While you exchange your house do you exchange cars too?
About half people exchange cars during a home swap, but it is entirely up to you. If you want to, if you need to, if you think it is opportune…
I can tell you that the convenience is absolutely sure and evident. I’m going to show you why…
Give a look to the prices reported below…
I checked on a couple of web sites the prices you get when you want to hire a car: I verified the cost of a reservation in three different countries (Italy, Spain and USA) during a period of 7 days.
What I found…
Small car
Bigger car
Big car
Car rental offers examples:
Making a reservation on-line with a car rental agency (Budget) Italy seems to be more expensive than Spain considering the same 7 days time and the same car type.
For instance, hiring a car can fluctuate from 187€ to 275 € in Florence while in Barcelona you get it for a price that varies from 118€ to 159€ (in my “experiment”: from 22 to 29 of October).
Getting a car in the United States, let’s say at JFK New York airport, would cost even more: the 7 days option in October (variable car size) costs from 411 to 434 €!
…Plus the petrol…
Checking the reservation of the same car for the same destinations (to the same hiring conditions) with Hertz, the cheapest options are:
• 151.21 €, to hire a car in Barcelona
• 186 € for Florence
• 231.44 € looking for a car to hire in New York City, JFK Airport.
I would definitely suggest that when we exchange our house it would be very convenient exchanging cars too.
This would be a further and considerable save of money on the global cost of our vacations.
Luckily, in the end, we still can find some ways to save money without giving up the pleasure of holidays and relax!
Stay tuned, further advice about how to be comfortable and happy during your home swap holiday is coming soon!
Blog HomeForHome - Home Exchange » Blog Archive » Another Option For A Mediterranean House Swap: Discovering Malaga on 
Mon 20 Oct 2008 at 8:07 pm
Excellent Post!!
In these hard economic times, offering to exchange your car in addition to your home can be the make-or-break attraction. As you so succinctly point out in your post, car rentals are ridiculously expensive and immediately the cost of a car is removed from the equation, your exchange offer will go straight to the top of the queue, over and above those without the perk!
In fact think of and itemize everything and anything that will make your exchange offer stand out above the rest. If you belong to a golf or fitness club try to arrange guest passes and mention them in your listing. If you own a boat, rv, camping equipment or all terrain vehicle(s), make them available.
Every little helps and often the most unlikely fringe benefit is the one that makes the difference!
For many more tips and advice from real live home exchangers, please visit http://exchangehomesblog.com
Tue 21 Oct 2008 at 2:31 pm
Thank you Anne for your reply.
We are going to talk more about “the little that helps”…everything that can make of my offer “an offer that you can’t refuse”!
I’m not going to exchange my cat Martino though…I’m not sure if he would be an advantage or a deterrent for any possible swapper…;)
Wed 22 Oct 2008 at 8:17 am
[...] Home exchange: also car exchange? Making a reservation on-line with a car rental agency (Budget) Italy seems to be more expensive than Spain considering the same 7 days time and the same car type. For instance, hiring a car can fluctuate from 187€ to 275 € in Florence … [...]
Wed 22 Oct 2008 at 8:29 am
[...] Home exchange: also car exchange? 151.21 €, to hire a car in Barcelona • 186 € for Florence • 231.44 € looking for a car to hire in New York City, JFK Airport. I would definitely suggest that when we exchange our house it would be very convenient exchanging cars too. … [...]
Wed 22 Oct 2008 at 8:32 am
[...] Home exchange: also car exchange? Making a reservation on-line with a car rental agency (Budget) Italy seems to be more expensive than Spain considering the same 7 days time and the same car type. For instance, hiring a car can fluctuate from 187€ to 275 € in Florence … [...]
Wed 22 Oct 2008 at 3:20 pm
[...] Home exchange: also car exchange? Making a reservation on-line with a car rental agency (Budget) Italy seems to be more expensive than Spain considering the same 7 days time and the same car type. For instance, hiring a car can fluctuate from 187€ to 275 € in Florence … [...]
Wed 22 Oct 2008 at 5:27 pm
[...] Home exchange: also car exchange? Making a reservation on-line with a car rental agency (Budget) Italy seems to be more expensive than Spain considering the same 7 days time and the same car type. For instance, hiring a car can fluctuate from 187€ to 275 € in Florence … [...]
Wed 22 Oct 2008 at 5:56 pm
[...] Home exchange: also car exchange? Making a reservation on-line with a car rental agency (Budget) Italy seems to be more expensive than Spain considering the same 7 days time and the same car type. For instance, hiring a car can fluctuate from 187€ to 275 € in Florence … [...]
Wed 22 Oct 2008 at 6:06 pm
[...] Home exchange: also car exchange? Making a reservation on-line with a car rental agency (Budget) Italy seems to be more expensive than Spain considering the same 7 days time and the same car type. For instance, hiring a car can fluctuate from 187€ to 275 € in Florence … [...]
Wed 22 Oct 2008 at 6:16 pm
[...] Home exchange: also car exchange? Making a reservation on-line with a car rental agency (Budget) Italy seems to be more expensive than Spain considering the same 7 days time and the same car type. For instance, hiring a car can fluctuate from 187€ to 275 € in Florence … [...]
Wed 22 Oct 2008 at 6:29 pm
[...] Home exchange: also car exchange? Making a reservation on-line with a car rental agency (Budget) Italy seems to be more expensive than Spain considering the same 7 days time and the same car type. For instance, hiring a car can fluctuate from 187€ to 275 € in Florence … [...]
Wed 22 Oct 2008 at 7:14 pm
[...] Home exchange: also car exchange? Making a reservation on-line with a car rental agency (Budget) Italy seems to be more expensive than Spain considering the same 7 days time and the same car type. For instance, hiring a car can fluctuate from 187€ to 275 € in Florence … [...]
Wed 22 Oct 2008 at 7:59 pm
[...] Home exchange: also car exchange? Making a reservation on-line with a car rental agency (Budget) Italy seems to be more expensive than Spain considering the same 7 days time and the same car type. For instance, hiring a car can fluctuate from 187€ to 275 € in Florence … [...]
Wed 22 Oct 2008 at 8:09 pm
[...] Home exchange: also car exchange? Making a reservation on-line with a car rental agency (Budget) Italy seems to be more expensive than Spain considering the same 7 days time and the same car type. For instance, hiring a car can fluctuate from 187€ to 275 € in Florence … [...]
Fri 24 Oct 2008 at 4:56 pm
[...] House swapping gives us a lot of advantages. [...]
Sat 22 Nov 2008 at 6:02 pm
[...] Home exchange: also car exchange? | Blog HomeForHome - Home Exchange [...]