Holiday Car Hire and Minibus Rental. How to rent cars and minibuses in the UK and Europe. Legal requirements for car and minibus hire.

The internet is a great place to look for car hire and minibus rental, especially as a number of holiday hire car companies offer discount when you book online.

Read the advice on booking your holiday hire car and on 'things to do when you get there', then click on the links to find cheap holiday hire cars and minibuses.

Finding cheap holiday hire cars and minibuses

Holiday hire prices change constantly and are very different for different destinations. Different companies offer better holiday hire deals for different destinations, and these change depending on the time of year. So our main advice is to shop around and don't just accept the first quote you find.

The first place to look for cheap holiday hire cars and minibuses is at the 'consolidators' or 'brokers'. These companies don't actually own a single car, nor operate a holiday hire car desk at many airports. They have arrangements with local or international holiday hire car companies, and use their buying power to negotiate better deals than you or I would be able to get if you went direct.

Airlines, hire car companies and travel agents sometimes offer discounted hire cars, often for a short period or as an incentive to book a flight or holiday. Outside these times, it is almost always cheaper to book your holiday hire car via the consolidators.

If you have used a company to book your holiday hire car before and would like to use them for this trip, but they are more expensive, don't be afraid to contact them and ask if they 'can do any better'. Companies often have the ability to do this and, if they can at least narrow the gap, it may be worth paying a little extra for the peace of mind.

Finally, if you only want a hire car for part of the holiday you may find cheaper holiday hire car at your destination. Before you take this route, be aware that it will be more difficult to claim from a local holiday hire car company if anything goes wrong.

Click on one of the holiday hire car companies below and begin collecting your comparative quotes:

ebookers.com, part of ebookers, was established in 1998. Based upon 20 years of travel heritage from Flightbookers, ebookers.com is a leading pan-European online travel agency specialising in worldwide travel. ebookers.com specialises in the mid and long-haul travel arena offering a wide and varying range of products including packaged holidays & modular travel as well as tours, car hire and sports packages.

holiday autos, the world's leading leisure car rental company, provides low cost car rental in over 4,000 locations and 40 countries. Prices start at just £9 per day and they monitor competitor prices daily to ensure lowest prices in ALL European "low cost" flight destinations AND the USA. Since its inception, holiday autos has re-written the rules surrounding the sale of car rental by demystifying the booking process and offering consumers affordable, fully inclusive prices, backed up by a great service, including the car rental industry’s first ever price guarantee.

Things to do before you go

Check the holiday hire car or minibus document carefully when you receive it. It's not unknown for a holiday hire car company to match a lower quote by lowering the specification of the car they will provide. For example, if the document does not say 'air conditioning' or specify the number of child seats you have bought, these have not been included within your booking. Check whether holiday hire car quotes include unlimited mileage, all taxes and collision damage waiver (or CDW). Keep an eye on the insurance excess. Take a valid driving license and another form of ID for each driver. Check whether an International Driving Permit is required for your destination. These cost £4 and can be issued by the AA and RAC. They are required (in addition to a valid UK driving license) for holiday hire car in a number of countries, including Japan, India, Pakistan and Egypt. Check the minimum age limit hire companies specify for drivers - it is 25 in some countries, including the USA. In some countries it is a legal requirement that babies and toddlers are secured in a child seat. If you are not taking your own child seat for babies and toddlers arrange this in advance. Check to see if there are any local driving laws that differ from the UK. For example in the US you can turn right at traffic lights even if the light is red (provided the road is clear).

Things to do when you get there

When you collect your hire car, check it for obvious faults and for scratches and dents. Make sure all these faults are listed in the documents you sign when you take the car. Make sure the car is prepared for all types of weather you are likely to encounter, e.g. snow chains, wipers in good condition etc.. Ensure you have a contact number for the hire firm's number, in case of problems, including an out of hours number. Leave the insurance and other documents in the car. If you are travelling with children, ensure that the car has child locks and rear seat belts, and something for them to do! Make sure you know the route to your accommodation before you set off. Ask the clerk at the local hire car company for directions and a map. This is particularly important at night. If you have a portable GPS, remember to take it with you. Thieves look for the sticker marks on your windscreen, so don't leave it hidden in the car. Before you drive off check the gear lever positions (especially reverse) and find the indicators, windscreen wipers, light switches and the air conditioning. Did you find the ejector seat? Check if the car has an alarm or an immobiliser. Know how to turn them on and off. If you have pets in the car, they can set off the alarm - know how to turn off the motion sensor inside the vehicle. It's a good safety precaution to keep car doors locked at all times. In the summer air conditioning is a good safety feature; it allows you to drive with the windows up. Don't leave valuables in your car. If you must, leave them in the boot or a locked glove compartment. They won't be covered by your travel insurance if they are stolen from anywhere else in the car. Make sure that you know the holiday hire car company's rules about petrol, mileage and collection / delivery. If you get any of these wrong the charges can be very high.

The AA - offers a variety of useful car and driver services, including UK Traffic Information, and a Route Planner which can help select the best roads to take for your itinerary.

RAC - (Royal Automobile Club) offers a similar range of car and driver services to the AA.

International Drivers License Scam - This article exposes the IDL scam, prevalent online. An IDL (not to be confused with the very legitimate International Drivers Permit mentioned below) is a worthless document with no legal value in the UK.

International Drivers Permit - drivers coming to the UK from a different country generally require only their passport and a valid drivers license from their home country in order to rent and drive a car. However, if you are going to be continuing on to other countries after your stay in the UK, consider an International Drivers Permit. These inexpensive documents essentially translate your normal license into a variety of foreign languages, and verify its validity. In the US, these permits are only available from the Automobile Association of America and the American Automobile Touring Alliance.

Looking for cheap holiday hire cars and minibuses for rental?

Finding cheap holiday hire cars and minibuses

Things to do before you go

Things to do when you get there