Is Rentalcars.com: The Best Way To Hire A Car
Rentalcars.com is our favourite way to hire a car when we are travelling. They make it easy and straightforward to find a great deal to ensure you’re not paying too much for your rental car. If in the past you have been particularly loyal to a car rental brand, this Rentalcars.com review will help you understand how the service works and the advantages of booking your car hire through them rather than purchasing directly through a car rental company.
How Does Rentalcars.com Work?
If you’re not familiar with Rentalcars.com, then let’s start off this Rentalcars.com review by breaking down exactly how they work.
Simply put, Rentalcars.com aggregates the prices of different car hire companies that are available for your preferred dates and destinations. You start off the booking process by entering your pick up destination (and drop off destination if it’s different), your travel dates and the age of the driver.
Rentalcars.com then proceeds to list all the car options and companies that are available for your trip. The results are sorted by their own recommendations by default, however, you can easily choose to sort by price instead if you’re planning your trip on a budget.
If you’re overwhelmed by the number of choices, you can use a number of handy filters on the left-hand side of the screen to narrow down your choices further. For example, you can filter results by transmission type, number of seats, fuel policies, suppliers you like and much more!
At the top of the screen, you can also filter down further by the type of car that you’re interested in renting. You can also see reviews left by other Rentalcar.com users to help you determine whether you want to use a particular company.
Once you’ve found the right deal for you, simply click ‘View Deal’ to read additional information before purchasing.
In particular, I high recommend users click the ‘View Information’ button at the top to see additional details such as the security deposit required, what documentation you’ll need when picking up the car, mileage & fuel policies and the damage excess you are liable to pay.
If the deductible is quite high and you don’t want to purchase the additional insurance through the car rental company (which can be quite expensive!), then I suggest getting a quote from a third party like iCarHireInsurance. They provide third party excess insurance to ensure you don’t need to pay anything in the event of making a claim.
At this stage of the purchase, you’ll also be able to select optional extras such as adding additional drivers or requesting a baby seat. You will also able to select the type of insurance you would like to purchase.
If you decline the full insurance, many car rental companies will still give you the option to buy it when you pick up your car. Many will also try to upsell you other extras when you arrive to pick up your car.
Once you’re happy with your selections, hit ‘Go to Book’, enter in your details, proceed to enter in your payment details and then you have a reserved car for your upcoming trip. Simple as that! You will also receive an e-mail confirmation of your booking that you can show when picking up your car.
If the beginning of this Rentalcars.com review has convinced you to check them out for your upcoming trip, then click here to get a quote or alternatively, fill in your details in the box below!
Pros of Using Rentalcars.com
While we’ve already discussed some of the pros of using Rentalcars.com in this Rentalcars.com review, here are the key reasons why we think you should use them for your next trip.
1. Best Aggregation of Results
If you want to save money when booking a rental car and aren’t loyal to any particular brand, then Rentalcars.com is simply an easy way to find a great deal on a hire car. They have a large selection of brands and many major international car hire companies listed as well as some local companies.
Rentalcars.com ensures you don’t have to worry about missing out on a great deal and also means you don’t have to spend hours crawling the web to find a deal. Simply, enter in when and where you’re going and sit back as Rentalcars.com does the rest!
2. Consistent Customer Experience
A lot of car rental companies abroad don’t always have usable and/or English websites which can make it very difficult to organise your trip.
By Rentalcars.com you always have the same easy to use website and booking process. This means you don’t have to worry about translating a non-English website or submitting your credit card details through a site that you might not completely trust!
There is also a lot of clarity when it comes to the terms of your booking. While historically you might have to search through the fine print to determine if there are restrictions on mileage or what the fuel policy is, when booking with Rentalcars.com that is all clearly outlined during the booking process.
All in all, this means that you can have greater confidence when booking and have one less headache when planning your trip!
3. Easy to Find Your Ideal Car
One of my favourite things about booking through Rentalcars.com is that they make it so easy to find your ideal car. Their filtering options allow you to easily narrow down your results and ensuring you’re not wasting your time browsing through cars that might not suit your requirements.
For example, you can easily filter down the type of car you want, whether you prefer an automatic or manual transmission and much more. They also provide you with specific details about where to pick up your car and the opening hours of the office to ensure you can easily plan your trip.
You can also filter down on a variety of other factors such as only listing certain suppliers if you prefer to stick to your favorite car hire company, the average rating by users and payment options. All these options make it easy to narrow down exactly the type vehicle you want and book it without a fuss.
4. Price Match Guarantee
While you will often find the most competitive prices on Rentalcars.com regardless, it can be helpful to know that they also offer their own version of a price match guarantee.
The price match guarantee allows you to put in a claim online after you’ve made a booking if you find a better price online and Rentalcars.com will match it.
There are some conditions attached to the offer such as it not apply to insurance offers but all in all, the price match guarantee does provide some additional peace of mind when booking with Rentalcars.com.
5. Easy to Manage Your Booking
After you’ve completed your booking, you can easily log in your Rentalcars.com account online and see your booking. You can make changes such as the date of your trip or the type of car you’ve booked.
If you have any problems along the way, there is also a variety of support options including live chat, phone support and e-mail.
Limitations of Rentalcars.com
While Rentalcars.com is our preferred way of booking car hires, there are some limitations to be aware of when using them.
1. You Need to Read the Fine Print
As we discussed earlier in this Rentalcars.com review, one of the reasons why Rentalcars.com can sometimes appear to be quite cheap is that the car rental company lists only the basic price and doesn’t include some additional charges.
It’s therefore imperative that you read the fine print to ensure that you won’t be stuck paying an extra fee when picking up your car. Similarly, make sure to read exactly what type of insurance is included and whether there are any restrictions such as cross-border driving on your car hire.
2. Not All Local Options May Be Listed
While Rentalcar.com lists the majority of international car hire companies and many local options, particularly in popular destinations, there are some more off-beat countries where not all local options might be listed.
For example, if travelling in Georgia, or elsewhere in the Caucasus, it’s common for many people who own cars to rent them out to tourists and advertise in the city centre. This can be a cheaper alternative than going through an established company though obviously comes with more risks.
Similarly, some established local companies might choose not to advertise on Rentalcars.com. Nevertheless, Rentalcars.com still has one of largest selection of car rentals that we’ve found online in one convenient place.
Is Rentalcars.com Legitimate & Reliable?
For travellers not used to booking services through aggregators, you might be wondering whether Rentalcars.com is legit and reliable to use. In our experience, they are perfectly safe to use.
We have booked car hires through Rentalcars.com a humber of times over the last few years. On recent trips to Cyprus and Croatia, we’ve had no problems booking a car with Rentalcars.com and then picking it up when we arrived at our destination.
Why is Rentalcars.com So Cheap?
One of the things you might be wondering about in this Rentalcars.com review is why they are so cheap. The main reason why they might be cheaper than what you’re used to paying is that they find great deals. So if you’ve been loyal to an up-market brand in the past, you might be surprised as to how much competition there is actually out there!
Another reason why some deals might be listed as cheaper is that they might be offering reduced mileage, insurance or other benefits. Always make sure to read the terms and conditions thoroughly before booking so you know what you are getting and can compare like for like car rentals.
Booking a car hire through Rentalcars.com is undoubtedly a great way to hire a car abroad and ensure you get a fantastic deal. Click here to browse car rentals for your next trip!
Did you find this Rentalcars.com useful? Have you used them before? Let us know in the comments below!
