Where is it best to rent a car?

[GirlDreamer]

I'm renting a car for my whole vacation (sept 3rd to 17th 2012). I was going to rent through Holidayautos as they were the ones with the best deal I knew, and you get your car with Alamo with them. Then I started reading here and realized that there is better deals out there, like carrentalsavers.com.

Today I also realized that it seems like deals might be better for us UK folk through UK sites vs US sites. I signed up for Alamo insiders today and tried finding a car through them, and the UK site doesn't offer that so I had to sign up on the US one. I was shocked to find that with their discount the cheapest rental car would cost me about £900 with insurance and GPS, while at the UK site the very same deal would cost me about £300.

So what site do you guys recommend to rent the car? I want to pick it up at MCO by the way.

 

[london75]

Except for when there are pricing glitches, I always end up back with usrentacar.co.uk. They lways seem cheapest and I like the fact that you only have to pay a deposit and their £5 per week insurance means you can make changes if you see a better deal or want to add something later.

Saying that, Hertz have some 20-25% voucher codes about at the moment. Just search and you'll find some. They are generally pricey but some cars seem pretty good value.

 

[wayneg]

I never tie to one company, 2-3 years ago I used USrentacar 3 times but for at least last 2 years I have found their prices far too expensive. Used Holiday Autos in Feb this year but last 2 rentals cheaper elsewhere, its just a matter of searching for the best for your dates and the size car you want.

I hope prices for next year will drop in the new year because they are very expensive just now, we are looking for 7 seater 18 nights, wanting to pay same as this year £450 incl gold cover, cheapest just now is almost £600.

Booking in US in $ you will pay 2-3 times UK price usually, we get far better deals here.

When you are ready for booking post your best deal here and others will let you know if there are any better deals around.

 

[chmurf]

I always rent through alamo

Renting from your local website will get you the lowest prices.
US rates are just killing me

6 weeks rental, booked from Alamo.fr = 293 euro for a standard car
for that amount of money, I would barely have that same car for a single week ...
you have to pay in advance, but that's fine with me since it's a bargain
You can also cancel without penalty (granted you cancel over 24hrs ahead of pickup time

bottomline : rent in your country it's usually much cheaper

Edit : Also think about currency.
Booking locally means you'll pay in your own currency (sterling pounds, euros) instead of USD
Most banks will charge you a 2% fee (at least) on transactions in foreign currencies, in addition to exchange rates which may or may not be in your favor.
for a 300 quid rental, this means an extra 4 quid on the tab ... yeah that's not much, but if you're in a budget that means extra snacks for the kids, or a small toy ... why give that to your banker rather than to your kids ?
And if you're going for higher class cars, the savings are even greater (don't feed your banker)

 

[wayneg]

Most banks will charge you a 2% fee (at least) on transactions in foreign currencies

There are still at least 3 credit cards in the UK that won't charge a fee so for now this can be avoided if a deal in $'s appears