One Way Car Hire
Taking a Road Trip
You are bored of your normal beach holidays and you’ve watched TV shows showing people exploring countries by car and now you too want a holiday to remember. With one way car hire you can make a road trip of a lifetime.
Some people may dream of holidays that involve long hotel stays or languid days spent hanging out at a pool or beach, but for others, the fast pace and limitless opportunities of a road trip are ideal. The United States for example has long been one of the most beloved countries visited by road trip enthusiasts. Boasting climates, natural features, and cities that span an incredible spectrum, the US can set the stage for an unforgettable road trip that can quickly create a great diversity of memories. Taking your car with you however isn’t always possible, but with many car hire companies allowing customers to return their hire cars to a different location, it can be possible to take a road trip to remember.
Which suppliers allow one way car hire?
Whilst most suppliers allow for picking the vehicle up at a given location and dropping it off at another, others don’t. If you have start and end destination in mind the best thing to do is search online and look for the option of returning your car to a different location. Usually when you select your desired pick up location you can see which locations you are able to return your car. If you are unable to see your desired return location listed, try a different pick up location. If you are still unable to find your desired drop off location it might not be possible. With a little luck though you should be able to plan your last stop on your road trip with the available drop off location.
Can I return my car to the same supplier in a different country?
Usually this isn’t possible. Most suppliers don’t allow their cars to be driven outside of their country of residence. For this reason your road trip might be restricted to one country. If you plan to do a cross country road trip, you might have to organise one way car hire in each country you visit.
One way car hire charges
Though the freedom gained through one way car hire is fantastic, it doesn’t always come free of charges. When you are booking one way car hire please ensure you enquire about additional fees. When booking directly with the supplier they should inform you of such charges before making payment. However when booking through a third party such as a car hire broker, they don’t always know how much the one way fee will be as they don’t take payment of such fees. Instead this one way fee is usually paid to the local supplier at the time of pick up. That said if you enquire about the fee, any decent broker should be able to call the supplier and find out how much you should pay.
Always ask up front what one car hire fees are before making payment!
Which suppliers charge one way fees?
While some suppliers don’t charge such fees, other suppliers do and some agencies may even offer special discounts for bringing the car back to a specific location. To answer the question is difficult and is why so many brokers say “one way fees may be applicable”. It is a bit of a cop out, but because many suppliers act autonomously and have different policies on one way fees, it is difficult to list which suppliers apply an additional fee for returning your car in a different location.
Overall one way car hire enables to you explore and take road trips to remember, however you might be restricted to where you can travel and return your vehicle. When booking car hire to return your vehicle in a different location, always ask up front what fees are payable before making any payment. Lastly enjoy your road trip!
