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It’s just a rort, to use a particularly descriptive Aussie term.

Then there are one-way hire charges. I prefer to hire from Gatwick or London City Airport if I can
because it’s a lot easier to get away from there and out into the countryside. Leaving LHR is
totally bothersome.

But I also like to drop at LHR on the day I catch my return flight. (It’s also another reason I prefer
to fly in/out Gatwick.)

The one way fee can range from £40 to £60. Plus 20% tax.

Don’t get me started on my pet hate: Second driver charges. Britain must be the only place I
have ever come across that imposes this totally unreasonable charge. Only one person can drive
at a time . . . haven’t you noticed? And if they would hire to my wife on her own without extra
costs, and to me on my own without extra costs, what the hell difference does it make which one
of us is driving at the time of an “incident:”.

A typical additional driver charge can be £8 to £10 a day.

Rort.

Limited miles. Beware, not all deals have unlimited mileage included. You can be limited to 150
to 200 miles a day. It’s probably not a biggie. I drive a lot, I mean a lot, of miles researching
greatbritishroadtrips.co.uk but I rarely get above the 200 a day mark. If you are just travelling for
pleasure it shouldn’t be an issue . . . but worth knowing about.

So how do you find the best rental car deal . . . and that may not be the cheapest deal.

I wish I could give you a simple answer, but there isn’t one.

Like airline fares, prices chop and change all the time. The deal you get one day may not be there
the next. It might even be cheaper. Or it might not.

Google “cheap car hire uk” and you have 11 million options.

I can promise you that you need go no further than the first 50. After that the search returns are
repetitive and often completely unrelated.

That can still mean a lot of clicking.

In general you will get a better deal from one of the many agents than from the car company
directly. Mad, I know. But not always. In June I was offered £240 for a hire from an agency but
when I went directly to the company, Practical Car and Van Rental, I got it for £208.

I wish I could give you one or two options that will give you the best deal every time, but it just
don’t work like that. These people are wheeling and dealing all the time. The rental companies
are in constant contact with wholesale agencies, changing prices to accord with changing booking
patterns.

And just because you have a confirmed booking and a receipt for full payment, don’t get the daft
idea that you have a deal. I once booked a car in Ireland at a very favourable rate. The booking
agency was in Greece. The rental company later decided they didn’t want to honour the booking at
that price and increased it! The Greek agents were not at all helpful. In the end I was left with no
option but to pay up and shut up. All the other options by that time were much dearer. The Irish
tourism authorities weren’t interested in the complaint.