5 Tips for Renting a Car in Manila Philippines
Road tripping: It's one of the
coolest ways to get around. Sometimes it is even the only practical way, for
example, when you go to remote places in nature or in the countryside want to
go. Before you can start road tripping, you need a car, of course. However,
many car rentals companies in Philippines seem to make a sport of stealing as
much money as possible from their customers. To help you rent a car as cheaply
as possible without being faced with unpleasant surprises after returning, I
would like to give you five tips for renting a car in Manila.
Tip 1: Book with a company that also
arranges your insurance
The cheap rates with which
well-known car rental companies sometimes seem
favourable but often are not. Often these rates do not include insurance for
window, roof, and floor damage, for example. If you get damage to these parts,
it can be quite expensive. Therefore, I advise you to book where possible with
companies that usually include these insurance policies in the rental amount.
That often costs you something (but not very much) more, but that way, you also
know that it is well arranged if you unexpectedly get damage.
Tip 2: Pick up and return at the
same place
It is almost always cheaper to end
your road trip in the same place where you start. And by that, I mean the same
place; returning to another location (even if it is located in the same city)
incurs one-way costs. These can amount to hundreds of euros! Therefore, it is
quickly worthwhile to pick up the car at the place where you ultimately want to
return it (or vice versa), even if you have to travel to (or from) your desired
destination in a different way.
Tip 3: Do not cross the border with
your rental car
Although this advice is strongly
against my character, it is advisable to take with you from a financial point
of view. You almost always have to pay a lot (ranging from a few tens to
sometimes hundreds of dollars) to cross a border with your car. Supposedly,
this is to cover theft risks in an 'unsafe' foreign country, but it is actually
just to take as much money as possible from the customer. this practice is
becoming more and more common. You can, of course, cross the border without
reporting it, but if you are caught (for example, by an arrest by the police or
a traffic fine), you can feel deeply in your pockets because you have not
adhered to the conditions in your rental contract. If possible, do not cross
the border with your rental car,
Sometimes you also have to pay for
other paperwork in addition to the border crossing rate of the rental company.
For example, your car's insurance may not be valid in another country, and you
must therefore purchase additional insurance documents.
Tip 4: Make sure you return the car
with a full tank
In the great majority of cases, you rent a car under the so-called full
= full condition. This means that you take the car with a full fuel tank and
must return it filled again. That seems logical, but many people seem to forget
to refuel before they drive back to the rental location. That is an expensive
joke because the car rental company often simply charges a fuel price that is
more than twice the normal price to refill it. Especially when your tank is
almost empty when you return it, this is an unpleasant surprise when you return
home, so drive past the gas station before returning the car!
Tip 5: Don't let the car rental
company fool you
If you want to rent a car
last-minute (on location), but also if you have made a booking in advance via
the internet and you come on location to pick up your car, many car rental
companies try to offer you all kinds of expensive insurance. Of course, you
want to run as little risk as possible of having to pay high costs if something
goes wrong during your road trip, and the staff seems to be able to respond to
this so that you may quickly be inclined to take out these expensive insurance
policies (often more expensive than if you close them in advance).
Arrange your insurance in advance
and always carefully check your travel insurance and the contract conditions,
because very often, everything is already covered. So you actually pay for
nothing if you take out all kinds of insurance last-minute at the office of the
car rental company in Philippines. It is true that car
rental franchise locations are often more sophisticated than the official
locations controlled from the head office.
It is also crucial to have the same
credit card with you when you pick up the car when booking in advance with a
credit card. If you do not do this, you will either not receive the rental car,
or you will have to pay a substantial surcharge.
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