There are some great deals for travellers who want to book their hire car now for their summer holidays, rather than leaving it closer to the time, according to new research from iCarhireinsurance.com, a leading supplier of specialist car hire excess insurance

The best price found was in Nice with both Europcar and Hertz quoting £215 for a week from 25 July – 1 August 2020. Last year those waiting until May to book for the summer were paying £411 with Europcar, and £603 with Hertz, with the best price £328 from Budget.

iCarhireinsurance.com looked at car hire prices quoted in January 2020 for a week’s hire of a medium compact car, from 25 July – 1 August 2020 in four European holiday destinations, with one of six leading car rental companies. It then compared these costs with how much car hire was in these different locations for those who waited until May last year to book for the same holiday week (27 July – 3 August 2019).

Sixt has the lowest price in Crete at the moment, quoting £297 for the week, with Budget charging a huge £820 for the same week, and Europcar £568. Last year those waiting until May to book for the summer were paying £477 with Sixt, and the best price was £380 with Avis.

In Dubrovnik, the lowest price is with Budget for £226, but last year customers booking in May 2019 were paying £265 with Budget, and £366 with Avis. It was possible to pay only £203 with Sixt in May 2019 for that summer, but with a saving of only £23, it might be worth securing a good deal now.

The best price in Faro at the moment is £390 with Sixt, whereas Hertz are quoting £622 for the same week. Last year it would have been possible to pay £370 with Sixt, and £366 with Budget, but as with Dubrovnik, the saving is only £24, so it might be worth knowing you have a good deal now.

Ernesto Suarez, founder and CEO of iCarhireinsurance.com said: The prices quoted by the leading six car hire companies can vary by hundreds of pounds, not only between each other, but depending on when the car is booked. There will often be last minute deals available on hire cars, but to guarantee the car you want at a good price, it’s normally a good idea to book early. There are some really good hire car deals around at the moment and we hope that our research will help holiday makers to see how much prices vary between providers, and how to identify a good deal.

Table shows the difference in quotes to hire a compact family car when booking in January 2020 for a week in July/August 2020 compared with booking in May 2019 for July/August 2019. The six car hire companies of Avis, Budget, Europcar, Enterprise, Hertz and Sixt were researched.