Which Car Rental Company Is the Cheapest?

Takeaways:

• Advantage, E-Z Rent A Car, and Ace generally posted the best prices, but they have thousands fewer locations than companies like Enterprise.
• Frequent deals and larger discounts offered by big-name car rental companies may offset any savings from going with the smaller budget brands.
• National and Enterprise were generally the most expensive in our price comparison but also dominate surveys of customer satisfaction.

Car Rental Price Comparison: National vs Budget vs Hertz vs Enterprise vs Everyone Else

To get a general yet representative idea of how prices compare across companies and vehicle types, we searched online rates for daily and weekly rentals in three popular business and vacation destinations — Chicago, Los Angeles, and Orlando — one month in advance of hypothetical trips in mid-May.

Orlando International Airport (MCO)
1-Day / 1-Week Prices

Winner: Ace
Most Expensive: National

Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
1-Day / 1-Week Prices

Winners: Advantage and E-Z (tied)
Most Expensive: National

Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD)
1-Day / 1-Week Prices

Winner: Payless
Most Expensive: National

* Prices are for the rental option with the lowest rate (i.e., prepaid when available) and include taxes and fees. Quotes for May 13, 2019 (Wednesday) and May 11-17, 2019 (Saturday through Friday). Prices rounded to the nearest dollar. Prices and availability are subject to change.

How Much Does It Cost to Rent a Car?

The first thing that any consumer should know about renting a car is that rates are notoriously fickle and extremely responsive to supply and demand. They may vacillate from day to day at the same location, and the price in one locale may be significantly higher or lower than the cost elsewhere. Areas with lots of competition (think large cities and major tourist spots) may offer lower rates than smaller towns with fewer companies to choose from. Weekdays may be cheaper than weekends, depending on location, and rates may jump at high-traffic times, such as Thanksgiving or spring break.

Also, while there are more than a dozen car rental companies with locations nationwide, just a handful of corporations control most of them. Among the 14 companies we researched for this survey, Enterprise, National, and Alamo all have the same parent company, and so do Avis, Budget, and Payless. Hertz, Dollar, and Thrifty are corporate siblings, as are Advantage and E-Z Rent A Car. Ace, Fox, and Sixt are independent.

What Is the Cheapest Car Rental Company?
In our cost comparison, the smaller "budget" companies offered the best prices. Rates from Advantage and E-Z were consistently among the lowest for a one-day rental no matter the location. While Ace and Avis-owned Payless gave these sister chains a run for their business in Orlando and Chicago, respectively, their low prices and availability were less reliable.

Photo credit: asiandelight/istockphoto

For week-long travel rentals, the winners weren't always so clear-cut but, again, E-Z and Advantage proved extremely competitive, and independent vendors — Ace, Fox, and Sixt — usually offered big savings over the bigger chains. The catch is that the smaller companies have far fewer locations. You won't find Advantage or E-Z at large airports like Philadelphia and Minneapolis, not to mention smaller cities. Ace doesn't even have a Chicago airport location. It has about 50 outlets altogether, and E-Z counts only about 30 business locations. Enterprise, the largest chain, has about 5,800 locations in the United States. Runner-up Hertz has just over 3,000.

What Is the Most Expensive Car Rental Company?
National was the most expensive option in our survey each and every time, for both daily and weekly rentals. Rivaled only by business partners Enterprise and Alamo, this top rental brand quoted prices that were at least twice as high as the cheapest competitor in any given market. In Chicago, National's rates for an economy car ($125 per day or $628 for the week) were more than three times the prices quoted by Payless, which quoted the best rates.

Even when compared to National's closest rival, Hertz, the higher prices were fairly pronounced. Renting an economy car in Chicago from Hertz instead of National would save consumers 32% for a one-day rental and 49% when renting for a full week. Dollar and Thrifty generally came in lower than Hertz, their parent company (of the two, Thrifty had the edge). Budget was cheaper than all three Hertz brands in all of our scenarios. Its corporate parent, Avis, was also middle-of-the-pack, while sibling Payless was a bit of a wild card, with no one-day rentals available in Los Angeles and costs that varied quite a bit by location. Sixt offered a fairly reasonable daily rate in Chicago ($66 for an economy car) but quoted relatively high prices for one-day rentals in the other markets ($71 in Orlando and $93 in L.A.).

