{"id":52325,"date":"2026-11-05T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-05T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/check-in-out.com\/?p=52325"},"modified":"2026-10-30T18:35:54","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T16:35:54","slug":"car-rental-abroad-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/check-in-out.com\/en\/car-rental-abroad-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything You Need to Know About Renting a Car Abroad in 2026!"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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You have plane tickets and you’ve already chosen a place to stay; now all that’s left is to find a car to take you from place to place.
When we fly for non-city trips in Europe, we prefer to rent a car rather than rely on public transport, especially in Eastern Europe, where the public transport infrastructure is often not convenient enough.<\/p>\n

Car costs depend on a range of variables such as the type of car, the destination where you rent, the rental period and which extras you’ll need to add. On our trip inwestern Romania<\/a> we rented a car for \u20ac12 a day through Rentalcars; on our visit toRome<\/a> we rented a car for one day at \u20ac9 a day through the website Economy Car Rentals<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Let’s start with an explanation of my favorite search engine, which I use to start every car rental search. Later I’ll share important points to pay attention to when renting a car abroad.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Tip #1<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

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The earlier you book, the cheaper the price. <\/span>
\nSo whenever I book a flight, I also book a car with a cancellation option.<\/span><\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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In the past I recommended certain sites for booking a rental car abroad;\u00a0since then I’ve discovered a search engine called DiscoverCars<\/a><\/span>. The DiscoverCars search engine is my favorite today. After you fill in the location and dates, you can view a list of suitable cars, each rated on various measures such as value for money and the car’s condition.<\/span><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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It’s important to remember that most bookings allow cancellation up to 48 hours before the rental date, so as in the first tip, it’s recommended to book as early as possible and at most cancel later. Set yourself a reminder in your calendar to cancel three days before the trip.<\/p>\n

In some cases only a deposit is required (and in some, full payment in advance).\u00a0Pay attention to whether the deposit amount is refundable<\/span>\u00a0or not.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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It’s very important to read the fine print when booking a car<\/span>!<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Car Rental Insurance:<\/h2>\n

When booking a car it’s important to check that there’s collision damage insurance (CDW) and theft protection (TP) for the car.<\/p>\n

What exactly is excess waiver and why do I need it if I already have insurance?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Even if there’s collision insurance, in the event of an accident (or even a scratch) you’ll still be charged an excess (deductible). Of course the excess amount varies according to the damage to the car and the type of car, but different rental companies will also require different deposits and excess fees.
For example, for the last car rental I made, the maximum excess amount was as shown in the picture:<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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If your booking doesn’t include excess waiver, you can always add excess waiver when you pick up the car from the rental company abroad.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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If you don’t like the final price of offers with excess waiver (since they’re more expensive), or you haven’t found a car that suits you that includes excess waiver, and you do want to complete the booking and get insurance that protects you, you have another option (usually even cheaper): adding excess reimbursement insurance. What does excess reimbursement mean?\u00a0<\/b>If there’s damage to the car, you’ll be required to pay the cost of the repair (up to the amount of the deposit, as in the picture above) and then claim a refund of the amount you paid from the insurance company. Since I don’t want to take risks, I always add excess reimbursement insurance. There are several ways to get excess reimbursement insurance:<\/strong><\/p>\n