Month: January 2018

Top Ten Things To Do On Your Rice Lake Cottage Rental Vacation

Rental blogger

Rice Lake is a fabulous place in Ontario, Canada, where you can spend your rental vacation smoothly. In Rice Lake, you will find more than thirty varied resorts where you will get the best of vacation experience. Recreational features and amenities are available in plenty in the area so let’s find out some of the best things to do in the Rice Lake.

Fishing
You will find wide range of fish species in the Rice Lake. Some of the common varieties include Panfish, Muskie, Walleye, Large and Smallmouth bass, etc. All you need is crankbaits, Texas rigged plastic worms, or jigs to lure the fishes so that you can catch them. It is a great fun and a wonderful pass-time activity amid the beauty of the Rice Lake.

Boating
Take into boating action amid 18 miles long distance of the Rice Lake. The lake is connected to the Trent Canal System and this system further connects the different destinations such as Bay of Quinte, to Georgian Bay, on Lake Ontario, etc.

Hiking
There are some awesome hiking trails featured within the close proximity of the Rice Lake. In Alderville First Nation conservation area, there is Tall Grass Savannah that offers amazing experience of hiking.

Explore the history and tradition
The area of Rice Lake is rich with its history and tradition. Find out some important cultural significance of the area by visiting are prominent destinations such as Serpent Mounds Park, Petroglyphs Provincial Park, Whetungs Ojibwa Centre and Kawartha Lakes Spirit Walks.

Canadian Canoe Museum
There is a lot to know about this place and the Canadian Canoe Museum discloses many secret. Visit the museum and explore a collection of more than 600 kayaks and canoes along with more than 1000 artifacts related to canoeing. Here you can also find unique material and cultural representation of Canada.

ACO Port Hope House Tour
Architectural Conservancy of Ontario Port Hope House Tour is the most popular house tour in Ontario. This tour event displays the traditional and modern domestic architecture works.

Explore the nature conservation highlights
There are several conservations that are working day and night to restore, manage and develop the natural environment of the area. View the Otonabee Conservation, Warsaw Caves, Conservation Areas south of Rice Lake, etc.

Visit the zoos
When you are holidaying with your family and you have kids along with you, then visiting the zoos is a must. Riverview Park and Zoo offers attraction for everybody. There are more than 48 varieties of animals that include Yak, Wallaby, Camel, Macaw, Emu, Cougar, Squirrel Monkey, Plated Lizard, Meerkat, etc. You can also catch up with some amazing reptiles by visiting the Indian River Reptile Zoo.

Theater and Arts
If you are an art lover, then the area of Rice Lake can satisfy your appetite with some amazing theatre performances. Some of the popular theatre facilities include 4th Line Theatre, Peterborough Theatre Guild, Capitol Theatre and Northumberland Players.

Events
No community is complete without events and festivals. Taking part in the festivals is the best enjoyable thing that you can do in the Rice Lake locality. Some of the popular events include Cobourg Canada Day Waterfront Festival, Havelock Country Jamboree, Peterborough Festival of Lights, Port Hope All Canadian Jazz Festival, Buckhorn Wildlife Art Festival, Warkworth Rodeo, etc.

The Benefits Of Budget Truck Rental

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When you need to move your things from one place to another, it means a lot of things to do, from packing all your possessions to loading it up in the truck. Many individuals said that this is one of the hardest jobs a person can experience since all the preparations and all the stuff that you need to accomplish is somewhat complicated.

Aside from the preparations that you need to do, you also have to consider the budget you need to hire a truck. This is one of the most important aspects in relocating. This is not a problem anymore since there are several companies that offer much lower rate to their vehicles that help lots of people in their moving.

Still, although there are lots of companies that rent their automobiles to numerous of people, not all can meet the budget you have to move all of your things and furniture. It is a great thing that Budget Truck Rental can provide you a high-quality service and most particularly, you do not have to spend too much money to hire their vehicle compared with other renting companies.

In addition, in the United States, Budget Truck Rental is the second largest truck rental company and they really offer their customers the best of their services. In general, Budget is the company that offers the lowest rate when it comes to the fees of their moving vehicles that you can enjoy and afford without sacrificing the quality of their services.

Moreover, you can also acquire best deals with this firm because you can make agreements with them particularly if you are in a tight budget. Although they give their services for a very low rate, it does not mean that their quality is poor because it is not. A lot of individuals have already proved that their services are really good.

You can be at peace with the service of this firm because they can ensure you that they can relocate all of your possessions and other stuff with no trouble at all. They are also offering different kinds of automobiles, such as big trucks, vans, pickups and many more. These automobiles also come in various sizes, from small to large vehicles. Before you hire one, you need to calculate first all the necessary things that you need to transfer so that you know what size you need. Budget Truck Rental has also contracts with Isuzu, Navistar International, GMC and Ford to construct their rental vehicles.

How Do Car Rental Credit Card Deposits Really Work

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Many complaints received at car rental companies are around the misunderstanding of credit card deposits taken at the time of a car rental.