'Budget' Cars Can Actually Cost More.
Our searches revealed that choosing the smallest car option doesn't guarantee the lowest rate. For example, for our hypothetical trip to Chicago, Alamo quoted a prepaid weekly rental price of $486 for an economy car, but the roomier midsize and full-size options were cheaper: $447 and $470, respectively. We found similar savings on larger vehicles in the other travel destinations, as well, particularly for full-size cars. It pays to consider all options — you could end up with sizeable savings and extra room to boot.

Things to Know Before Renting a Car

The Quote Is Just the Start.
While the rates in our price comparison include taxes and fees, rental companies generally highlight their "base rate" (the daily or weekly charge for the vehicle) when advertising cars. They sometimes do not disclose all the extras you'll pay on top of that initial quote until further along in the booking process. Consumers who aren't aware of certain upcharges (and ways to avoid them) may find themselves hit with a much larger final credit card bill than they expected.

Photo credit: Micolino/istockphoto

Prepay to Save Money, but Watch Out.
You can sometimes get a cheaper rate by opting to pay up front when reserving a car online using a credit card rather than at the travel counter. Not every company offers this option — National and Enterprise, notably, do not — and it's not guaranteed to be available for all rentals, but in our price comparison we found that opting to "pay now" resulted in average savings of about 15 to 20 percent, depending on the vendor and vehicle. Just keep in mind that rental rates fluctuate widely, so if you're booking far in advance, it makes sense to track prices for a bit before hitting that "pay now" button — especially since you'll likely have to pay a fee if you cancel the reservation.

With the larger companies, the penalty ranges from $50 to as much as $150 depending on when the cancellation is made. Smaller companies tend to be even less forgiving. Ace and Advantage offer no refunds within 24 hours of pickup, Payless shortens that window to 48 hours, and Fox offers no refunds whatsoever. Sixt has a particularly tricky policy: Customers who cancel sacrifice three days of the rental rate (which effectively means no refund on a rental of three days or less), and no cancellations can be made within three days of pickup. Companies frequently waive fees if the change is due to a flight cancellation, however, as long as you notify them before the scheduled arrival time.

Some Rental Companies Guarantee Their Rates.
To combat third-party travel sites like Expedia, some car rental companies promise to match or beat any qualifying rate advertised online for one of their vehicles. Avis and Thrifty, for example, say they'll match the competing quote and give you an extra 10 percent off. But in order to get the deal, you must have already made a car reservation, then manage to track down a lower quoted price for the same class of vehicle within 24 hours, then submit it for verification and approval. (Offers from competing car rental companies are not matched.) Budget, Dollar, and Hertz have similar travel guarantees.

Extras Can Add Up.
Satellite radio, hands-free navigation, on-board Wi-Fi, toll passes, car seats, roadside assistance,insurance,  and even carbon offsets are common travel add-ons that don't come cheap and may not be absolutely essential. For example, adding GPS navigation — already on any smartphone — increased the credit card bill for a sample weeklong rental at Enterprise by $75. The cost of car seats can end up exceeding the daily rate for the car itself when traveling with multiple kids. It's probably best to bring car seats from home, if you can manage it (most airlines don't charge to check them), and certain affiliations — AAA and PTA membership, for example — provide free rental car seats among their perks.

Photo credit: Vladimir Vladimirov/istockphoto

One of the most expensive "extras" is supplemental insurance. Opting to get a collision damage waiver, personal injury protection, and liability coverage from the rental car company can add almost $50 per day. And it's often unnecessary: Many car insurance policies and credit card benefits include rental car coverage. Check your existing insurance policies in advance.

