If you are visiting Philadelphia, Pennsylvania a rental car might be your preferred type of transport. This page titled 'how to rent a car in Philadelphia' might help you decide which car rental company is best for you.

If you are a tourist, you might use a rental car to visit the Liberty Bell, the Rodin Museum or Independence Hall. Philadelphia residents can also use rental cars. They can use rental cars to replace their own car that might be getting fixed. Rental cars are also a good idea when you plan on driving long distances. There is no need to put the mileage on your own car. One benefits of using a rental car is that you don't have to be dependent on public transport. You won't have to keep track of bus or train schedules. You can come and go on your own schedule.

Major car rental companies like Enterprise, Hertz, Budget, Avis and Alamo are in competition with each other and all want your business. Special offers like various discounts on rates, free upgrades to larger vehicles and extra free rental days are some of the coupons you might find. Because of the many different offers, it might get confusing when deciding which company to use. You can use this page, together with the Mahalo page 'how to get a cheap car rental' as a guideline on what to look for, when searching for a rental car. http://www.rentalcarmomma.com/

WHEN: If you are visiting Philadelphia, try to plan it over a weekend. Car rental companies often have discounted weekend rates on their rental cars. If you are staying longer then 5 days in Philadelphia, ask the rental company about their weekly rates. Weekly rates are often cheaper compared to daily rates. If your visit is a last minute thing, look into last minute car rental prices. Just like how you would find last minute flights, there are also last minute car rentals.

WHEN TO RESERVE A RENTAL CAR: If you are planning your Philadelphia visit far ahead of time, try to make your car rental reservation as soon as possible. Reservations made one week or more ahead of time might just get you better rates. This is because car rental rates depend on how many cars are on the lot of the rental facility at the time you make your reservation. So the earlier you make your reservation, the better.http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/list/top10/116640/article.html

RESERVING HOTEL AND CAR: During your Philadelphia stay, you might need a hotel stay. Look into booking a hotel stay together with a rental car, since you might find many discounts when doing so. There are also package offers that include the flight, hotel stay and the rental car. You can find these types offers on the many travel websites like Expedia.com and Orbitz.com. http://www.expedia.com/daily/cars/default.asp?rfrr=-361 http://www.orbitz.com/App/SubmitQuickSearch?z=b9c4&r=1t

GO ONTO THE INTERNET: Car rental reservations can be made in person at the car rental facility, over the phone or online. Some car rental companies have special online-only offers that you will not get when you book your car in person or over the phone. Therefore, it is a good idea to surf the Internet before reserving your rental car. When going online, you can compare rates of different car rental companies, find discounts, and you can look at the various vehicles they offer. Vehicles can range from compact and standard cars to minivans and pick-up trucks. If you are looking for a high end, exotic vehicle, make sure to look at websites that specialize in these, like exoticcarrental.com. Besides having the ability to search the Internet freely, you also won't have to worry about hours of operation because the Internet car rental websites are ready to take your reservation 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. For people who are inconvenienced by the opening and closing hours of car rental facilities, the Internet might be the answer. Another bonus is that you will not have to worry about dealing with a pushy sales representative trying to get you into a rental car. http://www.exoticcarrental.com/ http://www.enterprise.com/car_rental/showVehicles.do

When renting a car, many people don't know about the extra fees and charges that are often hidden. Here are some of them that you can avoid:

EXTRAS: If you have a young child you might need a child safety seat. Car rental companies will rent you a child seat for a daily price that can range anywhere from $5 - $25. You can avoid this charge by bringing your own car seat. This also goes for all other extras like ski racks, roof racks and GPS devices. http://www.independenttraveler.com/resources/article.cfm?AID=25&category=2

PICK UP LOCATION: Picking up your rental car from an airport car rental facility is more expensive that picking one up from a rental company not located at the airport. The reason for this is because the airport facilities charge taxes and fees. Even though airport car rental pickups might be more convenient, if you really want to save money, you can opt for a pickup away from the airport.

To Prepay or not to prepay: Prepaying for gas is not recommended. If you do opt to do this, you will pay for a full tank of gas ahead of time. This way, you can just drop off the car empty and walk away. The negative aspect of this is that if you don't use all the gas, you will still have paid for a full tank. Car rental companies also charge more for gas than you would pay at the pump. You will save money by filling up the car yourself before returning it to the lot. http://www.independenttraveler.com/resources/article.cfm?AID=25&category=2

To save money on your Philadelphia car rental, try visiting websites like rentalcarmomma.com and rentalcodes.com. You will find various printable coupons, coupon codes and direct links here. To redeem them, just hand over the printable coupon at the participating car rental facility. Coupon codes are to be used when reserving a car online and direct links will bring you to the website where you can find the discount. Make sure to check the expiration dates of the coupons, since expired coupons will not be accepted. Also read the fine print on the coupons to see if there are any restrictions and/or exclusions that might apply. http://www.rentalcarmomma.com/cities/philadelphia.htm http://www.rentalcodes.com/

MEMBERSHIP: Hertz, Budget, Alamo, Avis and Enterprise all have clubs you can join for free or for a yearly fee. The benefits of joining include faster service when renting a car and various discounts on car rental rates. At airports you will not have to wait in long lines since you will be able to use the special members' line. https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/emember/join/overview.do?learnMore=all11

EMAIL UPDATES: You can register your email address with the major car rental companies. Once you do this they will email you updates of their current car rental promotions, discounts and offers. http://www.enterprise.com/car_rental/intresImage.do?imageId=28443.4&key=996.en.US.......&page=HOM12