The price war among rental car providers is enormous. Sixt, Avis, Europcar& Co. Often make their business about lucrative additional services. But: Which rental car additional services are useful?
It's annoying for customers: Car rental companies advertise dumping rentals by a few euros per rental per day. On the other hand, horrendous fees are added for every supposed extra service. And then hit for each alleged extra service horrendous fees on it. The actual rental price the driver ends up paying can quickly be double or triple the prime rate. The system is familiar from low-cost airlines.
All for service: How employees are trained
Especially for corporate customers – as long as the company's travel policy allows it – an important money-maker is the upgrade to the next higher vehicle class. If, for example, four people are traveling with luggage, it is virtually guaranteed that the salesman at the station will offer an upgrade, provided he has an appropriate car there. This is what the station staff are trained to do. "We train our staff regularly to maintain our high level of service," industry magazine BizTravel quoted Martin Gruber, managing director of Avis Budget in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Czech Republic, as saying in a 2015 article. Europcar employees, it is further said, must regularly complete seminars. "The declared goal of Germany boss Quante is to improve individual customer service." (Source: BizTravel, 2015)
Car rental additional services: These insurances are useful
Service is one thing. Slyness is another. There are some pitfalls when booking a rental car. Especially when it comes to insurance, experts advise that consumers take a closer look. Some people may feel ripped off, for example, if they are persuaded to take out hail insurance, a second liability policy or passenger accident insurance, even though they are traveling alone. Really meaningful are according to the portal billiger-mietwagen.De following insurances:
Rental car comprehensive insurance: It covers damage caused by the driver's own fault. Excluded from this are damages caused by gross negligence.
Liability insurance: It covers damage caused by the driver to objects and people not in his car. Theft insurance: This pays for it if the car is stolen, but does not cover theft of personal belongings from the car or if the rental car was stolen after losing the keys.
Glass and tire insurance: Damage to glass, tires, roof and underbody are not automatically covered by the comprehensive insurance, but require their own insurance coverage.
Car rental additional benefits: Sometimes creative
Especially with some extra services, car rental companies get creative: child seat, sat nav, winter tires, extra mileage, airport or train station rental, smartphone chargers. Anything that serves the margin can be charged as extra. There are surcharges for young, old, extra drivers. And since billing is usually done via credit card, customers have difficulty reversing unauthorized charges in the event of a dispute. It is possible that during the pick-up an additional insurance is taken out by the provider – although the car is already covered by an all-round carefree package. It is unsatisfactory, but when booking a rental car, it is important not to blindly trust the provider. Instead, it is up to the customer to look very carefully. No matter how long the trip was, no matter how tired you are.