Self drive cars better for road trips?

We’ve always been saying this – a road trip is an ultimate way to explore India with utmost freedom. While road trippers continue to look for inspiration for their next trip there are a lot of resources that we have made available for travelers today. From road trip packages, experiential stays and exclusive partnerships with organizations like MyChoize Cars, we’ve been on a mission to promote road trips as the preferred way to enjoy a vacation. This post is about self drive cars. While there is a huge case for self ride bike trips too, but that is for another time.

While adoption of self drive cars is still nascent, it’s been around for a while in countries like Europe and the US. But slowly and steadily it’s gaining popularity amongst Indian travelers, especially those who love to wander!

Self Drive Cars: It gives you freedom to choose where you go

Escorted tours come with one major limitation – you are tied to the fancies of the tour organizer, the driver of the cab or the other members in the group. When was the last time you heard someone rave about a road trip in a bus?

You can explore places of your choice, stop at places you want to stop and not listen to your cab driver ‘recommend’ places to eat where he probably gets a cut of the total bill value. Taking control of your own itinerary allows you know the locals, make detours when you find something interesting. What can be better than taking control of your road trip?

Want to go to the mountains? Your sedan isn’t ideal. So take an SUV self drive car!

Self Drive Cars allow you to indulge in a different car each time

Yes! This is our personal favorite reason for self-drive cars. MyChoize Cars for one which also happens to be our partner for curating road trips offer 38 different varieties of cars. If we were to take a different car for each road trip every two months we’d have something to look forward to for 5 years! That’s excitement enough for us to keep yearning for the next time I hit the road!

Self Drive Cars are great for exploring every corner of India

Since time is a devil in the scheme is things (as always!), it makes sense to fly to a place and pick up a self-drive from the airport itself. What this does is that it frees you from the headache of hailing a cab and it works out cheaper too especially in cities like Bangalore or Hyderabad which have airports far from the city centers. So instead of being limited to road trips near your city, you can fly into any city and head out from the airport. Exploring the northeast, Goa and other iconic vacation destinations have never been more easy or practical – thanks to self drive cars!

Self Drive Cars encourage you to take detours when you deem fit!

Here is where you also need self-drive cars which come with unlimited kilometers or a slightly higher bundle of distance. With the unlimited kilometers option, MyChoize Cars is a very good option for the ardent explorers and wanderers. This is especially true for places like Gujarat or Madhya Pradesh where every turn is worth the trip!

Self Drive Cars have smarter pricing for quick getaways

Some like Myles cars offer SMART kilometer packages which are perfect for these quick weekend getaways where it starts from 120km/day or 240km/day. These packages will allow you to pay only for the distance you travel. So, would you still take your own car from Mumbai if you had to go to Matheran or Lonavala? Maybe a self-drive makes more sense even for a quick breakfast at Murthal from Delhi? Or maybe a heritage getaway to some iconic monuments around your city? For longer trips, you always have something like MyChoize which offers unlimited kilomters.

There are hourly packages which include fuel as well which are best suited for businessmen who need to fly in and fly out as quickly as possible.

Self Drive Cars offer Loss Damage Waiver

This is a relatively new concept in the self-drive space; which Myles Cars offers. What this does is that it frees up the deposit with a nominal amount which is added to the overall car rental. This is, of course, non-refundable but waives you off any damages that are incurred on the drive. And it comes with roadside assistance, covers you against vehicle document loss and third-party damage implications. You should read up more about loss damage waiver before you take one of the numerous self drive cars. Having said that, one is always advised to drive safe and follow basic tips for a good road trip and not count on insurance and loss damage waiver.

Self Drive Cars have no maintenance costs

One thing to note is that having a car is having a depreciating asset. The maintenance keeps increasing as it gets older and add to it the cost of road trips in itself. A self-drive car frees you from the hassles of maintenance of the vehicle. A lot of countries, especially Europe where the cost of owning a car is far greater than in India it makes a valid case to not own a car in the first place and simply rely on self-drive cars. So while you pay for the fuel or the self drive cars could be bundled with fuel; that’s the only thing you pay during the trip over and above the tolls etc.

Looking for a self drive for your next road trip? Get in touch with us and we’ll hook you up on a road trip experience of a lifetime!