Best bets on car rental this summer?

Use kayak and take the best deal. Get the smallest one you can live with. Watch out signaling for turns since the stalks are reversed and you're going to be turning on the wipers for the first couple of days.

Thanks Ed. Any particular reason for recommending Kayak? Do the rates they quote include full insurance?

Kayak because it's a mult-search. Rates don't include the cdw, but I never get it except for the countries my credit cards won't cover. HOWEVER, that's pretty much of a constant rate across all companies and you can see what it is when you go past the 'select this one' button (it's one the same page as kid seats, etc) and before you have to give up any personal info.

Kayak is good as is autoeurope. Also check car companies directly to see if an organization discount such as AAA gives a lower price. I agree with Ed about CDW. I use Amex Premium to cover the car where it is allowed.

Kayak will check autoeurope if it's in the running. You can also force it to check ae by clicking the ae box. Sometime I check the carrentals.com box as well. The boxes I never check are the other ones - - travelocity, expedia, priceline, etc, since they just spit out junk that's never in the ballbark.

Anyone have any experience with UK Car Hire? Their listings seem more comprehensive as far as specific model offerings go.

A lot of folks here swear by AutoEurope, but it is just another player in the market. Ed and Tex have it right.