Says Melissa Storey, Executive Head: Strategy, Development & Marketing, Nine percent of all queries received by First Car Rental, via our Cristil software directly and some via Hello Peter, are around the misunderstanding of refunding credit card deposits.

“This, unfortunately, gives a negative stance on the car rental industry because many of these people complain – sometimes in horrific language – on public forums. This automatically gives an unbalanced perspective of our industry practices and the banking laws that govern certain processes.

“First Car Rental intelligently and structurally handles most queries within our own customer service online channel. This includes the excess deposit hold queries, and our management team has access to each and every query type and its representation within the greater scheme of things. We run transparent financial transactions with all customers.

Explaining the authorisation process, Storey says, At First Car Rental, when we take an authorisation from a credit card, this means we only block this amount. There isnt a physical amount being charged and transferred to a First Car Rental account at this stage, but rather a security hold in the event of any additional charges incurred during a rental such as fuel, one-way fees or vehicle damage.

“Therefore this authorisation amount blocked at the beginning of your rental will not reflect as a refund after the rental period is completed because the funds were never removed from a customers credit card in the first place.

“First Car Rental is one of the only car rental companies that automatically sends the bank a ‘please release’ message to ensure that holds are released as soon as possible, but it is still up to individual banks to make these funds accessible. (The release period varies from 24 – 48 hours locally and even up to 30 days for international banks to release an authorised hold).

Here is an example of a First Car Rental booking process in action.

A customer hires a Group B car for 2 days on the Executive package (lower excess/deposit and higher daily rental rate).

This carries a deposit/excess of R2000 plus the daily rate of R233. A hold is then put on the credit card for this amount (R2466) until the vehicle is returned.

When a client returns the car, the petrol used is replaced, and scratches and dents are checked against the vehicle inspection sheet filled out and agreed to at the time of pick up.

The final invoice is then calculated and emailed to the customer within 24 hours from closing the contract showing the final invoice amount to be deducted off their credit card.

In this instance, it would be R466 for the daily rental fees, plus for example R85 petrol consumed + contract fee of R40 = R591 in total.

This amount is then charged to your credit card and will reflect on your credit card statement.

The blocked amount, still using this example, is R2000. This hold would be then released by First Car Rental and by your credit card bank, usually within 4 days but this R2000 would not reflect as a refund. It just means you now have access to this R2000 for spending again.

If the customer finds that this hold has not been released within this time period, they can contact First Car Rental customer services on with their contract number. First Car Rental will contact the bank directly via email to request the release. The bank will then confirm the date and time this block was released. This information will then be relayed to the customer.

Storey concludes, At First Car Rental our customers are as important as the air that we breathe. Our business exists because they do and we are constantly encouraged by the many compliments we get every week. We really need customers to communicate with us through our website or through First Cares.

Car Rental Charges Explained By Industry Insider…

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Prevent additional credit card charges on car rental.

First of all, you must understand how the total price you pay is calculated. Everything starts with the daily base rate this is the rate you pay for the daily use of the car excluding all other charges. It doesnt mean that this is the price you pay!

Instead, you may find your total bill is double of that of the base rate. Extra mandatory charges like GST, airport location surcharges, administration fees, vehicle registration fees are all part of the total bill given to you at the rental counter. I cant stress enough the importance of getting a bill at the end of your rental, but this is another story. So, by the time all the extra charges are added onto your bill, you may find yourself paying almost double that seductive base rate.

To give you an example, a friend of mine rented a car in Australia with a base rate around $177 for four days. The final total? Including a vehicle registration fee, admin fee, airport location surcharge, a surcharge for not filling the gas tank, and a GST on top of all those other charges, my friend paid about $358 – more than a 100 percent increase over the base rate.

So how can you avoid nasty surprises? Below you can find a list of standard surcharges you’re most likely to find at most car rental locations in Australia, as well as some tips for your next trip to the car rental counter.

Airport and GST Surcharges

The majority of car rental transactions happen at the airports around the country. Airport surcharge is something that car rental supplier has no control over and it varies considerably from one airport to another. Therefore, when you pick the car up from the airport you should expect to pay between 3 and 18 percent extra on top of other charges. Unfortunately, you can’t avoid paying GST, which can will add 10 percent. However, if your car rental bill amounts to over $300 and you leave the country within 30 days after returning the car, you may claim GST component of your car rental at the airport.

However, you can avoid the airport charges – such as airport location surcharge fees by picking up and dropping off your car at an off-airport location. Be sure to weigh the possible inconvenience and the price of any additional transportation against the concession fees charged by the airport location – which can be between 3 and 18 percent of your total price.

The bottom line? If you don’t want to pay the airport location surcharge, check out your rental options downtown.

Insurance

Your rental car comes with a standard insurance liability of between $2900 and $3300 depending on a car rental supplier. This liability can be further reduced by paying an extra daily charge of between $25 and $27. However, since the price of insurance is almost half of what you pay for you car, I recommend that you check your credit card/travel/car insurance to make sure it doesnt cover you in a rental car.

