Free one-way car rentals worldwide

This is a typical win-win situation between a vendor and a client.

Car rental companies often need to move cars from one location to another, because, for an example, a previous client picked-up a car from a location and dropped it off at another location and afterwards the car needs to be transferred back to its base.

In these circumstances, some big car rental companies offer a one-way rental for a fee of only 1 € / £ / $.

Everybody wins:

• the car rental companies come out much cheaper than if they had to transport the car by trailer or have one of their employees move the car

• the client gets a free one-way transfer from a place to another.

How "free" is this for a client:

• the client still has to pay for fuel, which is not included (or any other extras, such as extra insurance coverage or GPS)

• the client has a short (starting from 24 hours in Europe to a couple of days elsewhere) and a limited number of kilometers included, enough to move the car from point A to point B (so you cannot drive one week for unlimited number of kilometres and then at the end just drop-off the car at the destination).

This is usually a good deal for those who do a tour during their holiday (for example a couple of days in Barcelona, then off to Madrid, then after another couple of days move south to Seville, and so on).

Below are the direct links to the websites of the rental companies where you can find which cars and which itineraries are available:

Europe

• Europcar

• Hertz UK

• Hertz DK

Australia & New Zealand

• Europcar

• Thrifty NZ

• Budget NZ

• Avis NZ

• Hertz NZ

Bookmark this post, as we will keep it updated with all the latest one-way rentals for one dollar.

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How to save on hotels in the Nordic countries in Europe

Whether you've travelled or are planning to travel to the Nordic countries in Europe (Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland), you must have noticed that hotels are rather expensive and getting a good price on quality hotels is difficult.

One of the best solutions to book good hotels at decent prices in the Nordics is staying at Choice Hotels and paying with points.

Choice Hotels is an international chain of hotels, with a strong presence in the United States, but with properties spread out worldwide, including Europe.

There are about 200 Choice Hotels in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland, so plenty of choice (pun intended :)

Some of the Choice Hotels brands you might be familiar with in Europe are: Quality Hotels, Clarion or Clarion Collection and Comfort Hotels.

This is the 4-step booking process to save money on hotels in the Nordic countries in Europe:

1.

Join their Choice Rewards loyalty programme for free:

choicehotels.com/choice-privileges/account/enroll

If you are already a member of the Choice Rewards programme, skip this step and remember to stay in Choice Hotels whenever you have the occasion (especially when your employer is paying for room :), in order to gather loyalty points and enjoy free nigts during your holidays.

2.

Search for Choice Hotels in the destination you are interested in and note down how much money would that cost if you paid cash and how many points you would need if you paid with points.


choicehotels.com


Choice Rewards points are sold in increments of 1 000 points, which cost $11.

So if a night may be paid with 8 000 points, this means that you will actually pay only $ 88 (or about € 70), which you need to compare with the cash rate to see if it's worth it (and most of the time it is).

3.

Buy the number of points you need (you can buy up to 50 000 points in a year).


choicehotels.com/choice-privileges/buy-points


At certain times during the year, there will be promotions which offer up to 30% - 40% bonus points on top of the regular number of points. That would be the most lucrative time when to buy these points. Please follow our Facebook page, as we will keep you updated when these promotions are activated.

4.

Login into your Choice Rewards account and reserve your room using the points just bought.

choicehotels.com


That's it. It requires a bit of time, but you will make significant savings on your hotel in the Nordic countries in Europe.

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When is it best to travel worldwide, depending on the season

Knowing which month is the best period to visit a certain location, depending on the local weather, is key to increasing the chances of having a memorable vacation.

Lastminute.com comes to help with 12 global maps, one for each month, in which the codes have the following meaning:

• red -> hig season
• turquoise -> low season
• yellow -> in-between

Please see below these maps of when and where to travel:

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

These maps are just an estimation, so one cannot exclude to have bad weather during a season indicated on the map as the best time to go. 

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15 ways to get a free or cheap flight upgrade - ideas from SkyScanner.com

Skyscanner, one of the best airline search engines, has an interesting article offering tips and tricks on getting a flight upgrade:

How to get a fllight upgrade - article from SkyScanner

While some may be out of reach, others are worth giving a try the next time you have a long-haul flight.

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