Summer Car Hire Prices are Up by 30%, According to Reports by Carrentals.co.uk

    SURREY, ENGLAND, August 19, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Average daily prices for hire cars in many of the world's most popular holiday destinations have risen by 30%, says the leading car hire price comparison company, www.carrentals.co.uk.

Spain car hire is as popular as ever even though prices have gone up so much, while the reports also include a look at the prices of hire cars in Portugal and Madeira, Italy, Greece, UK, USA, Ireland, Turkey, Croatia and France.

The average price per day for car rentals in Turkey this year has gone up by a massive 76% with an average price of more than GBP40. Croatia shows a hike of 46% and the USA is the second highest at 48%.

Managing Director at Carrentals.co.uk, Gareth Robinson, commented on the new findings: "Inflated prices are due to the knock-on effect of the recession, as many companies have not had enough money to expand their current fleets or make the necessary repairs to older vehicles. This means demand numbers are far higher than supply can handle. It is interesting to see that the countries outside of the Eurozone are being affected the worst with Croatia, USA and Turkey all putting their prices up considerably in comparison to the UK or Spain."

Prices have also been put up in Spain (40%) and France (37%) while the UK has seen only a small increase at 8%. The UK was one of the most expensive places to hire a car in 2009 so the small increase doesn't alter the fact that hiring a car in the UK is still high.

Gareth went on to advise customers on how to avoid paying over the odds: "We want to make sure that everyone understands how important it is to book early in order to make sure you get to choose the vehicle you want as well as get a better price. Our research showed that booking in March compared to May saw a saving of GBP150 for car rentals in August proving our 'book early' advise is spot on."

France car hire is popular for many who visit the country while Madeira proved to be a cheap place to get a car rental from at just over GBP27 a day. Bargain hunters may wish to go to Greece for a holiday as Greece is the only place to report a decrease in prices at 7% less than last year.

Carrentals.co.uk compares car hire deals from up to 50 rental companies, including Alamo, Auto Europe, Budget, easyCar, Holiday Autos and Sixt, in over 9,000 locations worldwide.

To compare the latest car hire deals visit www.carrentals.co.uk.

*All figures are based on average daily rental prices for bookings made between March and May for August 2009 and 2010, respectively. The bookings analysed account for a 30% sample of all bookings made via Carrentals.co.uk during these periods.

About Carrentals.co.uk
Carrentals.co.uk was launched in February 2003 and grew to become one of the UK's leading online car hire companies by 2006.

In 2007 the company re-launched its site to create the first major online price comparator in the travel industry. Using the latest technology the Carrentals.co.uk site now searches up to 50 different car hire websites, providing an impartial comparison of the best prices available in over 9,000 locations.

Websites searched include Alamo, Auto Europe, Budget, easyCar, Ebookers, Hertz, Holiday Autos, Opodo, Sixt and Thrifty, with the Carrentals.co.uk site quickly comparing prices and allowing customers to refine their search by car type.

The Carrentals.co.uk site also features over 5,000 pages of travel information in a mini-guide format.

In 2008 Carrentals.co.uk was voted Best Car Hire Website in the Travolution Awards. To book or for further information visit www.carrentals.co.uk.

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Debbie Williams and Jenny White
Context
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