Renting a car in Sydney

Plan to holiday in Sydney, Australia? Well, indeed a good choice, but how do you get about once you land there? Hire a car of course! There are many ways in which a car can be hired out here. The easiest (but not necessarily cheapest) way is to ask your travel agent to do the needful. This would save you a lot of trouble but is perhaps not the best bargain. Your travel agent may have 'tie ups' with some car rental company which pays him a commission which means he makes money both ways, while you lose out on the better deals.

So what's the solution? Well a smart approach would be to scour the Internet for good car rental offers and book your car online. Carefully peruse the terms and conditions of every car rental company. The rental services have user friendly online forms that need minimal details - your planned date of arrival, date of completion, as well as the delivery details and of course your basic personal information. And most car companies conveniently accept credit card payments. Some are more tech savvy and even take paypal payments or wire transfers.

So what are the fees to look out for when renting a car in Sydney? The base rate of rentals is in the range of $70 to $100 per day. Other standard fees charged by car rental companies in Sydney include toll pass fees $2.00 per day and Insurance Excess Reduction of $15.00 per day. Other fees may be applicable depending on your choices - additional driver fees at $3.00 per day, baby seat fee at $9.00 per day, Sat Nav GPS $35.00 flat fee as well as a fee of $10.00 per day for under age driver (under 25). As you can see, hiring a car in Sydney is not cheap but hunt for the better bargains by browsing through online ads to check out the discounts on offer. Discounts are invariably available only through direct online bookings and not through an agent.

While car companies may claim that the prices offered on the net are fully inclusive, it is in your best interests to examine the terms and conditions as most hidden costs are not immediately discernible. Fees such as Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) are a case in point. An international driving license is a must. The validity for using your international driving license in Sydney is three months. Always check that your personal travel insurance covers you for motor vehicle accidents and rental car insurance excess as it is more economical than paying the car rental company in the event of an accident. If you wish to land a real bargain, try taking 'off the beaten track'. Hound the Sydney centered blogs, Yahoo chat sessions and you will find plenty of folks who will rent out a car at rock bottom prices. Ensure, however, that you don't fall prey to unscrupulous scammers; the possibility of being swindled or even falling for a stolen car is quite high. You may land up in deep trouble with the law enforcement agencies - you don't want to be on the wrong side of the law! So take the tried and true path; research and pick the best car rental deal, the safe and effective way.