Everyday money

Where to get the best deal on a hire car

Aug 04, 2017

Most of us enjoy the freedom of hiring your own car while on holidays.

Knowing where to get the best deal on a hire car can often involve a lot of ringing around to cost compare or asking friends or family for a good recommendation.

Because if you’re anything like the rest of us, getting the most bang for your buck is important, especially when paying for the convenience of a hire car.

But it seems there is one hire car operator who’s stood out among the competition – Australian-owned Thrifty has taken home the Canstar Blue Award for Most Satisfied Customers in 2017.

They were the only hire car service to receive five stars for overall customer satisfaction and all of the other Canstar Blue research categories which included:

cost transparency;
booking process;
vehicle availability; and
customer service.

This is the first time Thrifty has been rated highest overall with the NRMA partner leading the way as the most value for money and customer satisfaction.

It beat out Budget and Hertz who both received four stars overall while Avis and Europcar both received three stars.

Thrifty CEO Graham Ward said it was a huge honour for the company to win.

“Thrifty is committed to providing a happy car rental experience to all our customers at all points of their journey with us,” Ward said. “Our teams across the country have a culture of putting people at the centre of everything we do. Being voted five stars across all key categories … is a humbling endorsement of our Thrifty values and the way we work.

“We aim to be passionate, transparent and helpful in everything we do and we are glad the public feel those values coming through.”

Simon Downes, Canstar Blue editor, said hiring a car could be a confusing and daunting experience.

“Our customer ratings provide real world experiences with products and services and five-star reviews are not easy to come by,” he said.

“For Thrifty to score top marks across the board is a great achievement.”