would, say, pick up your vehicle at around noon and return it by noon before you depart. This would give you a more accurate, 4 day rate.

Do you have a discount code or coupon?

Note: If you enter a coupon, the price given in the online reservation will not often reflect the value of the coupon. That will be done at the end of the rental itself, assuming that the rental met the terms and conditions of the coupon.

For more information on Discounts and Coupons, click here.

For more information on how to get cheaper car rental rates, click here.

What size vehicle are you looking for?

The size or type of vehicle you need will determine your rate. Often time it’s a balance between what you require (seating for 5) what you would like (comfort, large luggage capacity) and what your budget is! (Doing a lot of driving and gas prices are through the roof!) Take all of these things into account and give yourself some options. Check the prices on different sizes or types of vehicles that would meet your needs.

For more information on Rental Car types and sizes, click here.


Based on all of the information provide you would be given a rate and an option to reserve. Check to see if the rate includes the base rate for the full rental period and if it includes the taxes and any applicable surcharges. If the price looks good, go ahead and confirm it. For most online reservations you don’t have to give a credit card and can cancel at anytime. The exception to this would be a vehicle with a cancellation or no show policy.

For more information on Cancellations and No show policies, click here.

When searching for online car rental reservations, it's very important to compare rates from different car rental companies to make sure you're getting the best deal.

If you choose to make the online reservation, there should be a link for rental requirements and terms and conditions for that particular rental company. Make sure you check this out as it will include information on the qualifications to rent. I have discussed these factors in other areas of this site.

For more information on Age Requirements, click here.

For more information on Credit Identification, click here.

For more information on Additional Drivers, click here.

For more information on Drivers License Requirements, click here.

A word of caution...

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