Take Care with Rental Cars

Whenever and wherever I travel to, I usually rent a car so I have a growing list of rental car codes to use when booking. I will never pay for regular rates and you should not neither. There are so many rental car codes for you to use and if you ever need one, please check this post on Squidoo for up to date codes you can use.

Using a rental car code to save money is only half the battle. You have to check the rates every week up to the day you leave because rates will sometimes come down. If you can avoid it, try not to lock in your dollars by prepaying. If you do and the rate goes down then you will be paying more than you have to.

When you pick up the vehicle, put on your armour and be prepared to pay only the amount quoted. Rental car companies will try to get you to upgrade your vehicle when they have run out of the size that you have booked. Be firm and make them admit that they have made a mistake. Ask them what is the purpose of reserving a vehicle when they can’t honor you the size of vehicle. If you play your cards right, they will be forced to provide you with an upgrade, free of charge.

What if you don’t want an upgrade? I mean, it will guzzle more gas and will be harder to park. You can stand firm and demand they find you a vehicle of the size that you had reserved for. Be prepared to wait if you have time. Rental car companies usually have cars on standby. If not, tell them to look in the return lot and expedite the cleaning process to get you into one of those cars.

Other charges that rental car companies like to ding you with, include glass coverage. Check your own insurance and see if you have glass coverage. If so then decline this coverage. Other hefty charges include personal insurance, comprehensive and collision coverage. If you are paying for the rental with a gold credit card, you may decline all this coverage. Most gold cards offer rental car protection. If so, you can save yourself up to $60 per day. Again, check your insurance and gold credit cards.

For cities on the winter belt, check the forecast before picking up your car. Rental car companies are getting smarter and more innovative in charging for more money. Some companies such as Budget will charge you more for cars with snow tires. Over the Christmas holidays, Budget was charging as much as $30 per day for cars with snow tires. After refusing to take the car, the manager slashed the price to only $15 per day. With snow in the forecast, it was a good idea to have snow tires. Enterprise cars are equipped with all-season tires, even in cities like Calgary and Edmonton.

Take care with rental cars, before and after picking one up!

Shopping for a GPS

With built-in navigation in most new cars and GPS on board most smart phones, portable GPS devices aren’t as popular anymore. If you’re still in the market for one because you drive an older vehicle or you don’t want to use the GPS on your smart phone then here’s a blog for you.

There has been many advances and features added to GPS devices since the last time I looked. To compete with iPhone 4S, namely the phones with Siri on it, some devices can now respond to voice commands. It’s almost like talking to KITT, the car from the old TV series Knight Rider. You can tell your GPS device where you want to go or that you need directions to the nearest gas station or golf course. This feature can be found in some of the high end GPS devices but remember, it’s in the early stages right now meaning that like Siri, it only responds to select voice commands. It doesn’t take your order and it may not respond to certain words, especially if you have an accent. Some people become more agitated trying to talk to their device than to use the touchscreen but if they can perfect this, I think it is great when you are driving alone. You wouldn’t have to take your hands off the wheel to adjust your GPS.

Another great feature to look for is the Lane Assist. This feature is not new and has been around for a number of years. The GPS draws you a view of a highway or freeway with overhead signs, giving you an indication of the lane that you need to get onto. No more guessing on whether the lane exits left, right or in the center.

Other great features to look out for, are free lifetime maps and free traffic subscriptions. These two features will keep your GPS updated to the latest road conditions and route information. Most of the GPS devices have this including some on the low end but watch out for those that displays ads. The ads take up screen real estate and it is annoying at times. GPS devices with traffic capability will recalculate your route if there is an accident or construction ahead. This will help save you time but on the other hand, some alternate routes can get you lost too. It’s fantastic to get free lifetime maps, as long as you are diligent in getting the updates from the internet and updating your device.

Aside from features, it’s good if you can test drive the devices or read up on reviews. I’ve heard from a few sources that the Garmin is easier to input addresses and finding points of interest faster than with a TomTom. Also Garmin’s display is more snappier than a TomTom but lacks in graphics depicting complex interchanges and freeway exits. For instance the TomTom VIA 1535TM has most of these features that I wrote about, including bluetooth support and does not display ads with traffic information but it doesn’t power down automatically when you shut the car off. It does tell you which side of the road your destination is at when you arrive which is nicety that most other devices lack.

One last item that might help travellers renting a car when they arrive is a home charger. If you can charge up the device then enter your points of interest while on the plane then you are all ready to go when you pick up your rental car. Some devices have an optional solar charger that you can place on the car’s dashboard but it’s already troublesome having the GPS device affixed to your windshield or sitting in a sand bag.

