Finding cheap car rentals isn’t as easy as it used to be, and sometimes even booking a rental car that matches your trip’s needs can feel like a challenge. Honestly, booking a car is my least favorite part of vacation planning, but once I’m on my trip, I’m always glad I made the extra effort to do it right.
The good news is that the best car rental sites can make it easier to compare prices and features in order to get the make, model, and size you want at a price you can feel good about.
How we review these car rental booking sites: Read our methodology for selecting and recommending booking sites.
These are the car rental booking sites I trust and why
1. Kayak
What Kayak does best
Kayak earns my top spot among rental car booking sites with its super easy comparison shopping plus helpful ways to filter results.
Details of Kayak’s car rental search
As a metasearch site, Kayak displays cheap rental car rates from a broad range of providers, making it super easy to compare prices in one place. But you can’t book your rental through Kayak itself. Instead, you select the offer that’s best for you and click through to the provider’s site to complete your reservation. Basically, using Kayak is a shortcut option if you want to compare prices across different sites without visiting each individually.
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Results can be sorted by cheapest price, recommended offers (which is the default), or customer ratings of the rental car companies. Filtering options include car type, cancellation and payment policies, and rental providers. Some offers are exclusive to Kayak, and Kayak members get access to “Private Deals.” Kayak also offers mobile-only rates through its app.
Kayak is part of a larger corporation called Booking Holdings, which includes popular travel deal comparison sites Booking.com and Priceline.
2. Expedia
What Expedia does best
Expedia is an online travel agency with easy-to-find information about cancellation policies. I like that it’s so straightforward to see the best rates for each car size. There’s also a filter to make it easy to find hybrids and electric vehicles where available.
Details of Expedia’s car rental search
People know and trust Expedia, but that’s only part of what makes it a good booking site for car rentals. Its mix of car rental brands generally prioritizes well-known brands and shows you user ratings for all car rental companies. Results are sorted by recommended options as the default, but you can switch it to total cost on rental car prices or traveler ratings to see everything displayed based on what’s most important to you.
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Results clearly indicate whether cancellation is available for free or a fee and if you can save money by paying in advance. Each rental car company is displayed along with its customer rating, and it’s noted whether online check-in is available.
You can filter the results by the “Great Deal” option to see the cheapest car rental option for each size category, and become an Expedia member for even more potential savings. When you’re putting in dates, you can also drop in a coupon code by car rental company or just search for AARP rates. It’s also quite easy to search for one-way car rentals—just check the box and fill in the pick-up and drop-off locations.
Expedia is part of the group of companies that also includes Travelocity, Orbitz, and Hotwire. Deals vary among their respective car rental booking sites, however, so it’s worthwhile to do a little comparison before booking.
3. Priceline
What Priceline does best
Priceline has easy-to-read ratings of rental car locations plus the average wait time to expect. It also has some very cheap car rentals if you’re willing to lock in your rate before finding out what company you’re booking with.
Details of Priceline’s rental car search function
The popular travel booking site Priceline offers car rental deals from hundreds of companies. You can sort your search results by price, car type, or Priceline’s “recommended offers” from companies with good customer ratings (that’s what shows up first in the results). The usual filters can also be applied to narrow down the results, like price range, car type, rental car company, and cancellation policy. There’s also an easy way to narrow results if you’re a driver younger than 25 (since some companies won’t rent to younger drivers and most tack on a daily surcharge).
In some destinations and dates, Priceline offers steep savings offers like Express Deals, where you pay up front for a car type but don’t know the car rental company (you get to see a few options that it might be) until after you’ve booked. There are also sometimes Supplier’s Choice deals, where you book with a specific company but the car choice is determined when you pick up your vehicle. There’s not a way to specifically filter for these deals, though, so you just have to see if any come up with your search. Note that Priceline is pushing its app, and says its best deals are available only in the app.
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You can join the Priceline VIP program to get extra savings on rental cars and hotels.
4. Hotwire
What Hotwire does best
With its Hot Rate options, Hotwire offers inexpensive but nonrefundable car rental deals. It also has good filtering options so you can easily get to the exact car you want.
Details of Hotwire’s car rental search
If finding the absolute cheapest car rental rates is your biggest concern, head to Hotwire and filter your search results by “Hot Rate” cars. These deeply discounted car rental deals can’t be cancelled or changed, and you won’t know which rental car company you’re making your reservation with until after you check out (you’re given some possibilities). But you could save yourself a lot of cash. Note that Hot Rates aren’t available on all dates and destinations, but if there are some in the mix, you can see them by using the Hot Rate filter that’s in the Rental Agency filter category, all the way down at the bottom (if there aren’t any Hot Rates, the option won’t be included in the list).
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If you want more flexibility, you can filter your comparison search results by those that offer free cancellation, but the rates will be higher. You can also filter by pickup location—in the airport terminal, on airport property, or off airport property. Choose the “Special Car” option to get a compact size or potentially larger rental at a compact price, and make sure to check the Hotwire app versus the website to see if you turn up lower rates, since the site says it reserves its cheapest rates for bookings in the app.
5. Sixt
What Sixt does best
Sixt gives you the ability to get high-end rentals at lower price points plus long-term rental options (rent by the month).
Details of Sixt’s car rental search
If the kind of car you drive matters to you more than finding the cheapest car rental, check out Sixt, which has more than 2,000 locations in more than 105 countries. Its rental fleet is made up mostly of premium cars (think BMWs, Audis, Range Rovers, and a variety of convertibles) available at not-so-premium prices.
