Find cheap car hire deals & compare the best sites

The best car hire search engines are metasearch engine/ comparison sites or aggregators. These unique sites use clever technology to find the best car hire deals to compare numerous sources. Some of the best car hire meta-search engines include KAYAK, momondo and Skyscanner. They cleverly compare some of the biggest car hire companies globally, including Thrifty, Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz, Sixt, Payless, and more. We search the best car hire comparison sites from our unique dashboard, ensuring the best car hire deals do not pass you by. We recommend other places to find the best car hires, including Qeeq and Rentalcars.com.

We estimate that you can save at least 20% off your car hires by comparing multiple car hire comparison sites because you can search many more sites via this method rather than going to one automobile agent in particular. We experimented to prove the point. We searched for the cheapest car hire for a week in August in San Francisco on Hertz's famous car hire site and compared it with our search results, and Hertz returned the cheapest car hire deal on their site for a four-door economy vehicle at £859. Our search engine found a similar car on our site via KAYAK for £480. As you can see on this occasion, we saved around 40% off the car hire price simply by shopping around. The most important advice would always be to use our car hire comparison engine to see if you can save by comparing multiple car hire comparison engines.

KAYAK is one of the world's leading meta-search engines which also offers a car hire comparison engine. They boast searching car hire deals from hundreds of websites in over 70,000 locations. They have a handy map that lets you see the location of your car hire company, allow picking up and dropping off at separate locations and have a vast selection of vehicles, including eco-friendly options like hybrids and electric cars. You can filter results by price, car type, location, and booking agency, ensuring you get the perfect hire car for your needs.

Momondo offers a powerful car hire search engine alongside flight comparison and hotel comparison engines. We have automatically filtered the momondo results on our search results page to display the lowest prices first. Momondo allows you to search for numerous vehicle types, including small, medium, large, SUV, van, luxury, pick-up truck, convertible and commercial vehicles. They also offer a free 48-hour cancellation policy so that if your plans unexpectedly change, you can alter your booking if need be.

Skyscanner also offers a car hire search engine alongside its flight and hotel search offerings. They search a different selection of car hire companies compared to KAYAK and momondo, so it's worth checking their offers on our search results page. It is essential to be aware of possible extra surcharges that can be charged if the driver is particularly young (under 25) and if you need to drop off the car at a different location to where it was picked up. Skyscanner results are entirely transparent and will let you know all possible surcharges before you book. They also rate each deal on their fuel policy and insurance price so you can easily find the best deal to suit you.

It is important to note that FlightsFinder does not book your car hire, and all we do is show you a dashboard that compares offers from the best car hire comparison sites in the market. It is like Google in that sense; we only show you the information found on other sites. We only partner with the comparison sites with the best reputations and that have been active in the market for over ten years. It is also important to note that the comparison sites do not make your booking either; they will send you to the booking agent with the best value offers they find to complete your booking. We don't keep any information regarding these bookings, so please check your credit card to see who you made your purchase with and contact that vendor directly if you face any trouble with your car hire.

Cheapflights also offers a powerful car hire comparison engine alongside flights and hotels. We also compare their offers on our search results page, and we have automatically filtered their results to show the closest locations to your desired pick-up city. You can view their results in any currency of the world and filter by total cost and payment type. It's always worth checking a few car hire comparison sites side-by-side to see if you can save even more money or find a vehicle that is more convenient for your needs.

If you are going to a popular destination, we recommend booking your car three to six months before you travel. If you need to book a car nearer to your travel dates, it may be a bit more expensive, but you should find a deal as long as you look for a standard vehicle like a mini, economy or compact vehicle type. If you are looking for a more unusual kind of vehicle such as a seven-seater car, a luxury vehicle, a four-wheel-drive or a convertible, start your search early as the hire companies tend to have fewer of these vehicles available to rent. It is always worth checking the cancellation policy of the car hire agency carefully so that if you find a better deal after your booking, you can cancel and rebook at a better price. Most companies should offer a 48 cancellation policy but be sure to check the terms and conditions before making a final purchase.

It may be worth paying a little extra to insure your vehicle for unintentional accidents during your vacation. Car hire companies are known to charge quite exorbitant amounts for minor damage, so if you pay for the insurance, you can save yourself a potentially large amount of money. Sometimes you can rent cover from third-party companies that will cover your hire vehicle rather than paying your hire agency; we recommend you shop around to see what type of deals you can find. You may feel that insurance is unnecessary, but many unforeseen accidents can happen in a foreign area. Common problems include finding your wing mirror missing after parking your car in narrow streets outside your hotel or unintentionally damaging your car door by opening it onto an unexpectedly high kerb in a beach car park. Insurance can give you the peace of mind needed rather than being surprised by hefty fees when unintentional damage occurs.

Some other important points to note when looking for the cheapest car hire include pre-booking your car hire online before you travel. Walk-in rates at hotels and locations in downtown areas are much more pricey. You can also compare deals in peace rather than being pushed into an agreement by a bossy salesman. Another way to save if you are travelling with infants is to take your child's car seat. Most airlines allow you to carry on your child's car seat for free, so you can save the expensive over-the-counter fees charged by the car hire agencies to hire their infant seats. Finally, check the fuel policy of the vehicle you are renting, try to find a rental agency that allows you to return the car with the same amount of fuel it had when you picked it up. This policy is known as a fair fuel policy, and you can quickly check it via filters on our search results page.