CarRentals.co.uk Discount Code

Car rental has never been the stuff of dreams. It’s transactional by design: you're temporarily borrowing someone else's well-worn hatchback to avoid public transport or the parental lift. Still, for anyone trying to dodge the spiralling costs of travel - or just not keen to spend their own money propping up Uber’s losses - renting a car remains a minor, necessary evil. Managed well, it can be a smooth, unremarkable process. Managed badly, well, you end up at 1 a.m. in a Lisbon car park arguing with a man named Paulo about why your Fiat Panda smells like fried squid. Not ideal.

The Case for Not Overpaying

Carrentals.co.uk, which really does exactly what its name suggests, is not trying to reinvent road mobility. It’s a price comparison site for rental cars - no fuzzy branding, no chirpy mascots, just a functional interface that sifts through a worrying number of options so you don’t have to. If you’ve ever used Skyscanner or Kayak for flights, this will feel familiar. The promise? Save money by letting someone else wrestle with the fine print and the 57 tabs you would otherwise have kept open.

Rental prices are, as ever, subject to all manner of caveats. But during our testing, Carrentals.com delivered daily prices as low as £1–£3 in locations like Faro, Malaga and Alicante. It’s hard to argue with a single pound for a fully functional vehicle - even if 'functional' here is doing some heavy lifting. Cars under the "from £1/day" umbrella are rarely glamorous. You’re getting a Fiat 500 "or similar", with "similar" often meaning "less cute, more mysteriously dented." But if the boot closes and the brakes work, these deals are hard to dismiss.

The Fine Print (You Knew This Was Coming)

The usual rental caveats still apply, of course. That suspiciously cheap rate may turn out to be more expensive once you factor in insurance, fuel policies, counter upsells, and "admin fees" that defy logic. Carrentals.co.uk makes a decent attempt to be transparent without drowning the user in disclaimers. Worth noting: many rentals marked with "Worry Free" include theft and damage cover, zero excess, and no surprise costs at the counter. It’s the digital equivalent of renting from someone boring and meticulous. Which, in this case, is a plus.

Most offers include free cancellation up to 48 hours before pickup. This is particularly forgiving in an ecosystem where your plans changing by 15 minutes can mean forfeiting the equivalent of a decent dinner. Shipping is irrelevant here, naturally, unless you’re somehow ordering the car by post. Refund times depend on the rental company, but Carrentals.co.uk’s support tends to be responsive and effective - assuming you're mild and persistent rather than dramatic and confrontational.

Discounts Worth Clicking? Actually, Yes

There’s a "Global Sale" running until May 7, 2025, which claims up to 15% off from various providers. From what we can tell, this isn’t empty marketing puff. Depending on when and where you’re going, the discount actually shows up in the total. Rental companies involved include recognisable names like Budget and Payless, alongside less household brands like SurPrice and Klass Wagen - companies that sound like a parody of airport vending machines, but are legitimate enough to entrust with four wheels and liability coverage.

Who Is This Actually Good For?

If you’re the sort of traveller who plans way too far in advance or literally the night before, Carrentals.co.uk caters to both. Advanced bookers may find outrageously low rates in Spain or Portugal. Last-minute types - perhaps already at the counter, faced with a queue and a €137-a-day walk-up rate - can often snag something vastly cheaper online in under ten minutes. Just be ready for a potential 15-minute Uber to retrieve the car from a vaguely described "off-site lot near the airport." Yes, that one.

Final Verdict

There’s no romance in renting a car, and Carrentals.co.uk doesn’t pretend otherwise. This is a utilitarian tool dressed in polite web design. If you approach it like booking a hotel room - where price, honesty and cancellation policies matter more than aesthetics - it does its job well, often unflatteringly but effectively. It’s not exciting. But neither is being overcharged £320 for a Nissan Micra that starts on the third try.

So, no, it won’t make your next road trip unforgettable. But it might at least keep it affordable, on-time and squid-free. And that, considering the alternatives, is probably worth a click.

What you need to know