MyWheels tips and tricks: details that are easy to miss

Night trips are not immediately available

MyWheels applies restrictions on night trips. A night trip is any booking with a start or end time between 01:00 and 06:00.

• Fewer than 5 trips: night bookings are not available at all.
• Between 5 and 19 trips: night trips are allowed, but only if you book more than one hour in advance. Spontaneous late-night bookings are blocked.
• From 20 trips onwards: no restrictions.

This is a measure by MyWheels to limit misuse on new accounts. The restrictions ease as you make more trips, and from 20 trips onwards they no longer apply at all.

Extending is limited during your first five trips

During your first five trips you can only extend an ongoing booking once through the app. Once you've used that one extension, you can't extend again. So book with enough buffer. From your sixth trip, extending works without limits. And if you have a Plus or Pro plan, you can shorten an over-long reservation for free by up to 2 hours afterwards, so booking generously costs you nothing extra.

Changing plans: what updates automatically and what doesn't

If you have trips booked on the Free plan and then upgrade to Plus or Pro, those existing bookings are not automatically recalculated at the lower rate. You need to cancel them and rebook to benefit from the discount.

The same applies to the € 250 deposit (see below): if you pay the deposit after booking a trip, that existing booking was already locked in under the old terms.

Downgrading works differently: if you switch from Plus or Pro back to Free, the change takes effect immediately. So it's smart to schedule that downgrade as late as possible, just before your subscription renews, so you keep the Plus or Pro rate for the whole period you've already paid for.

Switched too early and missed out on the discount anyway? Report it to the MyWheels helpdesk. MyWheels still plans to change this instant switch, and in the meantime they'll give you the discount you were entitled to that month on request: 25% off your trips if you had Pro, 10% with Plus. So a quick message pays off.

The € 250 deposit: is it worth it?

When you create a new MyWheels account, the default payment method is pay-later, without a deposit. In this setup, the excess reduction is charged automatically at € 4.99 per trip, per reserved day. Make two trips in one day and you pay it twice; reserve one car for two days and you pay it twice as well. You cannot opt out.

If you pay a one-off deposit of € 250, that changes. You can then choose per booking whether to reduce your excess or not. Driving a short errand on a quiet afternoon? Skip the € 4.99.

You pay the deposit via Account & settings in the app, under Pay later. You can also request it back at any time: the amount moves to Deposited balance and you can pay it out with one tap. It takes two working days to arrive.

Sharing your account with your household

Once you've paid the deposit, you can share your plan with up to two extra people. The condition: they live at the same address and each have their own MyWheels account. You then drive on one shared plan and receive a single combined invoice. Handy for a household without a car of its own, or one that needs a second car now and then.

You pay for 10 hours per day at most

The hourly rate adds up per day to a maximum of 10 hours. If you need a car for a full day, you never pay more than 10 hours of hourly charges plus your kilometres; the hours beyond that are free. For several days or a longer trip, the Trips package is often cheaper still. Compare both options in the app before you lock in a long booking.

Bookings are billed in 15-minute increments

MyWheels charges per quarter hour. If you reserve a car from 09:00 to 11:01, you pay until 11:15. MyWheels always rounds up, so in this example that single extra minute costs you a whole quarter hour. It pays to book with a little buffer, so you have time to drive back and park without stress.

If you book too generously, whether that costs you depends on your plan. With Plus or Pro you can shorten a trip for free by up to 2 hours: reserve until 17:00 and return the car at 15:00, and you won't pay for those two hours. On the Free plan you pay for the full reserved time, even if you bring the car back early.

Cancelling: when is it free?

Cancelling a reserved trip is free if one of these situations applies to you:

• the trip has not started yet;
• you cancel within 10 minutes of creating the trip;
• you cancel more than 24 hours before the start time;
• you have a Plus or Pro plan (cancelling is always free).

If none of these apply, you pay € 10 in cancellation fees per reserved day. To cancel, go to your trips in the app, open the trip and tap cancel. You can do this up until the start of your reservation. Once the trip has started, you can only end it.

Check the car for damage before you drive off

When you start your trip, the app asks you to review the known damage. Take a moment to walk around the car: if you spot a dent or scratch that isn't listed, report it before you drive off. If you don't, you risk being held responsible later for damage that was already there. A quick photo beforehand takes seconds.

Charge or fuel card not working? Claim it yourself

Every MyWheels car comes with a charge or fuel card. If it doesn't work at the charge point or pump, you can pay out of pocket and submit the receipt to MyWheels afterwards. They reimburse the amount within a few working days, or deduct it from an outstanding invoice. Keep the receipt and take a photo of it to be safe.

Driving abroad is fine, no need to register it

You're allowed to drive a MyWheels car throughout Europe, and you don't have to flag it when you book. Breakdown assistance covers you abroad too. Heading to the mountains? Use the filters to pick a car with winter tyres. For a longer trip, a Trips package is usually cheaper than loose hours.

A traffic fine costs you more than the fine itself

If you get a traffic fine during your trip, MyWheels passes it on to you. Because processing and assigning a fine takes time, they add an administration fee on top. So count on a fine working out slightly more expensive than the amount on the ticket.

Return the car to its fixed spot

MyWheels works round-trip: you always bring the car back to the fixed spot or the blue-marked zone where you picked it up. You can't leave it in another city or at a random spot. Keep that in mind if you were planning a one-way trip.

Requesting a car in your neighbourhood

No MyWheels car near you? Through the app you can submit a location request. If more than 25 neighbours request the same area and the location is suitable, MyWheels will contact the local municipality to discuss the options. It's not a guarantee, but it does work.