Posted by Shopaholic
May 10th, 2013
I was thinking of treating myself to a shopping spree for my birthday by going to the UK. My first decision was do I fly or do I boat. This was simple enough, cheaper to boat as it means I can practically bring back unlimited luggage. My next choice was to decide whether I should take my car whether I ought to rent a car. As I am only going for a weekend, it will probably be far cheaper to rent a car than take my own car. However, I do need to take into consideration other costs. Obviously things like fuel will be the same whichever option unless I rent a smaller more economical car than I currently have. I guess this is easy to do but not really a big contender. There are things like insurance waivers. This means that if I have an accident I will not have to pay an access but it does bump up the price substantially. Some places you also have to pay for fuel in advance and it will only get refunded if the car is returned full. Though again, some assume that you hand it back empty and even if you fill up the tank, you still have to pay for it upfront and get no refunds. Also if I take the kids with me (something I would not like to do but most probably will have to), I will have to pay extra for car seats. Then finally I have to carry the stuff onto the boat if I do not take my car.
The reality is I need to decide between price and convenience. Renting a car for the weekend is far cheaper than taking my car but my car is far more convenient. Now if I can confirm I can get a rented car at the dock and drop it back at the dock, the rental car just might be the winner because it will mean I can spend more on my shopping!