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Do you love taking epic road trips when you travel? We are big fans of renting cars when we travel. One of the best ways to find an excellent rental car is by browsing car rental platforms online. I’m going to show you the best car rental comparison sites to help you embark on your next road trip adventure.
While Justin and I do travel often by train, especially in Europe, we do rent cars quite often on our adventures. We’ve rented cars in New Zealand, France, Ireland, Iceland, Portugal, Germany, and the list goes on.
I find that it’s best to search for rental cars on a car rental comparison site rather than directly through a car rental agency. And I’m going to show you how it’s quick and easy to do so.
In short, car rental comparison sites are websites that allow you to compare rental cars across multiple companies. They act as intermediaries between the car rental companies and the person renting the car.
For instance, a car rental comparison platform will show you rental cars from many different companies in a destination, like Enterprise, Avis, Sixt, Hertz, etc. There might also be local car rental agencies in the mix that you wouldn’t have heard about otherwise.
Typically, car rental comparison platforms allow you to compare the cars, pricing, mileage and other details. The best platforms will then let you book the rental car right away and might even offer car insurance, too.
Now, I’m going to share my list of the best car rental comparison sites. I’ll rate these ones taking several factors into consideration, like pricing, trust, car rental availability and pricing.
I’ll also determine which websites are the most user friendly, have excellent customer service and have the best global coverage. I also might outline their weaknesses and why you might decide to use a different company instead.
Let’s start with EconomyBookings. EconomyBookings is a long standing car rental comparison platform since 2008. They have had over 10 million customers, 800+ suppliers and 20,000+ locations.
Their main focus is transparency and ease of booking. There are no hidden fees, what you see is what you get. Their website is very user-friendly and it’s easy to search for the rental car that fits your travel needs.
I also love that there are ratings and reviews. Suppliers are filtered by rating, so you’ll see the best car rentals first. There are real user ratings for every rental car and it’s easy to find the best deals.
While EconomyBookings only works with the most trustworthy suppliers, they have global coverage and a massive inventory of vehicles. There’s a good chance that you’ll find a rental car for wherever you plan to go.
I also love seeing the various cars displayed on a map. This makes it easy to see where the car rental agencies are located, how close they are to an airport or where I’m staying in town. They’ll also mention if a shuttle bus is needed to reach the car rental desk from the airport.
They’ll also show you if there’s a free cancellation, if the booking is instantly confirmed and the amount of available cars for the city/region.
DiscoverCars is another favorite of mine. They have 50,000 locations, 1000 partners and you’ll find that they have partner car agencies in 164 countries.
One way that DiscoverCars stands out is its customer service. They are available 24/7 and their customer service exists in 35 languages. They’re highly rated by past customers and have won numerous industry awards in recent years.
For Canadians, DiscoverCars offers customer support in both English and French. However, this car rental comparison platform isn’t necessarily geared towards Canadians as it is a global platform.
They also offer free cancellation and there aren’t any hidden fees. You can also purchase supplemental car insurance to provide extra protection that might not be covered by the insurance that comes with your credit card or your travel insurance.
Their website is pretty easy to use. You can filter to show the type of transmission, cars within the airport terminal, and ones with unlimited mileage. I wasn’t able to see the car hire agencies displayed on a map, which would have been helpful.
If you’re looking for a car rental within Canada, Authentik Canada is a great option. Their website is bilingual for English and French users, as is their customer service.
They have fewer users than other car rental comparison platforms with 500,000 previous customers. This is still quite high considering that they only rent cars within Canada. Authentik Canada has been around since 2002 and has a local team of travel advisors that know Canadian travel inside and out.
Authentik Canada offers free cancellation and there aren’t any hidden fees. Their pricing is competitive and the platform shows the total rental costs including insurance.
With that said, their platform is pretty basic. You can view what’s included for each rental, but there aren’t many ways to filter search results like EconomyBookings or DiscoverCars.
They are specialists for the Canadian market and have a high rating on Trustpilot. I wish there were customer reviews on their website of each car rental agency or specific car rental. I was only able to find a star rating, but not any specific reviews.
