New study surveys car hire costs in many holiday spots

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Car Rental News - 10/06/2010

 

Study shows changes in the cost of renting cars at most popular holiday destinations.

New research shows significant variation in holiday costs associated with car hire. Britain’s Post Office surveyed many of the most popular countries with UK holidaymakers and found car-hire costs have changed dramatically in most cases.

If you’re booking an upcoming trip abroad, you’ll want to check the recent survey by the Post Office. The Post Office checked the costs for hiring a car, including fuel, in 20 countries. The cheapest was the USA, where it costs an average of £90.56, including 200 miles worth of unleaded petrol, to rent an economy car for three days. This is 25 per cent less than it would have cost last summer.

The survey also found big reductions in cost in France and Spain. In France, the cost of such a rental has come down almost 40 per cent, to £159.64. In Spain, this year’s cost is £144.39 - 17 per cent less than last year.

In some countries, however, the trend is dramatically different. In Turkey, expect to be hit with an eye-watering cost averaging £240.82. That’s up 114 per cent over last year. In Sweden, Portugal and the Netherlands, costs are up by between 45 and 50 per cent.

Meanwhile, the survey found similarly huge variation in fuel costs. The Post Office surveyed prices for unleaded petrol and diesel in 14 nations. The price of fuel has risen most markedly in Austria, Sweden and Switzerland, though Switzerland remains one of the cheapest, at £1.09 per litre for unleaded petrol.

Unleaded petrol is slightly cheaper in Spain and Luxembourg, where it costs an average of £1.08 per litre. At the other end of the scale, expect to pay an average of £1.48 per litre in Norway. Norway again comes in at the top of the list on the price of diesel (£1.35/litre), with Luxembourg offering the best value (91 pence/litre).

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