03/2020 KIPLINGER’S PERSONAL FINANCE 71last minute. Eric Simonson,
a certified financial planner
in Minneapolis who special-
izes in travel, finds that
discounts for prepaying
are often slim, meaning
“there is no reason to make
a reservation that you can’t
cancel,” he says.
Hand off the bargain-hunting.
Rather than sorting through
the car-rental incentives
embedded in your member-
ships, credit cards and loy-
alty programs, enter your
rental dates and location
into AutoSlash.com. The
site will combine all your
available discounts and
generate a quote. Or you
can enter your existing res-
ervation into its tracking
tool and wait for AutoSlash
to alert you to a price drop.
You may want the CDW. If
you have your own auto
insurance policy or your
credit card benefits include
car-rental insurance, it can
be tempting to skip the col-
lision damage waiver, which
typically costs $10 to $20
per day. But the CDW cov-
ers two key charges that
your insurance or credit
card typically won’t cover
in full—or at all: loss of use
(the daily income the rental
company loses while the
car is being repaired) and
diminished value (the dif-
ference in resale value for
a car before and after an
accident). You’ll also save
on the headache of dealing
with your rental agency if
damage does occur.Don’t pay unnecessary fees.
Going abroad? Take along
a credit card that doesn’t
charge a foreign-transaction
fee, which can add 3% to
each transaction. In coun-
tries that still largely rely
on cash, be judicious about
where you use your debit
card to minimize fees on
cash withdrawals. Avoid
currency-exchange kiosks,
such as those from Trav-
elex, in favor of a major
bank’s ATM, which will
give better exchange rates.Watch out for dynamic cur-
rency conversion. If a mer-
chant gives you the choice
between making your trans-
action in U.S. dollars or lo-
cal currency, choose local
currency. The amount you’re
charged if you choose dol-
lars includes an exchange
rate with a markup, mean-
ing you just paid a sneaky
conversion fee. ■Croatia. Escape the tourist-laden
hot spots of Dubrovnik and Split
by taking to the roads, which are
in excellent condition and let you
poke around tiny villages and
glide along the coast at your own
pace. It’s even doable in the off-
season. When Melanie Lieberman,
travel editor at ThePointsGuy
.com, visited last February, she
encountered some frozen roads
in the mountains and a dusting
of snow, but visited national
parks—including the stunning
turquoise pools of Plitvice
Lakes—and enjoyed balmy
temperatures on the coast.
DEALS:
Road Trip!
FOR QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS EMAIL
[email protected].