What You Need to Consider When Renting a Car with Kids
Having kids shouldn’t stop you from going on adventures. Taking them with you is just part of the journey and experiencing new things with them is a feeling you can’t beat.
Hiring a car can be a lifesaver when traveling with kids in tow, it’s more flexible and you and the kids can be more comfortable. If you’re planning to hire a car for your next family holiday, we have given you our top tips on what to consider when booking a rental car with your little ones.
Car seats
When hiring a car, you can also hire a child’s car seat with it too, but this, of course, comes at an extra cost. If you don’t mind taking a bit of extra luggage with you, most airlines let you take your own child car seat for free. Not only is this a great way to save money but you’ll also be more relaxed knowing that your baby or child will be safe and comfortable in a car seat that you’ve chosen.
Hire a car with lots of space
Yes, bigger cars can often be more expensive to hire, but when it comes to traveling long distances with kids it can often be worth the extra cost.
For starters taking kids means you’ll have a lot more stuff, also on longer journeys kids can get restless and fidgety, the extra space so that they can stretch out their legs and feel comfortable will save you a lot of whining.
Think about mess
With little ones in the car, snacks and games there’s a high chance the car will be messy by the end of your trip. When hiring a car it’s always worth giving the car a little clean/wipe down before returning it to the hiring company and make sure you clear out all rubbish.
If you return the car in a state, you can often be surprised by a heft cleaning bill.
Shop around for car rental insurance
Car rental insurance is even more important when traveling with kids. Young kids can cause accidental damage to cars without meaning too or can be a distraction resulting in a bump or scrape.
You will get a standard level of insurance on your rental car from the car hire company or agency but this will not cover you for everything.
Check your personal vehicle insurance, this could potentially cover rentals too, if not, contact your credit card company as a lot of them offer car rental insurance as a benefit. Alternatively, use a third party car rental insurance company that offers a high level of protection including holiday car excess insurance cover.
Bring your own extras
These days it’s not just the car that you need for your trip, there are things like the GPS, entertainment for the kids, music and payment for tolls.
Where you can it’s suggested you bring as many of the extras with you from home as you can. Car rental companies are great at supplying any extras you may need but this always comes at an extra fee, which isn’t helpful if you’re trying to keep costs down.
Use your phone for navigation and the same goes for music, just ensure that you bring a car charger for your phone so that you can keep it charged.
Depending on which country you’re going to, some people think that renting an electronic toll pass is worth it. This isn’t always the case as you will be charged a daily rate for the convenience whether or not you use the pass each day. Take this into consideration, in some cases, it might be better to take dedicated toll money.
In addition there are always other things to look out for when it comes to hiring a car, whether you have kids or not! Our team at Direct Car Hire Excess have got a great car hire tips guide just for you!