Bigger Companies Offer a Bigger Selection.
All the major car rental companies offer a range of vehicles, from economy cars to full-size sedans, and most also offer trucks, vans, SUVs, and even high-end luxury models. However, if you're looking for the greatest variety and the newest models — that Mustang 5.0 or Mercedes SUV you've dreamt about — you're more likely to find them at a flagship car rental company such as National, Hertz, or Avis. Some of the bigger names, such as Enterprise and Alamo, also offer hybrid and electric models. Cheaper car rental companies may have vehicles with more miles on them or hand-me-downs from the big brands.

Take Advantage of Deals and Discounts.
All the major car rental companies offer a range of vehicles, from economy cars to full-size sedans, and most also offer trucks, vans, SUVs, and even high-end luxury models. However, if you're looking for the greatest variety and the newest models — that Mustang 5.0 or Mercedes SUV you've dreamt about — you're more likely to get them at a flagship car rental company such as National, Hertz, or Avis. Some of the bigger names, such as Enterprise and Alamo, also offer hybrid and electric models. Cheaper car rental companies may have vehicles with more miles on them or hand-me-downs from the big brands.

Aside from deals offered to the general public, we found a host of rental car discounts that benefit everyone from seniors to students, AAA members, trade association members, and even warehouse club members. We also found that, while the big-name companies may advertise costlier base rates, they're also more likely to offer particularly generous discounts to qualifying renters. For example, AARP members can get up to 30% off at Avis and Budget (Hertz offers 25%), while the AARP discount at Payless is just 5%. Bottom line: It's rarely necessary to pay full price.

Car Rental Discounts at a Glance

_{* May not be comprehensive. Some discounts may be limited-time offers.}

Rewards Programs Offer Additional Perks.
Most rental companies offer some kind of rewards program, although not all of them are equally rewarding. Enterprise and Avis, for instance, both offer one point per dollar spent, but Enterprise offers a free rental day with 400 points, while Avis requires 700 points. Ace's program gives loyal customers the option of redeeming credits for future car rental discounts or other merchandise, including video game consoles, headphones, and streaming media players. Put in perspective, however, it takes as many as 1,500 points — i.e., $1,500 spent — simply to get a $25 Starbucks or iTunes gift card. Other benefits of rewards program membership may include free upgrades, special one-time deals, skip-the-line arrangements, and no additional driver fees.

Rewards Programs at a Glance

The Best Car Rental Companies According to Reviews

Even a cursory reading of online reviews shows that consumers love to hate car rental agencies. Yelp, in particular, proved a fertile source of comments about travelers' experiences renting cars at airports around the country. But these tend to come from unhappy customers, making it difficult to objectively assess what the average traveler can expect. That said, the loudest applause was given to franchises that abide by the original quoted rate, have friendly agents at the counter, and help customers with problems or requests. The companies that receive poor ratings use aggressive sales tactics to peddle extras like insurance, charge customers for unforeseen extras when the car is returned, or give customers cars other than the type they reserved. All the car rental companies on our list have their share of both types of consumer reviews, although National and Enterprise fared much better than the others (partner company Alamo's showing was also above average).

Professional reviews of car rental companies are few and far between. J.D. Power and Travel & Leisure magazine both conduct annual consumer surveys, while Top Ten Reviews is the only prominent review site that rigorously researches and analyzes car rental prices. Although many of the smaller companies are not even considered in these expert roundups, when pitted against the other top brands, National and Enterprise again dominate lists for customer satisfaction. Enterprise has earned a top spot in the J.D. Power survey for five years running, while National has dominated the Travel & Leisure poll for a similar period, with Hertz close behind the two front-runners. In these surveys, business travelers and vacationers say all three companies offer excellent customer service, relatively generous rewards, and a wide range of clean, low-mileage vehicles that other rental firms can't match. Top Ten Reviews' analysis largely confirms this. (Top Ten Reviews dings National for its particularly high prices, something our price survey bears out. On the other hand, the site names Thrifty the "Best Value" choice for offering the cheapest one-day rentals, while our research revealed better rates at several of the smaller outlets.)