10 Tips for Cheaper Car Rentals

Whether you want to cruise the seaside in a convertible or chauffeur your guests around in a minivan, rental cars offer a reliable and sometimes indispensable solution for your mobility needs. But before you book your next rental car, take a look at these simple tips that can help you cut the cost.

1. Compare offers from different rental car companies

Sticking to your tried-and-proven car rental company may be convenient. But there are many different rental car providers out there, and many of them have regular special promotions that can save you money. Always take the time to compare offers from multiple companies when booking a rental car. In addition to offers from rental car companies themselves, it is also worth including car rental deals from third-party travel portals in your price comparisons.

2. Consider car sharing offers

Some private car owners rent out their own cars via online platforms and classified pages. In many cases, the prices charged for these private rental cars are much lower than what you pay for similar vehicles from rental car companies. Peer to peer car rental platforms like 2EM and Gomore (Switzerland), Getaraound (Austria, Germany), and Amovens (Spain) make it easy to rent cars directly from private individuals. The advantage is that you often pay less. The disadvantage is that picking up and returning privately-rented vehicles is often less convenient.

3. Take advantage of rental car discounts from credit cards

Large rental car companies like Avis, Hertz, Europcar, Budget, and Sixt often require you to provide a credit card instead of paying down a deposit when you make bookings. Since you typically need a credit card for bookings anyway, it is worth taking advantage of the discounts you get with Swiss credit cards at car rental partners. These can be as high as 25 percent. It is also worth noting that some credit cards give you a complimentary rental car collision damage waiver when you use them to pay. That saves you money because you generally do not need to buy the insurance waivers offered by rental car companies. The Swiss credit card comparison on moneyland.ch lets you sort credit cards based on their insurance benefits for car rentals.

4. Motor club membership discounts

Many drivers in Switzerland are part of motor clubs like ACS, TCS, and VCS. If that applies to you, it is worth knowing that TCS members benefit from discounts of up to 5 percent (4 percent in the US and Canada) for car rentals from Enterprise, Hertz, Sixt, and Avis. VCS members get discounts of up to 20 percent on car rentals from Hertz in Switzerland.

5. Use customer loyalty programs

Although loyally sticking with just one car rental company generally is not a good idea, it can still be beneficial to sign up for customer loyalty programs. That is especially true if you rent vehicles many times every year. For example, the Funway program from Europcar has a fee of 35 francs for two years of membership, but entitles you to discounts of up to 15 percent. Sixt Gold and Platinum members also get up to 15 percent off standard rents for Sixt cars.

Some rental car companies reward you for car rentals with airline miles, which you can collect and redeem towards the cost of future car rentals. For example, if you participate in the Miles & More program, you can collect miles for rentals from Avis and Budget.

6. Book and pay early

You can often get discounts by booking and paying for your rental car reservations several days or weeks in advance. When you book early, you help rental car companies avoid unclaimed reservations. They reward you for this by offering early bird discounts. Avis, for example, charges 10 percent less when you pay for your booking online, instead of when you collect the car.

7. Look out for student discounts

Many students cannot afford to have cars of their own. Rental car companies cater to this need by offering student discounts. In Switzerland, Hertz has a 15-percent student discount for car rentals. In many other countries, student discounts are offered by rental car providers like Alamo, Avis, Europcar, Sixt, and others, so it is worth looking out for student discounts when renting a car.

8. Account for smaller, local rental car companies

When booking a rental car for your holiday, check into whether there are local rental car companies at your travel destination. In many cases, local companies charge lower prices than the big, multi-national rental car companies. You can generally find these local rent-a-car providers online.

It is worth noting that smaller, local rental car providers often do not require a credit card for bookings, which is advantageous if you do not use credit cards. The disadvantage of using local providers is that managing insurance claims or other complications can be more difficult than if you were to book your holiday rental car through the Swiss branch of an international rental car company.

9. Browse for discount coupons and special promotions

Coupon websites like Deindeal and Gutshcein.ch, and the coupon pages of newspapers like Blick and 20 Minutes make it easy to look for current rental car discount offers. You can sometimes even find luxury cars being rented out at heavily-discounted rates. While the chance of finding useful rental car coupons at a given time is a question of luck, it never hurts to look.

10. Make use of your memberships

Some Swiss labor unions, industry associations, and employers have partnerships with car rental companies which entitle their members or employees to discounts on car rentals. For example, members of the association of federal employees (Personalverbands des Bundes / Association du personnel de la Confédération) can get a 10-percent discount on car rentals from Hertz. Members of the Swiss federation of psychologists (Föderation Schweizer Psychologinnen und Psychologen / Fédération Suisse des Psychologues) can claim a 20-percent discount at Hertz.

More on this topic:
Swiss credit card discounts for rental cars explained
Guide to using car plans in Switzerland
How to pay less for flights
Tips for saving money at airports