Auto Reisen, Cicar and Alamo have been named some of the best car hire firms in the world, beating out popular brands likeEuropcar, Enterprise, Hertz, Avis and Sixt.
A study of more than 8,000 rentals in nine popular holiday destinations including Italy, Greece and Spain have seen prices shoot up.
For example, the UK has seen prices up by 106% since 2019, while Cyprus has seen a 100% increase and Italy 126%.
In fact a week’s rental during August in Italy has shot up from an average of £209 to £473.
The most expensive country for car hire is the USA, where a week’s rental is likely to set holidaymakers back £546 on average, up 92% since 2019.
According to research by Which?, in the UK it's Enterprise that's the best car hire company, ranking highly amongst customers. It also passed all of the Which? price transparency tests, meaning you're less likely to find a nasty surprise bill with the company.
One customer said Enterprise is "dependable, straightforward and pragmatic, with excellent customer service", with the average price of hire per week at £539.
There’s no charge for cancellations and amendments up to the collection date for some bookings. For all others, you can cancel for free up to three days before pick-up.
For those heading to the Canary Islands, you may want to consider renting a car with Auto Reisen, as it topped the list of the best firm in the Spanish hotspot thanks to all-inclusive price with zero excess, its fuel policy and a free additional driver. It received the full five stars for value for money.
Because you pay nothing up front, cancellations due to Covid, or any reason, are always completely free. A week's hire costs just £196 on average.
Auto Reisen scored a near-perfect 96% customer score. One happy Auto Reisen customer summed it up: "I wouldn’t hire from anywhere else."
Alamo - Enterprise's sister company - was named best car hire in the USA, receiving a customer score of 83% with five stars across plenty of categories.
Customers felt Alamo was clear about extra charges, its fuel policy and final hire costs. They were also impressed with the age, condition and mileage of its cars, as well as how easy it was to return cars.
There’s no charge for cancellations and amendments up to the collection date for some bookings. For all others, you can cancel for free up to three days before pick-up. A week's rental costs £441 on average.
Goldcar has been one of the annual survey’s worst performers for years, and again found itself at the bottom of the table with a customer score of 54%.
Despite having some of the lowest prices of any of the companies in the survey, with an average price per week of £245, the company scored just two stars for value for money.
It also received two stars for the ease of opting out of optional extras, and for customer service, with multiple respondents commenting on pressure selling techniques.
A spokesperson for the company said: "Pressure selling is not acceptable. With regard to insurance cover, we offer our premium cover to provide a seamless process should damage occur during a customer’s rental.
"A customer, of course, has the right to choose to buy their cover separately, however, if this is the case they will be charged for any damages that occur during the rental and will then need to claim the costs back from the chosen provider. This is explained to all customers at time of rental."
Car hire firms ranked in the survey
(Average price per week, customer score)
- Auto Reisen: £196, 91%
- Cicar: £210, 91%
- Alamo: £441, 72%
- Enterprise: £539, 72%
- Hertz: £469, 71%
- Centauro: £231, 70%
- Thrifty: £343, 70%
- Europcar: £511, 67%
- Avis: £469, 65%
- Budget: £378, 63%
- Sixt: £448, 62%
- Dollar: NA, 55%
- Goldcar: £245, 54%
You can find out more on which.co.uk.
