Hiring a car overseas used to mean rocking up to the airport desk and hoping for the best. Then car rental comparison sites came along and promised to save us a fortune. Rentalcars.com — part of the Booking Holdings family — is one of the biggest in the game. But does it actually deliver the best deals for Australians, or does Discover Cars edge it out?
What Is Rentalcars.com?
Rentalcars.com is a UK-based car rental comparison platform owned by Booking Holdings (the same group behind Booking.com). It searches over 900 car rental companies across 160+ countries, surfacing prices from Hertz, Avis, Budget, Europcar and dozens of local operators.
How Does It Work for Australians?
Visit rentalcars.com, enter pick-up location, dates and driver details. Results show cars ranked by price, with filters for car type, transmission (automatic is important for many Australians), rental company and included insurance. Pay online or at the counter, depending on the deal.
Pricing
Prices displayed in AUD. A compact automatic car in Europe typically costs AUD $40–
$80/day through Rentalcars.com. USA rentals can be AUD $30–$60/day. The site includes basic insurance in most quotes, but always check the excess (deductible) — it can be AUD $2,000–$5,000 or more.
Rentalcars.com vs Alternatives
vs Discover Cars: Discover Cars wins on full-coverage insurance options and transparent excess amounts. Rentalcars.com has a larger inventory but insurance clarity is better on Discover Cars.
vs booking direct: Booking direct occasionally beats comparison prices but rarely.
Verdict — Is Rentalcars.com Worth It for Australian Travellers?
Rentalcars.com is a solid, reliable comparison platform that should be part of any Australian traveller's car hire research. However, we'd recommend comparing it with Discover Cars — particularly for the superior insurance clarity that Discover Cars offers. Never rent a car overseas without checking the excess amount carefully.
Rentalcars.com: Car Hire Comparison That Works
Rentalcars.com (owned by Booking Holdings, the parent of Booking.com) is a car rental aggregator that searches 900+ rental companies globally and returns side-by-side price comparisons. The search process: enter pick-up location, date, time, and drop-off details, and the platform returns options from Hertz, Avis, Budget, Europcar, Sixt, and local operators at that specific location. The comparison view shows total price, vehicle type, fuel policy, excess liability amount, and included mileage -- the information needed for a genuine like-for-like comparison.
The Excess Insurance Question
The most important Rentalcars.com feature to understand before booking: the displayed price often does not include excess reduction insurance. The standard car rental excess (the amount you pay if the car is damaged) is EUR 1,500-3,000 in Europe and AUD $2,000-5,000 in Australia. Adding Rentalcars.com's 'Full Protection' (zero excess cover, approximately AUD $15-25/day) to the base price produces the true total cost. Always calculate the final all-inclusive price (base rate + excess cover) for every option before comparing -- a cheaper base rate with a high excess and expensive excess cover can be more expensive overall than a slightly higher base rate with better excess inclusion.
Rentalcars.com is most cost-effective for European car hire (where their contracted rates beat direct booking by 15-30%) and for USA and New Zealand rentals. For Australian domestic car hire, the major brands' direct websites (Hertz, Avis, Thrifty) are often competitive -- run the Rentalcars.com comparison first and book direct if the prices are equivalent to preserve better customer service access. The Rentalcars.com affiliate programme at 4-6% commission is strong for European road trip content.
Car Hire Insurance for Australians: The Complete Picture
The car rental insurance landscape for Australians booking internationally has three main components: Collision Damage Waiver (CDW, included in base rates but usually with a significant excess liability), Loss Damage Waiver (LDW, adds theft protection), and excess reduction (reduces the excess to zero). Australian travel insurance policies with car hire excess cover (Cover-More, World Nomads, 1Cover all include this on comprehensive policies) provide a backstop against the excess, meaning you can rent at the base CDW rate without purchasing the rental company's excess reduction product. Verify your travel insurance's car hire excess cover limit (typically AUD $3,000-6,000) and confirm it covers the excess for the specific car category and country before declining the rental company's excess reduction. The standalone third-party excess insurance products (iCarHireInsurance, insurance4carhire) at AUD $5-12/day are an economical alternative to the rental company's AUD $15-30/day excess reduction product for Australian travellers whose travel insurance car hire cover is insufficient for their specific rental.
Rentalcars.com delivers on its core promise for Australian travellers: a genuine comparison that finds prices below what direct booking with individual rental brands produces for European and international car hire. Use it as the first reference for any non-domestic car hire, calculate the all-inclusive price including excess cover, and book the best total-cost option. Rentalcars.com is the right first step for any Australian planning European car hire -- the pricing advantage over direct booking is consistent, the comparison view is comprehensive, and the excess insurance integration makes the total cost calculation transparent. Book through the platform when the price advantage is genuine and direct when it is not. Rentalcars.com delivers on its core promise as a car hire comparison platform. The pricing advantage over direct booking with major brands is consistent for European and international rentals, the comparison view is comprehensive, and the total-cost calculation including excess cover makes it the most complete rental comparison available to Australian travellers. The car hire excess insurance question is the most important practical detail for Australian travellers using Rentalcars.com or any car rental platform. Understanding whether your Australian travel insurance policy includes car hire excess cover (most comprehensive policies do, to AUD $3,000-6,000 per event) before paying the rental company's excess reduction product potentially saves AUD $15-30 per day. Always check Rentalcars.com before booking direct. Rentalcars.com pricing advantage over direct booking is most pronounced on European airport pickup rentals of 7 or more days. Compare first, always. The comparison takes under three minutes and saves significantly more.