Are you looking for a car rental? Madrid is part of a road trip around Spain, and you plan to start your adventure here.
Awesome!
The problem is you don’t know where to start.
There are dozens of rental car companies and search aggregators. But which one is best? Who is going to offer you the best car and the cheapest rate?
Rentalcars is the service I always use on all my trips whenever I need to rent a car. And I’ve never had a problem with them.
So why don’t you try it out?
How to book you car rental (Madrid) on Rentalcars
The interface is very simple and and the booking process is smooth and stress-free.
This is a step-by-step tutorial that will guide through all the steps you need to complete to safely purchase your car rental booking from your computer.
Step 1. Go to Rentalcars’ website
1. Go to www.rentalcars.com.
Open your favorite browser (Chrome, Safari, Firefox…), type “rentalcars.com” and press Enter.
In less than a second, you’ll be at Rentalcars‘ homepage. It looks like the image above.
2. Choose your language.
By default, the website is displayed in English.
But if it’s not, or you prefer to rent a car in Madrid in another language, click on the flag in the top menu and select the British flag.
3. Set the fares in euros (EUR).
The website displays the prices in euros by default.
However, you can easily change the currency. Just click on the ‘EUR’ button to access a floating window. There you can select to display prices in American dollars (USD), British pounds (GBP), Canadian dollars (CAD), Australian dollars (AUD), and several other currencies.
But since all prices in Spain are in euros (EUR), I suggest you to display the prices in this currency from the beginning.
Step 2. Search your car rental (Madrid)
Now it’s time to fill in the form with your car rental details and run a search.
1. Select the pick up location.
Type the location where you want to pick up your car.
For cities like Madrid or Barcelona, you’ll notice that there’s more than one location. Select the one that suits you most (e.g. airport, train station, city center).
Tick the “Drop car off at different location” option box if that’s the case, and type the location where you want to drop off your car.
2. Set the pick up date and time.
When choosing the date, select it from the calendar. Choose your preferred pick up date.
Then, select the pick up time from the drop-down menu.
3. Set the drop off date and time.
In similar fashion, select the drop off date and time.
4. Confirm the main driver’s age.
If the main driver is not aged 30-65, untick the box “Driver aged 30-65?”. Select the age from the drop-down menu.
5. Click on the “Search” button.
Step 3. Select your preferred rental car
A new screen shows rental cars and fares for your trip.
If cars are not available for the date you chose, you’ll see a message indicating that there are no cars.
1. Use the top search area to change your car rental details (optional).
You can change your pick up and/or drop off location, the date(s) of your trip and the age of the main driver.
2. Select your preferred deal.
In the right hand side of the screen, you can see the search results.
By default, Rentalcars displays the results sorted by its own recommendations. But you can also sort them by lowest price first.
Alternatively, you can filter the results using the options on the left sidebar:
- Location.
- Price range.
- Car specs.
- And many more filters.
3. Click on your preferred deal.
When you’ve determined your preferred option, click on the “View deal” button and a new tab will open up with the details.
4. If you’re not happy with your selection, keep checking other deals.
Step 4. Confirm your selection
Check and confirm that you agree with the rental car conditions.
On the new tab, you can see the information corresponding to the deal you’ve selected. Take your time to check and confirm that all the information is correct before making the payment.
Travel hack: Based on personal experience, I recommend you to book your car without the Rentalcars insurance.
Remember that Rentalcars is only an intermediary company, so it’s always better to get the rental car insurance with the final provider itself (ie. the car rental company that is actually going to give you the keys). And that is for 2 reasons.
1. If you have any problem with the car (e.g. accident, breakdown), it will always be easier to deal with the car rental and its own insurance company.
2. Usually the car rental’s insurance company offers a much larger coverage at a better price.
Once you’ve done it, click on the white “Go to book Without Full Insurance” button.
Step 5. Fill up your personal and payment details
1. Fill out your personal and contact details.
Provide your personal and contact details.
2. Double check your email address.
Please DOUBLE CHECK your email address. The car rental booking confirmation will be sent to the address you provide.
3. Fill out your payment details.
As usual in the can rental industry, Rentalcars only accepts credit card payments.
Fill in the information on your credit card (name on card, card number, expiration date and CVV).
4. Click on the green “Book Now” button.
Confirm that everything is correct and click on the green “Book Now” button.
Step 6. Retrieve your car rental booking confirmation
If the booking is completed successfully, a new screen confirming the transaction will show up.
Soon after, you’ll get an email with your car rental booking information.
You have 2 ways of retrieving your booking:
- You can go to the website and click on the “Manage booking” button, located at the top-right corner of the screen.
- You can download the Rentalcars‘ app that allows you to keep track of all your bookings and easily find them.
Now you’re ready to travel!
Why booking your car with Rentalcars?
Here are the key reasons why I think you should use Rentalcars for your next trip to Madrid.
1. It offers the best aggregation of results.
It’s one of the world’s leading car rental agencies. That’s right.
Let me give you two pieces of information:
- The company works with 600+ local suppliers.
- You can arrange your car rental in 160+ countries.
2. You get the best customer experience.
Unfortunately, a lot of car rental companies don’t always have a proper English website.
By using Rentalcars you don’t have to worry about dealing with a non-English website or submitting your credit card details through a site that you might not completely trust…
While historically you might have to search through the fine print to determine if there are restrictions on mileage or what the fuel policy is, in Rentalcars the terms of your booking are all clearly outlined during the process.
But their best service, in my opinion, is a multilingual call center available 24/7 allowing you to call them from home to arrange your rental or solve any question you may have prior to traveling (or while you are far from home!).
3. You can easily find the rental car you’re looking for.
One of my favorite things about booking through Rentalcars is its filtering options.
For example, you can easily filter down the type of car you want, whether you prefer an automatic or manual transmission and much more.
You can also filter down on a variety of other factors such as the pick up car location, only listing certain suppliers if you prefer to stick to your favorite car hire company, or establish a price range.
All these options make it easy to narrow down exactly the type vehicle you want and book it without a fuss.
4. A price match is guaranteed.
Rentalcars offers its own version of a price match guarantee.
If you find a better price online after you’ve made a booking with the company, you can put in a claim online and Rentalcars will match it.
There are some conditions attached to the offer such as it not apply to insurance offers but all in all, the price match guarantee does provide some additional peace of mind.
5. You manage your booking at all times.
After you’ve completed your booking, you can easily log in your Rentalcars account online (either through the website or the app) and see your booking.
You can make changes such as the date of your trip or the type of car you’ve booked.
Rentalcars has a couple of limitations
So yes, Rentalcars is without a doubt my preferred way of booking a car rental
However, the company has some limitations that you should be aware of:
- As I always recommend when renting a car, you must read the fine print. It’s the only way to ensure that you won’t be stuck paying an extra fee when picking up your car. Similarly, check in advance what type of insurance is included and whether there are any restrictions such as cross-border driving on your car hire.
- While you’ll find most of the international car hire companies and many local options, particularly in popular countries, there are some more off-beat destinations where not all local options might be listed.
This article is part of a complete tutorial about car rental in Madrid where you can read all the information you need to organize your road trip around the country.
Here is a complete summary of all the guide:
1. Traveling to Madrid by car
2. How to book your rental car online
3. How to find cheap rental rates?
4. Do you need an International Driver’s Licence?
5. Getting around Madrid: rental car
6. 6 tips for driving in Madrid
7. Car parking in Madrid