Join Avis Preferred: Fill & Download for Free

Here's the lowdown:Book with Hertz, Avis or National and through their Frequent Renter Programs and you skip the counter entirely at any of the major airports. Even if not at an airport location, typically you're on your way in 5 minutes or less when you're in the program which is free to join at all 3.Book with Budget using their FastBreak program or Alamo's Insiders program and it's usually way faster than normal since they have all your info, but not quite as seamless as Hertz, Avis, National.Enterprise Plus, Dollar Express, Thrift Blue Chip, etc. all help to a certain degree but are generally less of a timesaver than the ones above. You can also check-in online with a number of companies which also saves time, but again, you still need to stop at the counter, and the experience is not nearly as seamless as the "Big 3".There's one more thing to keep in mind. Stopping at the rental counter gives these companies the opportunity to sell you on the benefits of taking their insurance, offer an upgrade, prepaid gas, GPS, etc. Put simply, while you view the counter time as an inconvenience, they car rental companies view it as quality time with you to sell you on the enhanced experience you will enjoy by paying them more. This is a calculated strategy designed to enhance their bottom line.Hope this helps to explain things. Now go sign up for Hertz Gold, Avis Preferred, and National Emerald Club and avoid the hassle (and the rental counter) going forward.

The easiest thing to do is “just ask”.Most car upgrades have worse gas mileage, and so they are happy to get rid of them, because no one wants to pay for the extra gas.You can also look and see if the lot is mostly empty, and if some other type of car is overrepresented compared to the car you book, offer to take the other type of car for the same price to free up the car type you booked for another customer, since it seems to be in demand.Reserving the cheapest rental, and picking up during peak hours will typically get you an overbooked model; you won’t even need to ask, they’ll be offering it to everyone.Rent at the airport rental lot; you are guaranteed that they will have the newer models distributed there first, which means an “upgrade” to a different (new) model in the same class.Ask if they have any specials.Join a “frequent renters club”; you can get free upgrades that way; this gets you an agency brand credit card. Some programs are “Avis Preferred Plus Perks”, and “National Emerald Card Express”, and “Sixt Platinum Perks”. National guarantees the upgrade.Book with a World Elite MasterCard; “elite” status at Enterprise, Alamo, and Budget, will usually get you a free upgrade to the next class.If you have an Amex Platinum card, you get free “elite” status at Avis, Hertz, and National, if you use the card (Hertz requires the code “CDP#211762″ when making the reservation; this is listed in your cardholder agreement paperwork).Your United Mileage Presidential Plus Club membership card gets serious benefits at Hertz (you can no longer apply for this card directly).

I have rented a car from 2 weeks, upto 8 weeks.Fuel and tolls and major town or city parking are all very, so I’d only do this travel if I was visiting many out of the way locations in countries, or I wanted to take my family or friends.The cheapest is lease buy Peugeot Sodexa from any major French airport, or Citroen EuroPass Leasing or Car Lease Europe, Renault Eurodrive, Car Hire Europe, Car Rental EuropeSee this for details:Are Buy-Back Car Leases Better Than a Car Rental in Europe?So for the above, you need to be renting for a long time, 21 days at least, to longer with Peugeot…. so fine for your time period.Then next best would be say say renting a small 4-door from Avis with discount rates (you will need to research these yourself - Google search “avis europe discount code”, often you get discounts with your credit card, like Amex or Mastercard/Visa or such).Lease companies like Avis or Hertz have special programs you can join for better rates (Avis Preferred or Hertz Gold), usually through your credit card.Month-long rentals or longer are better priced per day, as is reserving well in advance, plus cover your rental car insurance with a third party rental car specialist travel insurer to reduce your rental day costs, plus buy locally your own child car seat when arriving for children, or bring it with you to save on that day rate too - same with GPS units or wifi, bring your own prepaid or nav unit with Europe maps.In some countries like Portugal you can get included in your rental a toll unit to keep toll costs down.For that long, I might buy and sell a car privately…