Renting a car in Spain. Is it better to round trip or do a one way drop off.

I have not found dropoff fees (different location, within one country) to be onerous, but a good way to find out would be to check with AutoEurope to see what the options are.
I hope you will have time to use the car to stop in smaller towns, otherwise I don't see any advantage.

We rarely rent cars round trip. We've never found a one way rental, as long as we pick up and return in the same country, to cost more, or at least significantly more. I'd price both out on Autoeurope and make a decision. Remember, that "time is money", so I wouldn't do an inconvenient round trip unless it saved a fare amount of money.

I always pick up and drop off at the same place, but that’s just the way I plan my trips.

I did a dummy booking for Enterprise, intermediate SUV, for 8/12-8/23. The difference between round trip and drop in another location was $133. The fee will vary between rental companies, type of vehicle, pick up/drop off locations, and probably time of year.

Ditto what valadelphia said about visiting smaller towns and villages.

Thanks to everyone for responding so quickly. This is my first post to any forum. We were looking on Booking.com but will try autoeurope for a better understanding of how this would work. Thanks Valadelphia. And yes, small towns on the outskirts are on the itinerary. We have a tight schedule so car verses public transportation is a factor. A northern high speed train line would be a game changer.

I have used Booking.com to rent a car before, but it was mostly because I was in South America. I'd try AutoEurope in this situation because they do a really good job of comparing the different providers, and they come highly recommended.

Like with airlines, just remember if you rent through a 3rd party vendor like booking, if there are issues, they will need to be resolved through that vendor. Hence the reason to book directly through the rental company; AutoEurope, Avis, Alamo, whoever.

There’s no “right” answer. It’s going to cost more, you have to decide if that extra cost is worth it to you.

Myself I try to avoid one way rentals, only once did I do otherwise. I was OK with the one way charge to pick up in Barcelona and return to Madrid, but lucked out. The agency offered a significant upgrade for free, I was suspicious and asked if it was a Madrid car they needed to get back. I offered to take it if they waived the one way charge,they did, so win-win.

There have been times in Spain that I have not been charged a drop fee for a one way. I rarely use booking.com for lodging, I'd be hard pressed to use it for a rental car. When I rent a car, I do a lot of poking around for the best rates. Quotes on Autoeurope (where they are very transparent on any drop charges) have always been the lowest. Even when I've checked booking directly with the company that is lowest in the Autoeurope, the Autoeurope charge has been lower.

I have NOT rented a car in Spain. So take my thoughts with a grain of salt (I find that you can’t make absolute rules across “Europe”).

I have used AutoEurope and booked direct with big firms and booked with small local firms. Sometimes AutoEurope doesn’t find a car where I need one.

I book both round trip and one way - depends on the trip, the cost, and my time. I will say that in northern Greece it was at least twice as high to book one way. Not usually the case, but it happens. It was worth it to me to rearrange slightly and book round trip.

So really you just have to look at the actual cost and at how your trip is laid out.

I recently rented from Autoeurope in Spain, Aviles to Bilbao, and the drop off fee was about 100 euro. Added in to the total, it wasn’t a bad price and better than all that extra time and having to either spend a night somewhere you don’t want to be or taking transit to where you do.

The prices did drop the closer it got to my trip, but autoeurope will allow cancellations at no penalty if you reserve and then prices come down (but confirm when you rent). They also have an estimate for the one-way return that was correct.

As an addendum to KC’s comment. When I first reserved a car for my upcoming 20 day Spain trip the price was €790. I’ve re reserved the vehicle a few times now and the price of my most recent reservation is €475. It pays to keep checking for price drops.

Be careful with Autoeurope. Read the fine print, and compare it with the fine print on each company's website. BECAUSE Autoeurope often does not include what it calls additional charges. I often start with Autoeurope but always compare with renting direct from each company. I booked direct in the French Alps because the price Europcar quoted, though higher than Autoeurope at first glance, included a significant high-altitude fee. When I priced car rentals in Portugal, there was no drop-off fee listed, but any combination where the drop-off was different, the total came to about €100 more. Same in Italy. I've rented a car twice in Spain, both times point-to-point and there was no difference to R/T.

I have never had additional charges with Autoeurope, and we've done a lot. When I've done one way rentals, the extra drop, if any, is stated at the end of the search process, or I call Autoeurope for information. One great thing about Autoeurope is you can actually reach someone in the U.S. by phone.

At the end of the search, there are varying options for the insurance coverage.

The first time we went to Europe and rented a car, we booked thru Europcar directly. It was a fine experience, we just found we could save by booking with Autoeurope. I book well in advance and check for price decreases until the trip. Often the rates have gone down, but, lately I've noticed that the go up in the last month or so.