When it comes to renting a car online, comparison websites are often your best bet for finding the cheapest, most reliable deal. But which ones are the best?
Photo: Courtesy of Polina Kuzovkova / Unsplash
With so many online car rental resources now available, it can be tough to decide which one to use. Comparison websites take a large chunk of the decision making away from you by aggregating listings from a wide range of rental brands, giving you a streamlined snapshot of what’s on offer. To help you navigate the options, we’ve selected three of our favourite comparison sites below.
Rentalcars.com
Originally founded as TravelJigsaw in 2004, Rentalcars.com has grown to become one of the biggest and most reputable names in the car rental sector. Now part of Booking.com, it operates globally but is especially convenient for U.S. travellers as it shows cars from all the major U.S agencies alongside global providers in a single search.
(Photo: CarRentals.com)
One of the main advantages of hiring a car through RentalCars is that they offer a flexible rentals guarantee, which means if you cancel your booking or make any changes up to 48 hours before pick-up, you won’t face any penalty charges. As for insurance, the site offers U.S. residents plans by Cover Genius Insurance Services that covers damage and theft assistance. However, renters should be aware that even when RentalCars sells you cover, their protection isn’t a blanket guarantee and you might still have to pay a deposit or show proof of your own insurance or credit car coverage to the rental company. This is because even though the booking contrast is with RentalCars you still sign a separate agreement with the rental company at pickup.
When it comes to the website’s interface, it will be easily recognisable to regular users of Booking.com. But beyond the design aesthetic, there’s also plenty to enjoy about the user experience, with multiple providers and vehicle types displayed clearly, as well as transparent pricing with the promise of “No hidden fees. Know exactly what you’re paying.” The RentalCars mobile app is also highly rated and lets you store your driver details and credit card once, allowing for faster repeat bookings.
CheapCarRental.com
For the cheapest available car rental deals, we recommend CheapCarRental.com. The platform is powered by CarTrawler, one of the leading car rental comparison solutions. Through CarTrawler, CheapCarRental.com taps into a large network of rental companies worldwide for its comparison engine. For U.S. renters, this means that although the site is broadly global, the technology may pull in rates specific to their U.S. location.
(Photo: CheapCarRental.com)
Because CheapCarRental.com uses CarTrawler’s engine, one of the strengths is the breadth of suppliers and locations, meaning you may see more options than some smaller aggregators might offer. In terms of insurance/excess for U.S. renters, the site’s FAQ section instructs that you must meet the local rental supplier’s rules (driver age, credit card, deposit) and that the quoted “cheapest” price may not include all extras.
The CheapCarRental’s interface also uses CarTrawler’s platform and is pleasing on the eye, quick and easy to use. You get a large, easy-to-scan list of cars, with clear prices, “lowest rate” labels and straightforward filters so you can narrow down your search in just seconds. The booking journey is short and intuitive, and is also mobile friendly – an increasingly important factor nowadays.
Discovercars.com
DiscoverCars is an online car rental comparison and booking platform offering rentals globally. Founded in 2013, the company works with over 1,000 car rental suppliers in more than 50,000 locations across 100+ countries, including the U.S. In recent years, DiscoverCars has been included in the Financial Times “FT 1000 – Europe’s fastest-growing companies” list, emphasising its burgeoning position in the rental sector.
(Photo: Discovercars.com)
The company also has its own distinct insurance policies. Most notably, it sells its own “Full Coverage” add-on, which is basically extra insurance that pays you back if the rental company charges you for damage or theft, and sits on top of whatever basic cover comes with the rental. This does mean you’ll have to pay the rental company upfront if something happens to the car, and then claim the money back from DiscoverCars if you bought their Full Coverage. This is slightly different from some “zero-excess” policies where you don’t pay anything upfront at all.
One of the immediate impressions when using the website is how clean the user interface is. The search function is intuitive, letting you filter by price, car type, transmission. There’s also excellent clarity of information. For example, when you click into an offer, the help section flags things like “What does deductible mean?” to make sure you understand all of the (often confusing) insurance implications.