Cheapest Car Rental Company

Advantage Rent A Car

Sedan average weekly cost: $342.29

SUV average weekly cost: $434.89

Advantage was the cheapest rental car company in our cost comparison analysis. However, Advantage isn’t available everywhere. It’s only available at airports in Atlanta, Nashville, Dallas, Las Vegas, Orlando, Miami, and Tampa, along with the DoubleTree hotel at Orlando Seaworld.

With Advantage, you can reserve a car ahead of time without putting any money down. Your credit card will be charged when you pick up the vehicle. Advantage also makes changes and cancellations easy. As long as you let the company know ahead of time, you can change or cancel your reservation without any penalty.

Budget Car Rental

Sedan average weekly cost: $403.32

SUV average weekly cost: $451.66

Budget Rent A Car lives up to its name and offers some of the best car rental rates among companies we compared. Budget has over 4,000 car rental locations worldwide, so you can easily find the company at many travel destinations. 

When you book at Budget.com, you can choose to pay now or pay later. You’ll save a bit of money by paying up front. We found that opting for the upfront rates can save renters anywhere from $20 to $50 on a weeklong rental.

Budget offers a good range of vehicles to choose from including standard options as well as EVs, sports cars, and luxury SUVs depending on the location. As you scroll through your choices, Budget shows if a car offers Bluetooth connectivity or a backup camera. You can also select “see more features” to see the number of seats, luggage capacity, fuel economy, and more.

Fox Rent A Car

Sedan average weekly cost: $361.94

SUV average weekly cost: $511.32

If you’re looking for the cheapest rental car rates, you should consider Fox in your search. While its average rates to rent an SUV were slightly higher than some of the other providers on this list, its sedan rental costs were some of the cheapest we found.

It’s important to note that Fox offers fewer locations nationwide than some larger competitors in the rental car industry. Its U.S. locations span only 14 states, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Utah, and Washington.

Avis Car Rental

Sedan average weekly cost: $429.25

SUV average weekly cost: $476.35

With over 1,500 U.S. locations and 5,500 locations worldwide, Avis can be a smart choice for affordable car rentals no matter where you travel. The company offered some of the cheapest rates for each airport location we checked.

In our analysis, we found that Avis offers 31 different vehicle classes to choose from, including pickups, convertibles, sports cars, minivans, luxury cars, and electric vehicles. Its website includes several details about the types of features included with each vehicle class, as well.

Ace Rent A Car

Sedan average weekly cost: $441.29

SUV average weekly cost: $621.49

Ace is another relatively cheap rental car company according to our analysis. Ace has over 350 locations worldwide and U.S. locations in about half of the states, so you may or may not find one where you’re going.

Ace Rent A Car offers both pay-now and pay-later options, though the pay-now option wasn’t available for the date range we had selected. The company offers a members rewards program that awards points for each dollar you spend – you can get double points for prepaying (when it’s available). 

With so many options to choose from, it can be hard to distinguish how to save money on car rentals. To help you along, we will detail some methods to get the cheapest car rentals for your trip.

Book With a Travel Site or Carshare Agency

Travel sites are often cheaper than car rental agency sites. Part of this is because travel sites help travelers access more rental car companies than only the national companies they’re familiar with. Some also offer additional discounts for signing up for a membership online.

Carshare platforms also offer some of the best deals available for rental cars and you can get vehicles for as low as $32 a day in some cases. However, much of this depends on the location you book and the type of vehicle you want.

Pre-Pay for Your Rental

While it may be a hefty sum to pay upfront, many rental car companies offer up significant savings if you do so. With most rental car agencies you can save anywhere from 10% to 30%  by paying early.

Book Your Vehicle Last-Minute

Oftentimes last-minute car rentals tend to have some of the cheapest rates available and promotions may be available to sweeten the deal. As long as you are able to handle the stress of booking late in the game, you can save big on your rental.

Use Rewards Programs

All rental car companies have loyalty programs where you can earn points to get free rentals or discounts. Some agencies even offer member-specific promotions you can take advantage of through their email lists. Also, there are some credit cards for car rentals that can get you rewards that you can put toward your balance.

Avoid Add-ons

When booking a rental car you may be tempted to purchase add-on options available to you, but they come at a cost. While they can be nice additions, they are not necessary. So, if you are looking to get the cheapest rental cars, forgo any additional costs to get the lowest prices possible.