Rental car prices - per day - averages?

Asking car rental prices is like asking how long is a piece of string! The price varies significantly depending on the time of year that you hire, your age, which country and where you hire from, which company you use and how long you are hiring for.

I hire a car regularly in Portugal, but hiring in March is less than half the price of the same car in July from the same provider.

Your figure of 30-40 euros/day is in line with what I've paid the last several years, but I agree with Jennifer's statement. For example, back in December I booked an automatic rental at the Lyon airport, from Hertz through Autoeurope) for around a little over 30 euros per day. Then a few weeks ago I looked to see if the rate had gone down (which had happened last year), and it had more than doubled. And when I checked Hertz directly, it was even more. So one never knows.

@Jennifer, thank you for the reply. I understand these parameters are variables that affect the price of the car, however, i was just looking for averages because it seems it is getting more and more expensive, so wanted to know if there are cheaper websites or something i could look at, or prices are increasing in general.

A weekend (2 days) car booking for April seems to be about 100 EUR - eco - automatic - and that seems expensive to me, hence the question :)

@Robert thanks for the reply. yes they tend to increase just like flight prices - closer to the day of travel is the most expensive mostly.

I am ok for a range of 30-35 EUR a day for eco - automatic, but going above 40-closer to 50 and 60 seems a tad bit much and hence the question.

I've typically paid a little less because I choose a manual. I think the 30-40 euros per day is about right. Read the fine print for "possible" add-ons. I've been seeing more of those lately (e.g. "drop charge may be added") and searching for companies that give me one price I can count on upfront.

Unfortunately, all factors DO determine the rates. The longer the rental the cheaper. Manual vs automatic. Time of year. Airport/Train station vs local rental offices, etc. I think between $40-50 without add-ons seems reasonable.

It's worth checking your own travel insurance policies and your own car insurance policies to see if they already cover you for rental cars - not all do of course - but if they do, it can be a substantial saving if you don't need the rental providers cover when you rent. If you specifically require an automatic, check when booking that you will get the exact vehicle offered and not "or similar".