You might know Skyscanner best for its flight comparisons, but did you know that you can also search for cars there, too? They’re really well known for finding the best deals on flights and travel, including car rentals.
You can use Skyscanner to find and compare prices. Skyscanner does not handle the actual bookings themselves. You will be redirected to other websites, such as car rental agencies where you’ll have to book directly.
Skyscanner can be a great stop in your search for a rental car. However, it could be an unnecessary step as you can’t really book the car hire through them directly.
Auto Europe is a long standing car rental comparison site with over 60 years of experience. They’re based in Germany, though they were originally founded in the United States.
I have to be blunt: I don’t like using their website! It feels outdated and doesn’t seem to work well in my web browser. I only receive limited search results without enough information. But, I do like that there is a map version to see where the rental agencies are located.
I also feel like I receive limited results by comparison to other car rental comparison platforms. Some of their options offer free cancellation and there is the option to book additional insurance sometimes.
They specialize mostly in European car rentals, so you can give them a try if you are traveling to Europe. Otherwise, I’d skip this one in favor of another platform.
There are many reasons to choose a car rental comparison platform. I regularly use them when traveling because it allows me to see many rental cars from many companies all in one place.
It’s the easiest way to compare pricing in order to find the best option for a car hire. In many instances, it’s also possible to see customer reviews and rental agencies rated and ranked.
I’ll choose a combination of a car rental with the best price that’s also highly rated. I tend to avoid the car rental agencies with low ratings in order to have a good customer experience.
When you’re searching through car rental comparison sites, whether it’s the ones I’ve outlined above or a completely different one, there are a few key features that you’ll want to seek out.
First, let’s talk about pricing. Competitive pricing is most likely the main reason why you’re using a rental car comparison platform as there’s a good chance you will find excellent prices…or maybe not so excellent prices.
Most importantly, make sure that the prices are transparent. You don’t want there to be any hidden fees or charges. Getting hit with a big bill after the fact can blow the budget of your trip.
I always look for free cancellation options. You never know what could happen. Your trip might be cancelled due to an unforeseen circumstance. Or maybe your flight arrives late and you’ll need to shift your pickup date.
I also look for real ratings and reviews. Many car rental comparison sites have customer reviews of various agencies and star ratings. It’s easy for me to only choose car rental agencies that have an 8/10 and higher or ⅘ stars and higher, for example.
Just as there are features that I’m always looking for, there are also some things to watch out for. It’s always a good idea to read the terms and conditions.
For instance, you might be planning a road trip across Europe and in the fine print, the car rental agency doesn’t allow you to take the rental car out of the country. There might also be limits on mileage / kilometers on some cars, while other agencies allow unlimited miles/kms.
There may also be additional deposits to be made upon arrival that are released when you return the vehicle. And it might be up to you to choose car insurance in some cases whereas insurance in some countries is mandatory.
While the best platform is totally subjective, there are a few considerations. First, the destination is important. You may want to choose Authentik Canada if you’re renting a car in Canada or Auto Europe if you’re renting a car in Europe.
For flexibility, choose a car rental comparison platform that guarantees free cancellation. It’s also useful to choose a platform that offers its own insurance so you can buy everything in advance all in one place.
For most of us, budget and pricing is a top consideration. At the same time, budget means nothing if the platform is not reliable. EconomyBookings is both reliable and has competitive pricing across many car rental companies. DiscoverCars is another that offers both reliability and budget-friendly options.
If I had to choose, EconomyBookings is a clear winner. It’s one of the top comparison platforms that has excellent customer ratings and a vast selection of rental cars from around the world.
Want more travel tips and inspiration? Follow me on Instagram! I share daily adventures, whether I’m at home in Ontario, Canada, or halfway across the world!
Heading out of the country? Don’t forget to get travel insurance. It’s best to be covered in case of an emergency, cancellation or accident.
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This is the story of a Canadian couple, Lauren Yakiwchuk and Justin Ceksters, slowly making their way around the world since 2013.
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