We recently went to Visaran to Cambodia and for this they rented a car. Since Bangkok is a very large city, you just can't go out on the street like in a resort and you can't take a car for a couple of days. Since time was running out, it was decided to book a car via the Internet so as not to waste time searching. True, I ran into another problem - there were almost no free cars anywhere due to the New Year holidays, everything was dismantled (the same can happen with housing, therefore, to be sure, I advise you to choose hotels in advance, for example, on RoomGuru). But first things first.
General information on rent a car in Thailand I already laid out. Follow the link to learn about the types of insurance, required documents, deposits, as well as the difference between small rental offices and large network.
The content of the article
- one Car rental in Bangkok via the Internet
- 2 The principle of renting a car through a broker
- 3 A couple of small offices in Bangkok
Car rental in Bangkok via the Internet
Broker and network distributors
As already said, I did not look for a car in small offices and went straight to large ones, the names of which are familiar to many in other countries (Hertz, Avis, Sixt, etc.). I previously read the reviews and realized that, in general, there is no fundamental difference between them in Thailand..
In my case, the problem, as I said, was that everywhere everything was already taken for my dates, which is understandable - I started looking too late (about 4 days in advance), and there were already New Year holidays on the nose.
Therefore, after checking all the sites, it seemed, I remembered that there is a broker Economybookings, where you can push through the availability of all existing network rental companies at once. And it turned out that I completely forgot to look at the National. So take a note that it is best to start with a broker, and then break through the prices from the distributors, if you suddenly do not like something. Although, as a rule, the broker will be cheaper.
How to use booking sites
To take a car and then use it, you will need: a passport, international law (national laws can also come off, but in case of problems no one knows how the matter will turn out) and a bank card. Also, you must be usually over 21-23 years old..
It is very easy to use car booking sites, either by brokers or by rental companies: everything is the same as when searching for hotels or air tickets, like on Aviasales.ru and Skyscanner.ru, for example. Select a country, city, place in the city (airport, office), the required dates, your age and click search. After that you are given a list of free cars.
Typical search form
Often the car model is not specified very specifically, for example «Honda Brio or similar (COMPACT Group)». This means that you will receive a Honda Brio or something similar to it, that is, in this case, only the car class is indicated (Compact, Economy, Intermediate, Standard, etc.). Unfortunately, sometimes the class may differ from your ideas about it, order «Toyota Vios or similar», and you will be given a Honda Jazz on the spot, because according to their concepts it is similar (similar).
Search results with prices
After choosing a suitable car from the list, you go to the booking page, where you can add various options: full insurance, additional driver, child seat, navigator, car delivery to the hotel. All this will increase the rental price. As a rule, you are initially offered insurance with a deductible, but you can expand it to full for an additional fee. About that, what is a franchise and what are the types of insurance, I already wrote. Sometimes all of the listed options cannot be added on the site, and then it will need to be done already on the spot upon receipt..
As a rule, to reserve a car (booking), you will need to enter your bank card details (which one to choose for travel). Depending on the specific company, you may be charged the full amount for the lease, part of the amount, or nothing at all. You will pay what is missing on the spot (with the same bank card) when you take the car. There they will also take a deposit from you, it will also be debited from your bank card. Do not worry, he will return back some time (from several days to a month) after the end of the lease.
Be sure to read what is included in the rental price and what the insurance conditions are. Even if you read through a translator, everything will be more or less clear. Please note that even full insurance may not cover, for example, mirrors.
Toyota Vios from National car
I ended up booking myself «Toyota Vios or similar» for 2 days at the price of 1500 baht / day in the National car. This amount includes unlimited mileage and compulsory insurance with a deductible of 5300 baht.
I originally chose the pickup locatiion in Suvarnabhumi airport, it is convenient because you can get there by metro (City Line), the branch of which is located not far from our house. I arrived there at the appointed time. Since I did not pay for anything through the site (there was such an opportunity), at the distributor's counter I was charged the rental amount for 2 days and a deposit of 20,000 baht. Then I signed the contract and took the car according to the inspection sheet (wrote down all the scratches and the fuel level). The car turned out to be a new, white Toyota Vios with 11,000 mileage and almost perfect condition. She had only one drawback - a tinted windshield. They like to tint everything in a circle.
Contract, receipts, memo and inspection sheet. Clickable, you can take a closer look.
New Toyota Vios
Mileage only 11 thousand
Toyota Vios by Hertz
Another time, we decided to go from Bangkok to Krabi by car and I took the car from Hertz. For 7 days I paid 6125 baht, quite a good price! The scheme is the same, I will not repeat myself, only 10,000 baht was frozen on the account. Reserved through Economybookings, arrived at the airport and picked up the car. Also almost new, on the machine and with a mileage of about 5 thousand. And yes, the lobovuha is tinted again, well, that's why?!
The only difference between this lease is that I rented the car elsewhere, that is, in Krabi. Almost all offices want additional money for this service. BUT! If you take for a period of 5 days or more, then this service is free (not for everyone, but for Hertz for sure).
Return of the car and the deposit
I handed over the car in both cases, too, without any problems. We quickly examined it in a circle, checked the fuel, said thanks and that's it. Moreover, in the case of Hertz, I kicked the bamber a little and, in principle, was ready to pay for it, but did not pay attention. Maybe you were lucky and just didn't notice, I don't know.
The National Car deposit returned to the bank card after about 3 days. They manually canceled the transaction. I know about this because they themselves told me that they would do it..
The Hertz deposit returned after 25 days. In principle, this is a normal practice, because if the transaction is not manually canceled (and usually no one bothers with this), then the blocking of the amount hangs for 20-30 days, depending on the bank. It seems to me that my amount would also hang for 30 days (it seems like this for Sber), but I wrote to Hertz, after which the money immediately fell into the account, hardly a coincidence. In general, in order not to wait for your own funds to return, it is much more convenient use a credit card, then it doesn't matter how long the amount is blocked there.
The principle of renting a car through a broker
Separately, now I will write about the broker-aggregator. Its main advantage is that its prices are often lower than those of the distributors themselves, and you can also get a free bonus in the form of an additional driver. And there is no catch here, it has already been tested by many people. Here are the ones I use the most: Economybookings
Rent a car with a discount>
Everything is exactly the same, go to the site, select a country, city, start a search and you will be given the results. Choose options and book using the card. Then, on the spot, the distributor will take another deposit, block it on the card.
The broker can also offer you, as a bonus or for a small fee, full insurance without a deductible on his own behalf. It can be more profitable than taking a car with full insurance from a rental company. It works like this: you take a car from a rental company, where there is insurance with a deductible. In the event of damage, you pay the deductible invoice on site to the rental company. After that, write to the broker, he says what documents you need to send, and returns this amount to your account. The chip is working, proven. Only sometimes a refund takes a long time, as the distributor behaves, they will expect an answer from him regarding the damage and the amount.
A couple of small offices in Bangkok
A detailed rental experience in small offices is described in my article Car rental on Koh Samui. It doesn't matter where you find yourself, even if not on this island, the principle is identical and the nuances are the same. Prices are similar too.
While searching for a car in Bangkok, I came across a couple of companies where people took cars. Here are their addresses and contacts..
Lumpinee car rent center
Address: 167/4 Wireless Road, Lumpinee, Pathuwan, Bangkok 10330
Tel 02-255-3482-3, 02-255-1966-8
Maneeda tour (near Suvarnabhumi airport)
Lat Krabang Rd, Khwaeng Lat Krabang, Bangkok 10520
[email protected]
+668-1933-9226, 08-9667-5551
P.S. If you have any questions about booking cars via the Internet, ask, I will try to answer.