 

Drive away a deal

On my way out, I had to rent a car for next week. Checking with carrentals.com, I see that it’s going to cost me $170 – $180 for a week in Vancouver with a compact car. With a little research, you can beat that. Luckily for you, I’m going to save you some time and some money if you read on.

Lets go with Alamo. Try one of these codes and put it into the ID/ Corp ID field. This is reserved for corporate codes only. If you work for a big corporation, you might already have a code to use. But if you don’t have it handy or your employer isn’t big enough, it probably doesn’t have enough volume to draw a discount. Enter one of these: 7014172 (Allstate), 807303 (American Express), 675899 (Costco) or 706768 (International Student Organization). Enter your trip information and see what you get for rates. Select a car size then check out the price per week and if there is any credit. The credit should appear with a minus sign in front of the dollars like “-12.89”. If you don’t see anything then you’re not getting any discount. One more thing to try, enter AD7511SDN in the coupon code field. Try this again. If you have everything right, you should see a discount.

I used the American Express code (because I am a cardholder) and the coupon code, booked it for Saturday to Saturday, 8am to 8am and my rate came out to $119 total with taxes and all. That’s a saving of about $50.

Make sure you book for exactly a week to take advantage of weekly rates. If you’re picking it up at 6:30am, book it for 8:00am. Your plane may arrive at that time but by the time you get your luggage and walk down to the car rental counter, it’s 8:00am. The car rental agencies aren’t going to care if you’re early or late. As long as you show up sometime in the day, they’re ok with it.

 

Thee Parking Spot at LAX

I used to be a frequent flyer but lately, I really dread air travel. I’m becoming more and more like my friend Kirk who is scared of heights and don’t like flying. I braved it this weekend and flew home. After coming off on the 405, I was heading towards the Westin hotel where I normally park my car. I dreaded parking my new vehicle in the dark and glooming parkade in the back. The parking spots are cramped and surely, your car will be damaged by an uncaring driver who will park next to you and kick the door open. 

I chose to park at the Parking Spot on Sepulveda. It’s well lit and very open. If you want to save some dollars, park on the rooftop for the lowest price. If you don’t mind paying a little more, choose the covered parking. And if you’re ok with leaving the keys to valet, you can choose valet service.

Here’s a coupon for you to try out the Parking Spot. There’s two locations to choose from, one on Sepulveda and the other on Century. You can’t miss their shuttle buses – yellow with black spots all over it.

Magically Free Shuttle

When it comes to running a small business, either from home or in an office, it is vital that you fully stock your business with supplies. I’ve shared a Staples $20 off coupon with you before but it comes with a $150 minimum purchase. It’s not hard to rack up the bill, especially if your business needs a new external hard drive or a new printer. Even school supplies can easily make up for the $150 minimum. Here’s the coupon anyways: 5991592125470472. Use it online or by phone.

Any of you planning a Walt Disney World vacation? If so and you are planning to stay onsite at one of the WDW resorts then get free shuttle service from Orlando airport to your Disney resort. This is called the Disney Magical Express and is available to guests staying at all the WDW resort hotels. To get this service, simply ask for it by name when reserving your WDW vacation. Reservations made prior to 30 days from departure will get special luggage tags sent to you. Disney will automatically transfer your luggage from the airport to the resort.

While in Florida, rent a mid-size SUV from Dollar for only $37.99 per day. Or in Tampa, get a mid-size SUV for only $169.00 per week from Alamo.

Christmas on a Budget

Everybody is going to budget-minded this Christmas. And talk about Budget, be sure to use BCD code U114800 to save on your Christmas rental. In Vancouver, you can rent a economy/compact car for only $45 for a 3-day rental from December 16th to 19th. I’ve been shopping and comparing with Thrifty’s using the code: LM78 and it comes close. Remember, the trick is picking up the car from a non-airport location to save on airport taxes. In Vancouver, the tax is well over 17% which cancels out alot of promo code rates.

Alot of people are going to strap down their budget and shop for themselves. If you are looking to stock your house, perhaps your new renovated basement with a home theatre, spa or home office, here’s a free visitor’s pass to DirectBuy. We’ve seen the ads on tv where they say you can save up to 50% off all your home remodelling and fixtures.

And if you have golfers on your Christmas list, check out all the golf shirts and windshirts by Antigua and Oakley at savings up to 75% off at Knetgolf. To take advantage of this special, be sure to use the coupon code: SHIRT.

Free Jabra Bluetooth Headset

Since getting my Plantronics 520 bluetooth headset, I’ve noticed less headaches when I talk on my cellphone. Also I find it a lot safer while driving to and from work. If you know someone who talks on their cellphone a lot during their drive then do them a favor and get them a headset.

