When it comes to travelling abroad, airline flights aren’t the only cost to take into consideration. Factors such as land transportation and insurance are equally as important, especially if plans include hiring a car.
Sometimes researching what car rental services are available ahead of time is not such a bad idea. Without prior knowledge of the costs involved, renting a car can end up being a much bigger expense than anticipated.
- Hire A Carpedrosimoes7 / Car Photos / CC BY
What’s Good About Hiring A CarÂ
For many travellers, walking is one way to take in tourist sights and enjoy the local scenery. For other people, using well-organised bus and/or train routes is much preferred. More often than not however, the convenience of renting a car while on holiday is a frequently sought-after option.
Usually affordable and easy to book, car hire is a flexible way to travel. Avoiding set schedules or public timetables, car hire adds a sense of freedom and spontaneity to travelling. Having a personal vehicle makes it possible to head to out-of-the-way attractions that aren’t near enough to visit when travelling on a fixed itinerary, and no lengthy delays at bus or train stations either!
Most Expensive Car HireÂ
Car hire is often assumed to be the best and cheapest at popular holiday spots. Some key destinations like Spain and Ireland are known for their cheap car hire, but don’t expect all countries to be the same. Depending on the destination, cars can be outrageously expensive to hire – and that’s even before the price of car hire insurance has been added on!
Taking a trip to Georgia, Zambia or the Seychelles, can be a pricey affair. Try hiring a car from airports in any one of these destinations and it will do a lot more than shake the holiday budget – it might just break it. According to a survey conducted the cost of a week’s car hire in Tsibili, the capital of Georgia, is £663.80. (This includes pick-up and drop-off of a medium family car at the city’s international airport.)
Lusaka in Zambia, Africa follows close behind with a price of £532.40, with Mahe in the Seychelles costing £509.00 for a week hiring the cheapest economy car. Compared with equivalent weekly hire of a car, from and to Ireland’s Dublin International Airport, at £76.90, it’s quite the price difference.
When hiring a car in Georgia, Lusaka in Zambia, or Mahe in the Seychelles, be prepared to pay. These three destinations have the most expensive car rental fees in the world. Driving an economy model might seem ‘cheap’ to some, but don’t be fooled by appearances. Hiring the cheapest car isn’t always as cheap as you think.