You’ll get the lowest rate for these luxury car rentals if you prepay for your reservation; you can still cancel but there will be a fee. If you want to cancel at any time for no charge, plan to pay more. You can sort results by vehicle type (including by models guaranteed to be at your rental location) and by price. Roll the dice with a “Premium Mystery Car” to see what you end up driving away with.
Sixt also has “car subscriptions,” which give you a monthly rate on car rentals. If you’re somewhere for longer, this can be an interesting option.
Note that although Sixt is in this list because of its luxury-car specialization, some past renters suggest that you carefully video or photograph any issues on your rental car before you leave the lot, since there are reports of Sixt claiming damage that renters claim was already on the cars.
6. Auto Europe
What Auto Europe does best
Auto Europe charges no booking or change fees, and operates in a wide range of countries.
Details of Auto Europe’s car rental search
An established leader for car rental deals in Europe and beyond, Auto Europe has been connecting travelers with cheap rental cars for more than 60 years and offers rental vehicles in more than 20,000 locations and more than 180 countries. It works with all the big names like Avis, Budget Rent a Car, and Hertz, and offers free cancellation up to 48 hours before your rental as well as 24/7 customer support.
Search results are displayed in an easy-to-read table organized by car type and supplier. The first column shows the cheapest car rental rate available rate for each car size, and the chart makes it clear if the rental would be picked up at the airport or an off-site location. Results can be further filtered by transmission type, number of car doors, and whether the car has air-conditioning or not.
The cheapest rental prices are broken down by what they include (or don’t) and there are options to add insurance coverage. The site also has a useful info page on the various car rental insurance options for renting cars in Europe. Additionally, Auto Europe offers price matching if you find a better rate for a comparable vehicle with the same terms, locations, and rental car fees.
Note that if you have a problem with your booking when you’re on vacation, it’s vital to reach out to Auto Europe and have the company manage the issue rather than deal directly with the rental counter where you’re picking up or dropping off your car.
Tips for finding the cheapest car rental
Is finding the lowest price the biggest factor in your rental car search? Do you need a car big enough for lots of kids and luggage? Are you willing to head to a car rental site away from the airport, or do you want to be able to stroll from the terminal right to your ride? These kinds of considerations impact the rental car options you’ll turn up—and the price you’ll pay for them.
You’ll find some overlap when using the top comparison sites because many of them aggregate results from the same rental car companies and travel booking sites like Expedia and Priceline. But it’s also possible to find some of the best car rental deals by taking advantage of the different sites’ specialized search features and filters.
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There are a lot of comparison and booking sites out there, all purporting to be the best place to rent a car. In our extensive testing and comparisons on car rental prices across all the best car rental sites, though, we found that there is no one single “best” site for deals. When shopping for a weekly rental car at multiple airport locations in the U.S. and Europe, we turned up a wide range of results for different car sizes—and in some cases the economy or compact size wasn’t even the cheapest car rental option available.
Still, although no single price comparison site will offer the best rates every time, each of the top car rental sites offers unique features that can help you search for and filter results in the ways that best fit your travel style and needs. Here are some key tips to keep in mind when looking for the best car rental deals.
1. Comparison shop for cheap car rentals across different car rental booking sites
To find the most affordable car rental, search for the kind of vehicle you need on booking sites like AutoRentals, RentalCars.com, and the other comparison sites reviewed here, but also check individual car rental agencies from big-name brands like Hertz and Alamo. Results can vary when booking a rental car, even among sites that are part of the same group of companies.
Many rental car agreements don’t require pre-payment and also allow free cancellation, so you can keep looking for deals even after you book to see if anything better turns up. Rental car rates are often cheaper when booked last-minute, so if price is a major consideration, keep searching until just before your trip.
And if you’re willing to do something a little different, you can also loop a direct-from-owner car rental marketplace like Turo into your search. I skipped this step for years and only tried it out for the first time recently. I was impressed at how many fail-safes were built into the process (you take lots of pictures of the vehicle before and after you rent). In my experience, the prices are excellent and the options are a lot more fun (I rented a convertible Mini for a trip to Southern California) than you get with traditional car rental companies.
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2. Take advantage of credit card points and car rental company loyalty programs
Using travel credit cards and joining the loyalty programs for the top rental car companies (as well as car rental comparison sites like Priceline and RentCars) can give you access to deals and other special rewards. And when you download and use a rental car company’s app, you can also sometimes find special deals on affordable rentals.
3. Think beyond the airport when booking a car rental
Yes, it’s super convenient to pick up a rental car right at the airport—and if that level of convenience really matters to you, the higher price you’ll pay can be worth it. But you can save some serious money if you’re willing to pick up your rental car at another location.
One analysis found that it’s about 26 percent more expensive to rent a car at the airport versus at a nearby offsite location. That’s because rental car companies have to pay fees to the airport for use of that location, and naturally they pass those fees on to travelers. Some states in the U.S. also charge additional tourism fees on cars that are rented from sites at airports and hotels.
4. The cheapest rental car company for your trip may not be one of the big brands
Many of the best car rental deals we found in our test came from brands without the name recognition of more widely known companies like Avis or Enterprise. These include companies such as Kyte, which delivers and picks up your rental wherever you choose and operates in a number of U.S. cities; Zezgo, which has locations at several Florida airports; and Fox Rent-A-Car, which has 21 corporate locations in U.S. cities like Las Vegas, Orlando, and Los Angeles, plus affiliate relationship with independently owned locations around the world.
Generally speaking, the best places to rent a car online include customer ratings of the different providers, so you’ll can have a good idea what to expect from the cheapest car rental options. That said, it’s always a good idea to view user-generated online reviews with a critical eye. Professional organizations such as the Better Business Bureau (BBB) can help you learn more about any rental car company you’re not already familiar with.
