Looking at renting a car out of Edinburgh late April. I looked at renting through Celtic Legend and others, currently rates around 350£ and up for 6days. I noticed January and February many are close to 150-200£. Those that have previously rented in April do you see the prices get closer to that 150-200£ range or are the prices higher due to increased spring travel?
Thank You
Posted by
Mountains of S. Oregon
767 posts
Rental cars have become a royal pain. During Covid when the fleets were downsized, $100/day was pretty common - might be reasonable if you slept in the car. Don't rule out the possibility that your access to a page is tracked with cookies, and your rate might change - try another browser or clear your cookies. I have always used Arnold Clark for Scotland rentals, and although people rave about Celtic Legends, I think any lower prices they offer are by providing third-party insurance, which isn't noticeable until you have problems. Many companies have "merged" so when you rent from Dollar, you're actually renting from Hertz. I haven't noticed that that's a problem, as Dollar is generally cheaper, and the Hertz agent serves you. I make car reservation 10-11 months in advance (with free cancelation), and check back periodically, sometimes trading reservations.
I often resort to using a site like Momondo to search for a deal, then try to find the same rate on the actual providers website. Using third party resellers can be difficult when your flight is delayed or canceled.
The only consistency I can detect is that the rates are inconsistent :-)
Posted by
Duluth 🛶
8065 posts
I have rented a car from Europcar in Cornwall for 7 days exactly and the cost is £385 (for an automatic). That is from the end of March to beginning of April (this coming spring).
Posted by
Mid-Atlantic area
7171 posts
If you’re a Costco member, check its pricing. For our past few trips we’ve rented through it and the rental company was Enterprise. I checked the Costco site and a manual compact car or compact SUV is 235£ for 4/22-4/29. A larger vehicle costs more and an automatic would too. Costco doesn’t always offer automatics.
We too reserve months in advance. With a no cancellation fee reservation, I check back every couple weeks to see if the rates go down. If they do, I’ll make a new reservation then cancel the previous one. Invariably, the price goes down before it levels off and I end up with a reservation about 40% less than the original one.
Posted by
Duluth 🛶
8065 posts
The only problem with Costco is that you're limited in pick up places. I need to pick up in Cornwall, and they don't offer that. I don't want to have to pick up at Heathrow and then drive back. Plus as jaimeelsebio said, they often don't offer automatics. I don't always need a stick shift, but I do want it for maneuvering those twisty roads in Cornwall. And Scotland's roads can be even twistier and narrower, so keep that in mind.
Posted by
11 posts
I found great prices for September at Enterprise in Inverness. 12 days for about $600, and that's for an automatic too.