Do You Really Need Additional Extras, Part 1 – GPS

We at Indigo Car Hire spend all of our time arranging the best deals available for our customers but somethings that are often overlooked are the costs of additional extras. While we always try to get the best price for the car and any extras that our customers may need, sometimes the need is not always apparent at the time of booking.

In part 1 of our cost saving blogs we are looking specifically at GPS systems or Sat Navs..

Sat Navs can be essential for many foreign visitors looking to navigate there way around the United Kingdom, there was a time before GPS technology that suppliers would sell road atlases which were a fantastic source of revenue for them, much like GPS’s are today.

Car Hire suppliers can charge anything from £10 to £18 per day to hire one of these, some companies may cap the amount charged in any given rental period to between £100 and £150. Others some will simply charge on a daily basis with no cap, so for those that are visting for a prolonged period of time, the costs can mount up.

We can use Heathrow as an example, being the busiest airport in the UK it sees a vast amount of long haul travellers coming through its arrivals halls. not only does it have plenty of shops offering consumer electrical goods there are also a number of large supermarkets within a mile or so of the terminals.

Looking at one of these well known supermarkets websites, we saw a standard UK GPS system on sale for £74, we are sure you could find one cheaper than that if you looked further. So if you are hiring for more than 7 days then there is a real saving to be had by buying and not renting.

The bonus being that after your rental, you have a GPS system to do with as you please, sell it on to a friend, someone you see in the queue when you return to the airport or even sell it online, keep it for a future trip or simply be a good samaritan and give it away to someone that may need it.

Yes this saving does come with a little effort but the benefits can be great, if you have booked your car with a low cost supplier for 2 weeks and then at the last minute decided to hire a GPS system, it could double the cost of your rental..

Look out for part 2 of our cost saving tips, coming soon!

Having worked in the car rental industry for over 15 years, he really knows his stuff. Rob heads up our marketing department and as a keen traveller, always has a new location to talk about. Particularly if there is a golf course nearby.