Car rental

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Whenever renting a car for business or leisure in France, it means having to choose among more than 250,000 vehicles and use the chosen rental car for about four to five days (source: CNPA). Rental cars customers, usually 35 to 65 years old, hire a car mostly (60%) for their own needs and make their reservation usually through a car rental agency but also by phone or through internet, web reservations having grown very significantly in the past ten years.



In order to get a good deal when hiring a car, it is important to keep in mind the following rules:

Try to hire a car only during the low season (not on August 15th, for example).

Make sure you are not renting a car during a major local event (for example, the Cannes Film Festival or the Festival of Lights in Lyon).

Try to make your reservation ahead of time as a last minute reservation is rarely the best way to get a good deal.

Be aware that hiring a car through internet can be up to three times cheaper than going directly to a car rental agency.



If you have time enough, shop around and check out the main car rental companies on the web or by calling in at their agencies. The three main car rental companies have a 75% share of the short-term car rental market, shared almost equally between them: Avis is ranked first followed by Europcar and then Hertz. It is vital that you compare their deals while being aware that car insurance cover is often only offered just before getting your car at the agency, its last minute pricing being often an unwelcome surprise. If you want to "boost yourself and rent differently a car at a wise price", for example a Smart Fortwo Cabrio or even a Fiat 500 Convertible or a sedan such as a Porsche Panamera unless you prefer the Aston Martin DB9 Coupe, then use the services of Sixt and their more than 4000 agencies throughtout the world, always very considerate with their faithful customers.



If you rent vehicles several times a year, it is useful to give your email address to car rental companies to get from them, on a regular basis, their best promotional deals and their special destinations package which are quite often very attractive.



Moreover, it is definitely worthwhile contacting web short-term car rental specialists such as the "car tour operator", a price comparison internet site listing rental car best deals, that is Carigami, launched in 2009 under the initial name of "Location de voitures". Even much cheaper, you can also rent a car directly from its owner using the services of Getaround.



If you are travelling alone, you can limit your car rental costs by opting for a car sharing solution as this is a highly economical, environmentally friendly and very attractive solution. Car sharing allows several people, the driver and its passenger(s), to share fuel and toll costs, while avoiding being too lonely by driving alone, on the basis of a cost-sharing journey organized by the driver with its passengers. A large number of websites offer to help organizing your car sharing. Among these websites is BlaBlaCar.fr, a truly comprehensive site with a lot of information sections, or Klaxit, with its particularly ergonomic user interface quite attractive to an impressive number of internet users.