Car Hire

To be sure of finding the very cheapest headline price, check at least one of the main price comparison websites which compare the prices on offer from dozens of car hire brokers and smaller companies. You don’t book direct with the site but link through to the company offering the deals you are interested in. My top three to try first would be:

travelsupermarket.com - uses a solid base of up to 25 companies and is easy to navigate, treating the user like a friend by offering advice and tips as well as cost information.

kayak.co.uk - has an unbeatably clear layout and pull up results very quickly - usefully it also supplies extras such as maps of the pickup destination and allows you to store past searches.

carrentals.co.uk - Claims one of the widest searches - up to 50 providers at a total of 9,000 pick up points - so should pin-point the cheapest deal. Quick to use once you get used to the rather cluttered home page.

Brokers negotiate the best prices they can with different suppliers in different destinations. So you might end up booking with holidayautos, but when you pick up the car it will be supplied by, for example, Avis. In most cases the price you pay the broker will be lower than booking direct with the company that supplies the car, but you can never be absolutely sure of this.

arguscarhire.com - Very straightforward initial search, covering a database of 450 suppliers. Results pages have useful pop ups on car details and competitive prices, but - as with all car hire - make sure you read the insurance small print: excess charges and the cost of waivers vary from car to car..

auto-europe.co.uk - has a no-nonsense, quick-to-use site. Download its excellent pdf “Car Rental Roadmap” - a really clear and useful guide to its terms and conditions.

holidayautos.co.uk - is one of the longest standing and well-respected brokers, and would be my first choice if I were to contact only one company.

opodo.co.uk - offers reasonably competitive prices and provides a good at-a-glance 'results summary'.

easycar.com - has a well-designed, user-friendly layout and is upfront about what’s included and excluded from the price.

If you're booking a flight, don't assume the "special deal" on car hire by the airline's site is necessarily the cheapest. While Ryanair has an agreement with Hertz and both British Airways and Flybe work with Avis, there's no guarantee that this will make car hire cheaper - and they can be more expensive than booking direct with a broker.

Quotes are usually based on a type of car or are banded 'economy', 'family', '4x4', 'people carrier'. While this can make it seem difficult to compare prices for specific models, companies do tend to use similar terms. However, there may be key differences which affect the price of a similar size of car - such as whether it has air-conditioning, the size of the engine, manual or automatic gear box, etc.

Once you’ve found the right car at what you think is the right price, double-check what's included. Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) and Theft Waiver (TW) usually are, and you shouldn't pay extra for Personal Insurance (PI) and Personal Effects Cover (PEC) if they are included on your travel insurance policy (they usually are). Local government and airport taxes can bump up the bill, especially in the US Super Collision Damage Waiver (SCDW) to reduce liability for excess and to cover damage to windscreen, roofs and tyres (areas that are not usually covered by CDW) will be an added extra, which can make a big difference to the final price - and may be payable on arrival at the pick-up desk. Be absolutely sure you know how much you will be charged for this - and consider taking out a separate policy (see step six) to cover them instead.

It is usually cheaper to pay for extra insurance cover through a specialist insurer rather than through the company through which you are hiring the car - whether this is to cover the "excess" amount you would have to pay after an accident or damage, or to upgrade liability and CDW insurance in the USA.

Note that there are some restrictions and exclusions attached to these policies - for example, the validity of the cover in the UK may depend on how far you are away from home when you hire the car, and it may be limited to a certain number of continuous days per rental agreement. So check the details of the policies offered as well as comparing premiums. Try the following insurers:

insurance4carhire.com - is a specialist in the field offering market-leading policies with an annual premium (currently from £49 in Europe) which covers the excess payment on care hire for up to 31 days in a year - worth considering if you are a regular traveller or likely to hire a car for more than ten days.

questor-insurance.co.uk - offers good levels of cover on either a daily premium and annual cover - and is worth checking for a comparative quote. Useful option allows two drivers to be named on the policy and then rent vehicles independently of each other.

carhireexcess.com - has an admirably clear website and offers a similar range of policies. Currently premiums for annual cover in Europe start at £39.99 with a maximum of 62 days on any one rental and no limit on the total number of rentals in a year (worldwide premiums from £49.99). Its policies for daily cover start at £1.99 in Europe.

dailyexcess.com - offers cover worldwide, by the day (current daily rate £4.50).

Including an additional driver in the rental agreement will cost extra - check how much - and so will use of a child seat, roof rack or sat nav system. Book these in advance. You might be able to save money by taking a child seat with you - depending on your luggage allowance.

Before you head off, inspect the bodywork to make sure that any existing dents and scratches won't be blamed on you at a later date. Find out what the refuelling policy is - and, if you’re expected to return it with a full tank, where the nearest petrol station is. Finally make sure you’ve got the 24-hour emergency contact number for breakdowns.