Beirut Travel

Renting a car on holiday is a good way to explore your destination as a native would, avoiding the busy tourist traps and making the most of your break. But, like many other tourist industries, the car hire sector is plagued with hidden fees and little surcharges which can relieve the unsuspecting tourist of a lot more money than they expected.

Aside from the ‘discovered damage’ trick, another all-too familiar ploy is the ‘fuel gauge’ one. Most rental firms stipulate that a car must be returned with a full tank of fuel, or a refuelling charge will be added. This sounds simple enough, but some unscrupulous firms take it one step further; if they can squeeze even one more litre into the tank after you return it, they could charge you a hefty bill.

Like the discovered damage scam, this is easily avoided if you take precautions. When you pick your rental car up, take a photograph of the fuel gauge and the odometer and make sure the rental staff mark these down on your forms. Then, upon leaving the rental agency, drive to the nearest garage and top up the tank, keeping the receipt. When you go to take the car back, go to the same garage and top up once again, and keep the receipt. Give both of these receipts to the rental staff and this will prove that you filled up the car before returning it.

Bear in mind that some car’s fuel gauges read differently to others, and parking the car on an incline could also affect the reading. Topping up the tank on both pickup and collection will take away any doubt that these factors may cause. If you can’t do this, you could arrange for the rental company to refuel upon the car’s return and charge you the difference, but this will often be much more per litre than you would pay at a filling station. Better to do it yourself if at all possible.

By: Jay Tillotson

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When we go on holiday we take time to relax from the hassles of working life, forgetting the various paperwork and reports of working life in favour of sitting by the side of the pool sipping an umbrella drink. It can be the highlight of the year for most people stuck in the workplace from nine to five, and rightly so since most people these days are being more adventurous with their holidays and discovering new and different locations.

A part of this desire to discover more may involve hiring a car whilst on holiday to see the most you can within your precious two weeks in the sun. The trouble is with a potential language barrier to battle through it can be a risky task trying to get car hire but specifically it can be tough to get car hire that is safe and covered for any accidents.

The first thing to be aware of is whether the hire company provides rental insurance, since you are driving a foreign car and in a foreign land it may seem a basic point but your car insurance back home will not cover you out there, believe it or not some people have believed this and got a nasty shock in the event of an accident. Whilst many car hire firms will cover Collision Damage Waiver and Theft costs you will still be held responsible for paying the initial costs or the Excess. Keep this in mind when cruising through the twisty mountain roads or the crowded city streets!

There are some firms who offer a separate form of car insurance specifically for people who car hire abroad, this involves a sketchy process where by you refuse the rental service’s Excess cover and pay with your credit card. Later claiming the sum back through your rental insurance company instead. This process sounds a bit problematic as the process for claiming back from the insurance company may be drawn out and means you’re left out of pocket for quite some time.

Aside from this there are still a number of factors to consider with regards to car hire safety, some are pretty obvious ones you’ll be aware of form driving in this country but some others are factors that come into play when driving abroad or simply because you are hiring a vehicle.

The first one is that remember the condition the car was in when you received it, nice and clean hopefully with a full tank of petrol, this is important as some renters may insist you bring the car back with at least half a tank of fuel. Also it’s incredibly rude to return the car with empty drinks cans, beach sand in the foot well and ice cream smeared on the back seat. No one expects you to vacuum the inside and perform a full valet but make sure you return the car in as good condition as you’d like to get it back.

In the second part of this car hire guide I will cover more safety tips for when driving abroad such as awareness on the road and looking after the hire car.

By: Andy Adams

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International travel is expensive, so any chance to save money is always welcome. If you’re traveling in a group, you may want to consider Atlas group insurance. It offers you two great ways to save money during your travels.

The first way group medical insurance saves you money is by sharing the cost of medical insurance with the other people in your group. Rather than paying full price for several individual insurance policies, you and your fellow travelers can get a discounted price by buying one policy to cover your entire party. Therefore your own personal cost is minimized.

The second way international travel group insurance saves you money occurs when you use it. Your current insurance policy probably doesn’t cover healthcare needs that arise while you’re traveling overseas. That means that if you were to visit a doctor or a hospital during your international trip, you’d have to pay the full price for your medical care. Instead of the standard pays you’re used to, you’d suddenly be responsible for hundreds or even thousands of dollars in medical expenses.

But group medical insurance saves you from paying those high costs. It works just like your typical insurance policy, paying 100% of your coverage after the deductible has been met. And you can set your own deductible ranging from $0 up to $2,500, depending on what you’re comfortable with.

International group travel insurance is ideal for missionary groups of five or more people who may be concerned about the state of countries they are visiting. It covers standard medical expenses as well as extreme circumstances like evacuation expenses, terrorist attacks, and natural disasters.

Your group medical insurance policy will have a maximum coverage level that varies according to the age of people in your party. If all travelers are under the age of 70, the maximum coverage is $1,000,000. If travelers are between 70 and 79, the maximum coverage is $50,000. And for people 80 and over, the limit is $10,000.

By: Harry Higgins

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Travel money belts are still a good way to carry cash. They’re common, and thieves know of them, but it isn’t easy to tell if your belt has a hidden compartment, and it isn’t easy for a robber to get at it quickly. It is a good way to carry SOME of your cash when you travel. Here are some more ways.

Losing Money In An Ecuadorian Disco

Travel gets me thinking of ways to hide money. I had the idea that a hundred dollars, wrapped up in an ace bandage on my leg, would be safer than in money belts. It worked for ten days on our trip to Ecuador, until we went dancing. The cash danced to its own tune, which I didn’t even notice until morning. The lesson is to wrap it up tight, or don’t go dancing.

Hiding Money And Documents

There are travel options other than money belts for hiding cash and important papers. Use several of them, rather than putting everything in one place. Don’t carry too much cash. It’s easy now, almost everywhere, to access your money using an ATM, so carry enough for a few days, or a week at most.

There are pouches that hang under your shirt to carry your passport and other papers. They’re obvious if you’re wearing a light shirt, but then it is always hard to thoroughly hide a passport on your body. In any case, it isn’t easily accessible to pickpockets.

I cut a pocket from some old pants and used a safety pin to attach it inside my travel pants. This has worked well on several trips. It’s not noticible, and would be difficult for a thief to get at without taking off my pants. However, it is inconvenient when I’m asked for my passport, since I have to reach into my pants.

Hiding Money In Shoes

If the inner soles of your shoes are removable, put twenty dollars under each one for emergencies. This works well for me, but then I don’t have expensive shoes that could themselves be a target. It is just another place to hide cash, and you should always have several different ones when traveling.

Think creatively. Roll up a bill and put it in the handle of a disposable razor. Just don’t throw it away by accident. Find or make other hiding places. If your money is in several hard-to-find places, it will take a persistent thief to find all of your cash. Make robbers truly work for their living.

Hiding money in your hotel room requires some thought. There are many good places. Ask any thief, and he’ll tell you the best ones. Just choose a safe hotel and be careful. Of course, hiding things will at least reduce the temptation for bad employees and lazy thieves.

I once had a wallet stolen from a zippered back pocket. It was a decoy wallet, so the pickpocket’s skill earned him a few pieces of paper. Another time I had to drag a robber off a bus and wait for police, but his accomplice escaped with our money. Travel is about adventure, but fortunately we can avoid this kind most of the time.

By: Steven Gillman

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