Car rental advice – Tips and pitfalls to avoid

Are you looking for  advice on car rental  during your stay? Know the pitfalls to avoid when renting a car because all the reviews on the internet scare you a little? Rent a car with French and efficient customer service. Here is my feedback.

Depending on the destination, the car is really a big plus for your travels, I have often been asked to write an article to give you advice on car rental , and here it is! But know that I also wrote my feedback from my road trips with a rental car (still using the same Carigami site and its French customer service ):

1) Car rental advice

Many of you ask me for advice on renting a car  during your stays. Note that these tips are valid for these 3 countries because the procedures are the same.

In this example I took screenshots of my last rental car reservation. But it works the same way elsewhere and all the tips I’m going to share with you work regardless of your destination.

I still called  Carigami.fr to find out the rates for these additional costs in case we had a setback and they replied that it was at the discretion of the rental company… This is why it is better to be large, the price does not change or almost does not change.

2) Rental car insurance advice

Once you have clicked on “Search” Carigami.fr displays this page. It is important to select “Insurance without deductible, Tires/glass breakage, Underbody”. Remember to select these options, it is really inexpensive and could save you a lot of trouble.

that you received by email (remember to print it). Carigami translates the insurance you used into the language of the agency.

3)Can I take out the insurance directly at the rental agency?

Do not bother with all this and know that it is cheaper to take the all-inclusive insurance on the Carigami.fr site because they have signed agreements and since it is a very well-known site they manage to lower the prices …

Here is what you must check to be insured even if you have a serious accident and even if you are at fault:

In the event of a serious accident, you are also insured. On the other hand you will have to make the advance of the amount of the deductible which is 1400€ max. Subsequently, thanks to this insurance, you will be reimbursed in full by the rentalcars service provider, because Carigami.fr passes through them .

4) Advice on civil liability for car rental

If you select a car offer and you see this red icon “Third party liability €500,000”, it does not mean that you are not entitled to it. This is a warning because in France the civil liability is 1,000,000€ and not 500,000€, and then we are not going to lie to each other it is also to attract the eye in order to take their  ALL-inclusive rental car insurance .

In short, even if it’s in red you’re covered at €500,000, but frankly take it all inclusive (it’ll cost you €5/day more and there you’re covered at 100%), there’s no offer at of the. I let you compare, you will see that it is almost the same.

5)How am I not insured? If I have an accident, do we have ZERO insurance?

And yes that’s right. Car rental reservation sites do not offer this because in 95% of cases it is your credit card that insures you and the passengers of your rental vehicle. So remember to contact your banker to find out if you are well insured and if not, to insure yourself for the duration of your stay.

Normally the number to contact is on the back of your credit card. For me it is the EUROCARD number. It is them that they give you the level of guarantee.

6) Vehicle rental advice – Deposit and Credit or Debit cards?

Where to find the amount of the deposit to be paid on the day of recovery of the vehicle. Once the vehicle offer has been found on Carigami.fr , go down the page to the “Services” section, then click on “More details in the conditions”:

We can see written: Deposit, blocked or debited on the spot from 750€ to 2500€. The amount of the deposit that will then have to be paid will be between 750€ and 2500€, but on average they take 800€ for a small car (it will then be necessary that your account linked to your credit be solvent for at least 1000€ ).

And so it is blocked or debited then?

Well, you can’t know, it’s the rental company who will tell you the day you pick up your  rental vehicle at the airport , so if in doubt, remember to have the amount on your account.

The classier the car… the more expensive the deposit will be. For my part, I rented a small 2-seater car and therefore had a deposit of 800€. This more precise information will be communicated to you on the voucher that you will receive by email once you have reserved the vehicle on Carigami.fr .

/!\ You just have to print the voucher to pick up the vehicle, there is everything you need for the rental company on it (information on insurance too). If there is a problem, that you see that the rental company is trying to get you to sign other documents (such as insurance) do not hesitate to call Carigami.fr 01 73 79 33 33 (they speak French).