Gasoline Charges

For your convenience most car rental companies provide cars with a full tank of fuel, however, be assured that if you dont return the car with a full tank you will pay a higher price for petrol used to fill up the empty tank. However, most car rental companies now offer the option of purchasing a full tank of gas when you first take the car, enabling you to return the car with as much or as little fuel as you wish.

Please note that there is no refund for unused fuel, so its likely youll be paying a little extra for the convenience of skipping the trip to the gas station.

Drop-Off Charges

An extra fee is usually charged if a car is returned to a different location than where it was picked up. This fee varies by location; in some instances there is no charge, while you could pay $300 or more for cross-country drop-offs. However, some companies do not require a charge when dropping off in-state at many Queensland and New South Wales locations.

The 24-Hour Clock

Car rental industry operates on a 24-hour clock rate. However, there is also a 59-minute grace period before hourly charges apply. To give you an example, if you rent a car at 12:00pm on Tuesday and return it by 12:59pm on Wednesday, you will be charged for one day only. However, if you return the car after 27 hours (in this case after 15:00) you’ll then be charged for the full extra day. Hourly charges apply between 25-27 hours.

Early Returns

When you rent a car for a particular number of days, you sign a sale contract for that period. So, just like with any other contracts out there, if you break your contract you must pay cancellation fees. Since, car rental companies set their rates based on the rental period, the longer you keep the car the cheaper the daily base rate. If you managed to reserve a car for 7 days using one of these hot weekly specials and then decide to bring the car two days earlier, you might get charged at a default daily rate and your total car rental charge for 5 days might end up costing you more than if you kept the car for 7 days. Therefore, please dont forget to ask a car rental agent if you pay different daily rate for earlier returns.

Mileage

Most car rental companies offer unlimited mileage in metropolitan areas, including all major capital cities (with an exception of Northern Territory) and some tourist destinations. I would suggest checking your contract prior to signing it as it clearly displays whether you get unlimited kilometres or not. Keep in mind though that smaller car rental companies usually charge mileage if you exceed a given daily km quota. In addition some “hot” special rates may not include unlimited mileage, so be sure to check before you sign a rental agreement.

Vehicle Registration Fees

Varying Rates and Peak Season Surcharges

Here is a tip that will potentially can save you hundreds of dollars. Book in advance!
Rental car companies’ rates vary a great deal from city to city, and sometimes even within the same city. Make sure to shop around. Be aware that you may pay a specific surcharge for traveling at a “peak” time, e.g. School and Public Holidays, Major events in your city, etc.

Age Penalties

Due to the insurance limitations, if you’re under 25, you may have to pay an additional fee, usually about $25 per day. Those companies who will rent to drivers under 21 often charge much steeper surcharges. Internationally, you’ll not only see penalties for underage drivers but also for older ones — those over 70 may have to pay extra (if they’re able to rent at all).

Additional Drivers

Adding more than one driver to your rental agreement often carries a surcharge, anywhere between $7 and $25 per day. Note that some companies, like Avis and Budget, will allow the renter’s spouse or life partner to drive the vehicle for no extra charge — so if both partners are planning to take the wheel, consider renting from one of these providers.

Frequent Flier Fees

Car rental companies often charge a small fee when you request frequent flier miles for your rental. The fee varies by airline, and can range anywhere from a few cents to $2 a day.

Extras

There may also be additional charges for things you had not considered, like infant and child seat rentals, roof racks and other extras. These could run you anywhere from $5 to $25 or more per day, depending on where you rent.

Rental home Stoit Groep

Rental blogger

What is the difference between a rental house and a rental home? It is in the details. The Stoit Groep knows that it is those extra touches which can make all the difference. Are you a busy professional who does not have the time to maintain your rental house or apartment the way you want? If so, all you have to do is call on our cleaning service which will make sure your rental home is just the way you want it to be. Is something broken? Do you need urgent repairs? Lodge a complaint or a support request and feel secure in the knowledge that you can be helped seven days a week between 08.00 and 22.00. These are all elements that add to your peace of mind and which transform your rental house into a rental home. The Stoit Groep offers a wide range of rental homes in the south of the Netherlands. We offer rental homes in places like Eindhoven, Den Bosch and Tilburg. There are different types of rental homes available including apartments and houses. We also offer rental homes which are suited for both long and short term stays. Looking for a furnished rental home? Not an issue. The Stoit Groep prides itself on the fact that it offers a wide range of different rental homes in Eindhoven, Den Bosch, Tilburg and surrounding area. The Stoit Groep caters to expats and has experience collaborating with multinationals such as Philips and ASML to help them cater to their employees’ needs. Our 20 years’ experience has taught us that a comfortable rental home is not only cheaper than a hotel room, it also significantly increases employee happiness. A happier working environment leads to better results. People are more motivated and you can reap the results. The Stoit Groep boasts a trained group of experts to help you or your employees find the ideal rental home in the Netherlands.