I’ll even give you a coupon code: 5313492125470476 to use at Staples to get a free Jabra headset. Use this coupon when you purchase more than $150 worth of office supplies, school supplies, a new computer or inkjet printer cartridges. Whatever you buy, just make sure you total more than $150 to get your free headset. 

My Plantronics 520 is ideal for people on the go. Just plug in the charger and it can be used for days on standby. When a call comes in, you simply push the button on the headset to answer. To sign off, you press the same button. It’s an intelligent button, as you turn the unit on/off, volume up/down and send/receive. I use it with a Motorola RAZR but other phones work with it too.

If you don’t need office supplies to get your free Jabra headset, get a Plantronics 520 noise-cancelling headset for under $50 from eCost.

Free Traffic Service GPS

Don’t you just hate it when the exit ramp you need to take is on the left side of the freeway? And to make matters worst, you are trying to get there fast and during rush hour? I used to get fustrated on LA freeways when driving on I5, 55, 57, 91, 134, 210, the notorious 405 and the US101. Freeway signs don’t help neither. Some of these signs are positioned too far from the place where you need to turn into or some are positioned right at the ramp entrance. I have turned too soon and end up driving through a residential area, just to see the freeway running parallel to the road you are on. Or I would have caused a scene, rolling my SUV over just to turn right angles onto the ramp.

It took me a good couple of months to navigate through the Los Angeles area. To make things easy for myself (the out-of-town driver), I started memorizing the lanes on each freeway so that when I needed to exit, I knew exactly which side the ramp was on.

Thanks to technology, this feature is known as the Lane Assist on the Navigon 5100 GPS which is the one I would buy if I was in the market for a GPS. As you are driving down the freeway, the Navigon 5100 will display the green signs above the lanes on the display, showing you which lanes lead to where. The left lane exits towards Barstow, Las Vegas and the right lane exits towards San Diego, Indio. Once the signs appear on the GPS, you can start planning to merge left or right, depending on your destination.

Another great feature that the Navigon 5100 has is the real-time traffic service which zeroes in on traffic incidents, accidents and tie-ups. If traffic is going to be a bother for your trip destination, the Navigon 5100 will recalculate an alternate route for you. That way, you don’t enter a void where you can be stuck in traffic for hours. Most of the newer GPS’ have this feature but on a subscription basis only. That means, to enable it, you would have to pay a monthly charge. Not this GPS, the Navigon 5100 has a subscription-free traffic service that works right out of the box. (It is industry’s only GPS with free service)

For a limited time only, you can get a recertified Navigon 5100 GPS for as low as $109. (Check out our links to the right but you will have to hurry – 62 hours, 34 minutes and counting).

Free Hawaii Coupons

My niece is having too much fun studying abroad in Hawaii. She chose to spend her last year at the University in Hilo, Big Island Hawaii. Every week, I die of envy as I see her beach photos and the sun and surf in Hawaii. Her dad is planning a trip in January to visit her and was asking me for the best golf courses to play at and who to rent a car from to get the best deal. 

It seems like Alamo has the best deal. Using the ID/CORP ID: 675899 and the coupon code: AD6974JDM, you can rent a compact car for about $184 Canadian where everybody seems to be charging over $250. With National, a compact car is $287 and with Avis, it goes for $296.

Too bad he is not going in December because I have some coupons for Avis renters going to Hawaii. Check these coupons out but you will have to had rented a car from Avis because you have to show your Avis keys when redeeming these coupons.

It’s a GoodYear

With treadwear ranging from 80,000 to 100,000 km, I’m glad I only have to shop for tires once or twice per lifetime of a car. One sure thing, if you live in a winterbelt city, you should invest in a set of winter tires. I learned the hard way when I failed to listen to the dealer about equipping my high performance sportscar with a set of winters. I thought with a little snowfall, my summers would work fine. Wrong! I couldn’t even get out of my driveway. 

Where do you go for tires? Your dealer where you bought your car? Costco? Wal-Mart? I like some assistance to determining the best tires for my vehicle so I like visiting the Fountain Tire people.  On their website, you can quickly determine a list of tires for any year, make and model of a vehicle. From there, you can print out a list and go shopping. If you need tires, this is the month to get your Goodyear tires because there is a mail-in rebate going on for November. If you rather, you can buy it from Fountain Tire and they will pass on the rebate to you. 

If rebates aren’t your cup of tea then go to Canadian Tire where you can buy tires for almost half the price that Fountain Tire charges. There you can get light truck or SUV tires for as little as $90 each. (Check out the Motomaster Total Terrain AT tires – great reviews)

Costco is another website where you can get a list of recommended tires. BF Goodrich is also giving a $40 rebate for tires purchased from October 13 to November 23. But note that Costco doesn’t carry all sizes. For instance, I’m going to have to skip Costco because they don’t have my size: 235/70R16.