5 reasons for renting a car

People renting a car do not always need a special occasion to justify it. Increasingly, drivers simply weigh up comfort and convenience and choose whichever option suits the trip best.

If you are still on the fence about whether a rental car makes sense for you, the five reasons below cover the situations that come up most often.

None of them require a special occasion. Between them, they cover most of the ordinary reasons a driver ends up booking a car rather than using their own.

When renting makes more sense than using your own car

A rental car is not only for holidays abroad. It is also a practical choice for a long motorway trip, an airport pickup, or simply a break from the daily wear on your own vehicle.

Fleet cars are serviced on a fixed schedule and come with clear terms from the moment you book, which removes much of the uncertainty of a long journey in an older personal car. Nothing about the process needs to be complicated, whichever of the five situations below applies to your trip.

The five situations below are where a rental genuinely earns its cost, rather than simply being a nice extra.

Five reasons drivers choose to rent

Each of these comes up regularly when guests explain why they are collecting a car with us.

1. Arriving home with luggage

Landing after a long flight with several suitcases is one of the most common reasons people book a car in advance, rather than deciding on the spot.

Collecting a car directly at Sofia Airport means the luggage goes straight from the belt into the boot, without a taxi queue or a wait for a shuttle bus in between.

Booking ahead of arrival also means the class and price are settled before you land, rather than negotiated at a busy counter after a tiring flight. It also removes the need to ask a friend or relative to collect you at an awkward hour.

2. Making the most of a holiday or trip

With limited time and a list of sights to see, waiting on urban transport schedules quickly eats into the part of the trip you actually came for.

A car lets you set your own pace between stops, rather than working the itinerary around bus timetables or the location of the nearest stop.

For a short break with several destinations, this difference alone often makes renting worthwhile, even before comfort or cost enter the decision. A rented car also makes it easier to leave early and beat the crowds at a popular site, rather than arriving on a fixed tour schedule.

3. A dependable car for a long journey

Long motorway trips put more strain on a car than daily commuting, and this is exactly where an older personal vehicle is most likely to show its age.

A standard class rental car is serviced on a fixed schedule and covered by insurance for the length of the trip, which takes one variable out of a long drive.

That peace of mind matters more on a six hour motorway run than it does on a five minute trip to the shops, and it is one less thing to think about when the schedule for the day is already tight.

4. Extras that make the trip easier

Beyond the car itself, a number of practical extras can be added to a booking depending on who is travelling and where.

Common extras worth asking about when you make the booking include the following:

• A certified child car seat for younger passengers;
• A GPS navigation device for unfamiliar routes;
• A roof mounted ski rack for winter sports trips;
• Snow chains for mountain roads in winter.

Each of these is arranged at the time of booking, so it is worth mentioning what the trip involves before you collect the car rather than after.

5. Support if something goes wrong

Nobody plans for a breakdown or an accident, but knowing what happens next removes a good deal of the stress if it does occur.

Cover can be added at booking that provides a replacement vehicle and roadside assistance if the car develops a fault or is involved in an incident in Bulgaria.

In practice, this means one phone call brings help to wherever you are, rather than leaving you to arrange recovery and a replacement car yourself. The rest of the trip can then continue with only a short delay, instead of ending early because of a single mechanical fault.

Getting started

The documents needed are straightforward for any of the five situations above, a valid passport or identity card, a driving licence, and a card for the deposit.

Our guide on documents needed to rent a car in Bulgaria goes through this in more detail, and current rates for every class are listed on our prices page.

Once you have picked a class, you can check available rental cars online with SpeedyCars in a few minutes, whichever of these five reasons brought you here.

If this will be your first time renting in the country, our ten tips for renting a car guide is worth a quick read before you book, since it covers a few details that are easy to miss on a first booking.