They’re very many reasons why people hire vehicle either to solve a problem or to have fun with family and friends going on a vacation.

In most cases, Uganda car rental services are considered expensive, but they even get more costly if a driver doesn’t know how to avoid hidden charges on a self drive in Africa. Having fully paid the car hire company fees, now in the field enjoying a comfortable ride either with family or not, it becomes irritating when travelers have to continuously incur different costs that they had not originally planned.

However, if anywhere in Africa, maybe on a wildlife safari in Uganda or a gorilla trip in Rwanda, it’s very cheap for trotters to avoid the car rental hidden charges if one follows the simple guidelines below.

During the process of picking the car from the point that you decided with the car rental company, it is better to note how much gas was in the tank so that when you are returning it back, you pass by a gas station and refuel it and this will help you to escape the refueling charges.

Almost all the car rental companies charge daily rates based on 24 hour – period and before taking the vehicle, an agreement is signed including the date of returning the vehicle. So when the vehicle is returned past the time agreed, the traveler may be charged a late fee charge or a full extra day. Therefore in order to avoid this charge, return the vehicle in time as agreed with the car rental company.

It is a bit hectic to drive long journeys alone so you may be tempted to get an extra driver but this could be costly as many rental companies charge a fee for an extra driver and that doesn’t even include the extra driver’s insurance waiver. A good way to avoid this charge is to program yourself and also driving short journeys and take rest.

Using discounts. All car rentals are charged on a daily basis, and the more number of days one is to use the car, the lower the prices and chances of discounts. It is advisable for trotters not to sign the retuning date if not really sure of it as delay would lead to late return charges. However, if not sure of how long you need the car, it’s better to opt for long term car hires like two weeks or a month that are discounted and give travelers all the flexibility to travel at their own convenience without pressure of limited time and late return charges.

Avoid airport fees. Most travelers especially those on Uganda safaris prefer using the rented car right from the airport, but this is more expensive as the car rental has to pay some fees for operating at or near the airport and all these are charged on the client. So it’s better to start using your rented car when picked at the office premises or another agreed place other than the airport.

Paying the Collision Damage Waiver. This insurance fee caters for all the damage that would have occurred to the vehicle in case of an accident. Clients that get accidents in rented cars are liable to extremely high cost of repairing the car, however if the collision damage waiver was paid, the company then deducts on that amount to repair the damaged vehicle. Note that this is paid daily.

With the above advice, there is no way any traveler on an African safari, whether in D. R. Congo, Rwanda, Uganda or any other part of the continent can ever fall into unplanned payments and charges on a car hire.