Car hire comparison sites to become more transparent

Online search engines for car hire have become a common tool for travellers seeking the best car rental deals.

Apart from the convenience of being able to compare offers from many major and local car rental companies, they usually provide very attractive rates; often more competitive than directly at the supplier. 

After the ideal offer has been chosen, online booking is a pure formality. In reality it means that you can book a car to rent in a most exotic of destinations, in just few minutes, in the comfort of your home or office and without the need of contacting several providers to compare offers. Most car hire comparison engines advertise having the ‘best rates’ and in fact, the offers to come up at the top of the list are usually very attractively priced.

Not all that glitters is gold – CMA demands more transparency
The cheap car rental online, unfortunately, sometimes comes at a price. Too many car rental customers have already been unpleasantly surprised by additional costs of what they believed to be a ‘great deal’.

Usually it is only at the desk of the rental company, at arrival, that they discover that there are additional fees to be considered. What in most cases make the total cost of car rental skyrocket is the mileage policy (were fuel is pre-paid and charged additionally, at rates significantly higher than the regular market price), driver’s age policy, mileage restrictions and one-way charges.

Later on, should they have the misfortune of damaging the car, the collision waiver exclusions and high excess, may conspire to turn the cheap car rental rather heavy on the wallet.

While it is no secret that any ‘super price’ implies less advantageous conditions, the Competition and Markets Authority has recently taken on a challenge to make thigs a little easier for customers shopping around for car rental, by enforcing a ‘transparent drive-away price’ policy on the comparison websites.

 A warning issued by the CMA calls on the online car rental brokers to make all the possible ‘hidden’ costs more visible on their websites, in order for a client to be able to make an informed decision. The areas of particular concern, according to CMA are: young driver charges, fuel charges, one-way fees, pre-authorisation or deposit amount, the insurance waiver exclusions and warnings about the need for snow chains.

A deadline of January 2017 has been set for the car hire comparison providers to comply.

Book with Cartrawler – compare prices and rental conditions
When searching for car hire on Cartrawler search and booking engine, it is possible to see any additional feel before the booking. ‘Rental Conditions’ of each offer, clearly organized in relevant sections, contain all the necessary information regarding driver’s age and possible charges, the cost of additional driver option, fuel charges, excess and insurance details.

It is important therefore to get familiar with the rental conditions as they can vary considerably between different car rental companies. For many car rental customers, the most competitive offer will be the one to combine accessible price with advantageous rental conditions.