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Home » Travel » Warning: Rental Car Pricing Is Obscene In Europe Too
Travel

Warning: Rental Car Pricing Is Obscene In Europe Too

Matthew Klint Posted onSeptember 3, 2021November 14, 2023 10 Comments

a car on a road

If you thought the problem of depleted inventory and high pricing was constrained to the U.S. car rental market, think again. Europe isn’t much better. Be prepared for extreme sticker shock.

High Rental Car Pricing In Europe

A reader just wrote me to let me know that Avis wanted 250EUR/day to rent a car in Munich, leading him to cancel his stay at one hotel in favor of a hotel closer to the city center.

His story is hardly unique. Europe is feeling the squeeze too of a surge in demand coupled with a depleted inventory of cars, many of which were sold during the pandemic.

How are rental car prices in Europe? Let’s take a look at one-day rentals (today) in major cities:

Munich:

a screenshot of a computer

Frankfurt:

a screenshot of a computer

Brussels:

a screenshot of a car

Amsterdam:

a screenshot of a car sales page

London:

a screenshot of a car sales page

Milan:

a screenshot of a car sales page

Copenhagen:

a screenshot of a car sales page

My own neighborhood Avis rental car agency in Southwest Germany doubled in price for a weeklong rental last month, but I was happy to pay 400EUR compared to what I was seeing elsewhere. 

Then in Spain, I paid almost 700EUR for a six-day rental. It’s not like my family of four could have just taken the train around Las Palmas…

The problem is not just reserving a car, but making sure there is actually a car in stock. A reservation may not mean much when you arrive late in the day and have not prepaid for your car.

High demand plus a critical chip shortage will keep prices high. Europcar is even warning it will not get better.

CONCLUSION

For Americans, It used to be only be the gasoline prices that were so shocking when renting cars in Europe. Now you get hit with a double whammy of high rental prices plus gas prices which remain quite high by U.S. standards.

a white rectangular sign with numbers on it

For all travelers, the car rental supply shortage does not appear to be going away. Maybe as the summer travel season winds down some pressure will be lifted, but prices are higher than I have ever seen them. Plan accordingly.

How much did you pay for a car rental in Europe this summer?


image: Budget

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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10 Comments

  1. PM Reply
    September 3, 2021 at 7:02 am

    With the exception of Milan, these prices don’t look too unreasonable to me. 80 Euros or so for a last-minute reservation, and that’s before you apply any loyalty benefits/discount code (typically 15% off, so you end up paying around €70).

    I imagine that sticker shock would be mostly confined to those who are used to US prices (many of whom end up paying extra in order to rent an automatic car) and those who mostly hire cars during off-season visits to the likes of Costa Del Sol and Algarve (when supply far exceeds demand and rates of €15 or less are not uncommon).

    For anyone wanting to hire a car for 1 or 2 people, I would also suggest having a look at vans. During the high season, rates for small vans can easily be 30-40% less than what you would pay for the cheapest car.

    • Stuart Reply
      September 3, 2021 at 9:15 am

      Until you see what car you are getting. Europe car rental prices used to be actually quite reasonable, especially in Germany. In some cases it was a better deal than in the U.S. when considering the type of vehicle you were getting. €80 per day pre pandemic would often have landed you in Germany a decent automatic Audi or MB. Now you get a manual transmission compact car…if you’re lucky. Weekly rates for basic manual compacts here are closing in on €800-€1000 in Germany. It was half this pre-pandemic…and for a better vehicle.

      • PM Reply
        September 3, 2021 at 6:53 pm

        By the way, the comment on the type of car is neither here nor there. The differences are tiny, and the upgrades don’t always suit. Case in point, when I go to ATH, I pay an extra €3-4 to rent a manual diesel Clio insread of the very cheapest option (normally the 107). I go to the Sixt desk and they usually say something along the lines of ‘you’ll be pleased to know we have upgraded you to an Octavia’, to which I express my disappointment as finding a parking space for it will be an issue in some parts of the city. They will already have allocated the smaller diesel, so I end up taking something that is petrol and/or automatic.

    • Stuart Reply
      September 3, 2021 at 9:18 am

      Oh, and don’t forget, expect 30% higher than the quoted rate when adding in taxes and surcharges.

      • PM Reply
        September 3, 2021 at 4:01 pm

        They have to post rates inclusive of taxes etc (assumung one books through an EU website). The only real extra is additional insurance.

  2. Willem Reply
    September 3, 2021 at 7:14 am

    So you’re seeing sky prices or no availability in Germany right now due to the Deutsche Bahn strike. Search September 7th onwards for more “normal” pricing

  3. Santastico Reply
    September 3, 2021 at 8:29 am

    “High demand plus a critical chip shortage” Not really. Rental car companies were already broken prior to Covid. Their business model needs to change. During Covid they sold most of their cars to get cash, burned the cash and now don’t have money to buy new cars. Yes, high end cars that are in shortage but regular cars are not that bad. Just yesterday heard an announcement of a local Nissan dealer on the radio. “We have 250 new cars in our lot.” I paid $75/day in Denver for a SUV on National. The problem was the car had 40k miles on it which would never happen before on National.

  4. James Reply
    September 3, 2021 at 11:23 am

    Went to Amsterdam last week to drive to Germany. They wanted 500_700 for a decent sized car (bigger than a 2door) BUT when I checked sixt one ways from Hoofddorp (our hotel was there Hyatt Place) returning to AMS is was way less. Ended up in a brand new XC40 with pano roof for 5 days and 300€!!

  5. Jerry Reply
    September 3, 2021 at 1:49 pm

    National. Free. Rental. Days.

    Two weeks ago I picked a car up in MUC and dropped it 4 days later in CGN. I applied four free rental days, and after taxes and fees it came out to about EUR 30. I had a BWM 5 series to boot!

  6. Chris Reply
    September 12, 2021 at 2:36 am

    I just rented completed a 6 day a car in Munich from Sixt (Audi something) for 50 euro a day

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