The summer getaway is officially on with millions of Brits expected to jet off to foreign shores for a week or two in the sun. However, as the cost of living crisis continues to bite into millions of household budgets up and down the country, the initial buzz of heading abroad may be starting to fizzle when you start adding up all the extra costs involved.
Most people will have booked a package holiday, so flights and accommodation are taken care of, but additional costs of excursions, day trips and car hire can soon lead to unwanted worry and stress during what is supposed to be the most-relaxing time of the year.
Car rental costs in particular have seen a lot of fluctuation over the past 12 months. But fear not, DiscoverCars.com has introduced a new tool to help identify the locations around the world offering the cheapest costs for renting a vehicle.
With the rise of fuel prices throughout 2022, rental cars saw a dramatic increase in price. DiscoverCars.com’s internal data revealed that costs had risen by:
- 267% in Ireland
- 264% in Canada
- 85% in the UK
- 28% in the USA state of Illinois
The introduction of the new Skyscanner-type tool, helps users visualise the countries offering the best deals on rental vehicles, just in time for the summer holidays.
Using the new tool, the top five cheapest destinations for renting a vehicle during July 20 - 27 are:
- Spain: £37
- Poland: £37
- USA: £49
- New Zealand: £55
- Romania: £55
Spain - one of the most popular tourist hotspots in the world - currently ranks as the cheapest country for renting a vehicle in late July, alongside Poland.
The cool thing about the tool is that once you have selected the country you’re going to you can drill it down further to the location you’ll be staying - either by using the map or typing in a specific region.
By combining the use of both DiscoverCars.com’s tool and flight comparison sites, users will also be able to gain a better understanding of prices for flights, hotels, and now rental vehicles.
For example, Poland ranked as the tenth cheapest destination on flight comparison sites for prices from Heathrow (£185), therefore, the price of flights and a rental vehicle would total £222.
Comparing this to doing it the opposite way, Switzerland - which ranked as the third-cheapest destination for flights on comparison sites from Heathrow (£114) - currently ranks as the most expensive country for rental cars (£496).
This means the total price of flights and rental vehicles would be £610 and highlights the savings that can be made by trying out DiscoverCars.com’s tool first - before checking out the costs of flights.
You can try the tool out for yourself on the website here.
To keep up to date with the latest cost of living news, join our Money Saving Scotland Facebook page here, follow us on Twitter @Record_Money, or subscribe to our newsletter which goes out Monday to Friday - sign up here.
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