Do you want to learn how to rent a car in Fresno, California? If so, look no further. On this page you will find information on car rental insurance, car rental discounts and coupons, car rental upgrades, car rental rates and more.

As a tourist visiting Fresno, you might want to visit attractions like Yosemite National Park, Fresno Metropolitan Museum, Kings Canyon National Park, and Sequoia National Park. If your choice of vacation transportation is a rental car, you should watch out for the many hidden costs and fees that are out there http://www.rentalcarmomma.com/cities/fresno.htm

Enterprise, Budget, Avis, Alamo, and Hertz are companies that advertise widely in places like airports and such. They all have competitive rates and people tend to utilize the car rental companies frequently because they are within walking distance in the airport terminal. Little do they know that they will end up paying more for their rental car than if they were to pick up the car from a facility away from the airport. http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/list/top10/116640/article.html

If you are about to rent a car, make sure you read the information below first, it might just save you some money.

One of the things you should be aware of when renting a car is that there are many hidden fees that you don't expect. If you know what these fees are, you can avoid them. Following you will find a summary:

INSURANCE: Before getting a rental car, check with your own car insurance company to see if they cover you in case of a collision in a rental car. If so, you can decline the insurance that the car rental facility offers you. Also check with your credit card company because they sometimes also cover their members.

ADD-ONS: You can rent additional items like child safety seats, roof racks, ski racks, and GPS devices from the car rental company against a daily rate that ranges from $5 - $25. You can save some money by bringing your own add-ons instead. http://www.independenttraveler.com/resources/article.cfm?AID=29&category=2&page=2

DROP OFFS: Drop off the rental car on time. If you drop off the car too early or too late it might result in a fee. Early drop offs might even result in complete rate recalculations. Say if you get a weekly rate, but you return the car in less than a week, you might have to be switch to a daily rate which will end up costing you more in the end.

FREE UPGRADES: So the car rental facility offered you a free upgrade to a larger vehicle when you went to pick up your car. That might sound very nice, but the reason they offer these upgrades is often because compact cars are in high demand. The amount you will pay in gas for a larger car will also be more.

PACKAGE DEALS: If you also need a hotel room once you get to Fresno, consider looking into a package deal. This is when you can book a rental car together with air fare and/or a hotel stay. Overall you price will be lower than if you booked each one separately.

INTERNET RESEARCH: When looking for a good deal on a rental car, whether it's in Fresno or anywhere else in the United States, the best thing to do is surf the internet. Find out what kind of vehicles are out there for renting and what rates they are going for. You can rent a car online, in person at a car rental facility, or over the phone. There are often discounts given when reserving your car online. Car rental companies all have opening and closing hours and on weekends some of them even close early. This is not an issue when you go online where there are no opening or closing hours. The internet car rental websites are 'open' 24/7. Another benefit of using the internet to rent a car is that you won't have to deal with a salesperson trying to use pressure sale tactics on you.

AGE RESTRICTIONS: If you are younger than 25 years old, you might get charged a penalty by certain car rental companies. For people under 21 years of age, this penalty might be even higher. Make sure to check ahead of time if the rental company applies penalties. Usually the local independent companies are more flexible with this because they go by their own rules.

COUPONS: When reserving your rental car online for your Fresno visit, there are certain coupons you can use that can save you some money. Websites like rentalcarmomma.com and retailmenot.com have many coupons in the form of coupon codes and direct links. Coupon codes can be redeemed by entering them online while reserving your vehicle. Direct links automatically apply the discounts when reserving the vehicle online. Restrictions and exclusions might apply, so check the small print on the coupons. Also, expired coupons are not accepted, so make sure the coupons are valid before redeeming them. http://www.rentalcarmomma.com/cities/fresno.htm http://www.retailmenot.com/coupons/carrental

EMAIL UPDATES: The larger car rental companies all have newsletters that you can sign up for. Once you do this you will start receiving emails with promotions, discounts and offers that are going on.http://www.enterprise.com/car_rental/intresImage.do?imageId=28443.4&key=996.en.US.......&page=HOM

MEMBERSHIP: Major car rental companies like Hertz, Budget, Avis, Alamo and Enterprise have clubs you can join for free or for a yearly fee. Once you join, you get to enjoy faster service and discounts on various car rental rates. You also get to use the members' line at the airport so you won't have to wait in long lines. https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/emember/join/overview.do?learnMore=all

Nationwide car rental companies like Enterprise, Thrifty, Avis, and Hertz have set rates and regulations that they go by. If you are under the age of 25, it might be better to look into renting from an independent company since they have more are more flexible because they make their own in-house rules. It is also said that independent companies provide better service because they really want your business. They know they are up against the big names in the car rental business.

INDEPENDENT CAR RENTAL COMPANIES:

• AV RV and Van Rental
• 2557 West Cambridge Avenue
• Fresno, CA 93705-4737
• Phone: (559) 264-1920

If you want to rent a motor home, trailer or vans this company is the one for you. No appointment is necessary. http://www.aclassrv.com/

• Priceright Car rental
• 4715 North Blackstone Avenue
• Fresno, CA 93726
• Phone: (559) 227-8500

This car rental facility doesn't provide a website, but is conveniently located right in Fresno, California.