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To rent a car during a trip, it is often better to book in advance to avoid the rates applied at the rental counters in the airport.
We have used the tool offered by Booking.com several times : https://www.booking.com/cars

It is a simple tool to use such as for searching for accommodation via booking.com

Start by entering the location of pick up and drop off of the vehicle.
If the location is different, you will have to pay an additional fee.
Then, you can enter the dates and times of the start and end of the rental.
Billing is done in 24-hour increments. Thus, a full day will be billed if the return time is later than the pick up time.

Pay attention to this point and know that in cases, if you change your schedule slightly, you can avoid paying for an extra day.

For search filters, you have a wide choice.
For example, you can only choose cars with an automatic or manual gearbox, choose the vehicle category according to your needs.
The model displayed is not necessarily the one you will pick up, but you will have a car of the same size.

It is very common for a vehicle rental to be with limited mileage. If you exceed the number of kilometers during your rental, you will pay a supplement when returning it. To avoid this restriction, you can filter by keeping only rentals with unlimited mileage.

Your search is updated with the chosen filters

Depending on your needs, you can add options (additional driver, baby seat, etc.)

Then comes the step of choosing insurance :

To have peace of mind, it is better to choose to book with insurance.
The insurance offered by Booking.com is supposed to be comprehensive and should prevent you from paying extra in case of a problem. However, when you pick up the car, your rental company may ask you to pay additional insurance.
This additional insurance covers you immediately and therefore no security deposit will be necessary. Otherwise, a security deposit is made, and if necessary, this amount is used by the rental company for repairs. This possible amount must be reimbursed to you by Booking.com’s insurance.
We have never paid additional insurance and have always been satisfied with the insurance paid with Booking.com. Of course, we had to make a security deposit (on average €1,500), made by credit card.
Please note: The credit card must be in the name of the main driver and must be a CREDIT card and not a DEBIT one. Knowing that in France, most bank cards are DEBIT cards. Be careful to ask your bank to have a CREDIT card that you can keep for this type of need. You can ask an online bank for free (Boursorama, Hellobank, etc.)

Feedback: in Majorca, our rental company forced us to take out their insurance and showed us a document indicating that during the high summer season (July – August), this insurance is mandatory. Between this choice or canceling the rental, we paid for this insurance and we provided the necessary evidence to Booking.com in order to have a refund of the insurance amount. (Booking.com’s insurance)

The last step is to check your choice and make the reservation.
If you are part of the Booking.com loyalty program: Genius, you can get a small discount.
The other advantage of this tool is that reservations can often be canceled free of charge up to 24 hours before the start of the rental.

Once your reservation is in order, all you have to do is go to your rental company’s office, present your passport, driving license and a bank card in your name to collect your rental car.

Don’t hesitate to ask, from the beginning, which vehicle model will be assigned to you. With a bit of luck, you may have a choice if you ask the question before your file is finalized.

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