Online car rental comparison

So the holiday is booked, accommodation is confirmed, flights are finalised, it’s about that time to look online and book in the hire car. But with so many online options, how do you know which is best? We tell you how to bag a baaagain when booking your rental car online.

How is best to book your car hire?

You can book your hire car from a multitude of places; direct through rental companies like Avis, Hertz or Europcar, or through aggregator sites like Vroom vroom vroom, Drivenow, Skyscanner or Webjet.

An online car hire aggregator site offers ease and convenience in the bucket load. You get to see results from a wide range of suppliers in one place without having to go from site to site yourself. However, going direct with the rental depot might land you special offers, security and answers to your questions in real time.

Compare car hire companies

It’s time to get road trip ready! Decide where to hire your car from with our handy comparison below. We’ve done all the hard work, so you don’t have to. We’ve compared some of the top places you can use to purchase your car rental online.

Avis

Avis was founded in 1946 by Warren Avis and now operates in 5,000 locations worldwide. They are a company committed to delivering personalised service and exceeding customer expectations. Their mission is to 'ensure a stress-free car rental experience’.  If you hire a vehicle with Avis and it is damaged during your care you are required to pay damage liability of approximately $3,000 unless you take out their collision waiver fee. This costs over $26 dollars a day which reduces your damage liability to around $300-$500. Whereas a policy with Baaarney could cost as little as $11* a day and reduce your damage liability to Zero, zilch, nada.

Budget

Budget offers a wide range of cars, 4WDs and minibuses as well as Australia’s largest fleet of truck and commercial vehicles in over 2,500 locations around the world. Whether you are a business traveller, moving home or planning a trip, Budget is likely to have the right vehicle for the job. A handy benefit of their service is you can earn FlyBuys or Qantas Frequent Flyer points when you make a booking.
Budget's collision waiver fee costs over $25-$27 dollars a day and reduces your damage liability to around $300-$500. You'd be baaarmey not to buy a policy with Baaarney for as little as $11* a day reducing your excess to nothing!

Europcar

With over 60 years of experience, Europcar certainly is a global powerhouse in the car rental market. They offer a massive selection of vehicles for hire; from small cars to luxury cars and vans. Earn Virgin Velocity Frequent Flyer points each time you make a booking. If you hire a vehicle with Europcar and it is damaged during your care you are required to pay damage liability of approximately $4,000 unless you take out their collision waiver fee. This costs around $24 dollars a day which reduces your damage liability to around $300-$500. 

Hertz

Hertz has been around even longer; with 90 years in the business they are the largest airport car rental company in the world. Whether renting a car for your business enterprise or holiday, Hertz has a wide range of luxury, sports and hybrid vehicles available to meet every car rental need. Hertz's collison waiver fee costs between $21-$31 dollars a day and you still have to pay a few hundred dollars in the event of an accident whilst the car is in your care.

Thrifty

Australian owned Thrifty offers affordable car hire in over 177 locations nationally. If you’re after a car, truck, ute, van or mini-bus they specialise is vehicles of all sizes. And if you're travelling overseas, regardless of whether it's for business or pleasure, they have more than 1,000 locations across 80 countries worldwide. Thrifty is 100% owned by NRMA Motoring and Services. You can also earn Velocity frequent flyer points each time you hire a car. If you do hire a vehicle with Thrifty and it is damaged during your care you are required to pay damage liability of approximately $4,000,  unless you choose to pay for their daily collision waiver fees. This waiver fee costs between $27-$33 dollars a day and  reduces your damage liability to around $300-$500. Whereas a policy with Baaarney could cost as little as $11* a day and reduce your damage liability to Zero, zilch, nada.

Compare car hire comparison sites

It’s always a good idea to compare apples with apples when looking for the right car to hire for your trip. An aggregator site is a good place to compare prices, features and benefits all in one place. Rather than spending hours trawling the web doing the research yourself, they’ve done it for you. Here’s a bit more information about seven well-known car hire comparison sites.

BYO jet

Online travel agent BYOjet are best known for comparing flights, hotels and everything else you need to book your perfect holiday like car hire. They compare all the big brands like Avis, Budget, Europcar, Thrify and more. Just select where you want to pick up your vehicle, the dates of hire and who will be driving and you’ll get a good number of quotes in two minutes. You can modify or refine your results to help you wittle down your options before being redirected to the car hire companies website to continue with your purchase.

Car Rental Buddy

Car Rental Buddy is an Australian owned company who compare rental packages from Australia's leading car rental companies like Avis, Budget, Thrifty, Hertz, Europcar, and many more. Whether you are travelling interstate or from overseas, for business or holiday fun, Car Rental Buddy can help you with viewing the best rates for locations throughout Australia, including capital cities (Brisbane, Perth, Sydney, Melbourne, Darwin, Hobart, Canberra, and Adelaide), major and remote airports, and most suburban locations. They’re website boosts they compare 1,500 suppliers in over 30,000 locations across 174 countries!

Drive Now

Drivenow has been around since 2003, they compare online rates for cars, campervans and relocations. Their site compares all major brands from last-minute to year round rentals for major destinations throughout Australia, New Zealand, Europe, North America and the UK.

Driveaway

DriveAway Holidays has over 25 years of experience providing Australians with domestic and international car hire, European car leasing and motorhome rentals across the globe. They work with over 60 car hire suppliers throughout 8,000 locations worldwide in 130 countries. Their mission is “To be the preferred choice for car rental bookings in Australia & New Zealand, through professionalism, leading technology and competitive prices.”

Expedia

Online travel agents well known for hotel and flight bookings, Expedia also has an established car hire comparison engine too. They compare car hire companies across the globe. Whether you want to rent a car in Europe or the U.S, looking for an economy compact car or a spacious SUV, Expedia makes it simple to reserve a vehicle for your next holiday with a rental car brand you know and trust.

Skyscanner

Also better known for their flights and hotels comparison Skyscanner’s comprehensive car hire searches thousands of destinations and compares thousands of car hire deals to help you find your perfect drive at a low price. No matter if you've decided to drive a campervan, hire car or flash set of wheels!

Webjet

Australian travel comparison site Webjet helps customers find hotels, flights, travel insurance, car hire and more. Their website boosts that they provide free cancellation, breakdown assistance and compare over 1,000 suppliers including Avis, Budget, Thrifty, Hertz, Europcar. Whether your trip is for business or leisure, if you’re looking for a simple sedan, a 4WD or something in between, they offer an extensive range of car hire options. With pick-up spots at all major airports and convenient city spots, you can select your nearest location and start your holiday straight from the arrivals terminal. Handy!

Prices that seem too good to be true, often are!

So you've decided to purchase your car hire online and it seems like a bargain. But all of a sudden there's surprise costs popping up here, there and everywhere! Extras for child seats, sat nav systems and additional driver charges, to drop-off price hikes for late fees, cleaning costs and refuelling charges are common reasons for car rental price hikes. But by far the largest cause for this price surge are the excess reduction fees.

Save on car rental excess with Baaaney

While it may seem more convenient to pay to reduce the excess with the car hire company directly, as we've detailed above quite often you’ll be paying 50% more than necessary without much payoff.

When you front up at the depot to pick up your hire car, most rental car companies will offer to sell you their collision damage waiver. This can cost you roughly $25- $35 per day. Whereas for just under $11* per day, standalone car hire excess like ours will cover any damages on your hire car while reducing your excess to zero.  That means you pay nothing… zip, zilch, nada in the event of an accident or theft.

Don't get fleeced by your hire car company. You can reduce your excess and have more cash to splash when you buy car hire excess insurance with Baaaney.

*based on one week rental in NSW