Transportation is essential when planning a good trip. It can literally make or break your whole vacation. But there are some common mistakes people make when they are looking for a car or van rental service. Let me list you some of these mistakes so you won’t have to make them on your own.

They don’t shop around

During the past few years, tons and tons of online services have popped up on the internet all aiming at giving their users the best deals possible. With all that wealth of info, you would think that moor people would take the time to shop around and look for better deals on their van rentals and such. But a lot of people are just impatient and rush onto the first deal they come across and wake up with sub par service and tons of unpleasant surprises. So please take the time to look around your local car rental services and give sites such as hotwire.com and priceline.com a shot to see if they can be of any help to you.

They don’t check for hidden fees

Hidden fees can really put a dent in your bottom line. Depending on the state you live in, fees associated to your van rental can mount to over 50% of the final price. In Alaska per instance, associated costs can add an additional 54.4% to your base price, so make sure you’re on the lookout for that. Other common hidden fees associated to van rentals may include but are not limited to: extra mileage fees, value-added taxes and airport surcharges and state taxes just to name a few. So make sure you take all of these into consideration before you make a deal.

They don’t clean up the vehicle

It’s normal for a vehicle to get dirty after a while, but some companies will put an extra charge on your credit card if it’s too dirty on arrival. And these charges will usually be way higher than what it would cost to have it cleaned yourself. So make sure the vehicle is in a reasonable condition when you get it in and make sure you check it thoroughly before you pick it up so it doesn’t have pre existing conditions.

These are only 3 of the many mistakes people make when they are shopping around for a car or van rental service. Refrain from committing these mistakes, and you’ll have a much more pleasant van rental experience.

This article is sponsored by United Van Rentals ( http://www.UnitedVanRentals.com ), a passenger van rental company located in Orange County, California.

Amr Kassem