Why does being in the UK increase car rental prices so much?

[Spud_work]

I'm looking at pricing up a rental from Montreal next summer and the prices are eye watering across nearly all providers.

For example, a full sized car from Avis is C$3,858.98 (approx £2386), however, if I change my residency to the Republic of Ireland the price is now C$1,345.44 (approx £832). The rental for both of these, as far as I can see, contain exactly the same insurance coverage, excess and options do they look to me, to be identical in every single way apart from where I live.

Other examples - France is C$1,403.09, Germany is C$1,329.27 and Italy is C$1,459.96.

Can anyone think of a good reason why living in the UK increases the prices by approximately 3x?

I've also done a dummy booking on Avis.ie and the prices there are about a 1/3 of the UK site too - has anyone ever booked via there instead?

[RickT]

because pricing is fluid, you may find next week its the other way around. As long as the coverage is the same, there should be no reason why you cant book from that site on the basis the booking allows your non resident address.

There's a good few VPN apps for booking flights via different counties to get fares cheaper.

[KevinCosmos]

Another potential reasoning could be that we drive on the opposite side of the road, so there is maybe more chance of us being in an accident?

[Spud_work]

Originally Posted by KevinCosmos

Another potential reasoning could be that we drive on the opposite side of the road, so there is maybe more chance of us being in an accident?

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I'm pretty sure they drive on the same side of the road as us in the Republic of Ireland!

[Spud_work]

Originally Posted by RickT

because pricing is fluid, you may find next week its the other way around. As long as the coverage is the same, there should be no reason why you cant book from that site on the basis the booking allows your non resident address.

There's a good few VPN apps for booking flights via different counties to get fares cheaper.

See more...

I'm not quite sure what you mean about allowing a non-residential address - as far as I can tell on avis.ie I can put a UK address in and still get a price that is 1/3 of the avis.uk price.

Surely all of this is illegal under EU law anyway and whilst I understand that there may be minor differences due to fluctuations in exchange rates, a 3x premium is excessive isn't it?

[Mr Tom Morrow]

I think I am right in saying a few on this forum who go to DLP always buy their tickets from another EU country website as the prices vary across the Continent.

I suppose the suppliers base their prices on the current demand for the product from each Country.

[Raggyavn]

Blame BREXIT

[Spud_work]

Originally Posted by Raggyavn

Blame BREXIT

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Whilst you can argue that there has been an impact on currency values which have made it more expensive for us to visit the USA, I don't think that can really account for what is nearly a 300% increase in prices just for UK customerss.

I really don't want this discussion derailed by a political debate however, so please don't continue in this vein.

I'm very tempted to book via Avis.ie as even though I'm paying in Euros, the price for an identical vehicle, with the same insurances and excess is at a price that I am happy with and is 1/3 of the avis.uk price.

Has anyone here had any experience of doing this and is there anything I might be missing other than the Irish site doesn't have a pay now option and only a price for pay at the counter is available?

[chmurf]

Originally Posted by Spud_work

Has anyone here had any experience of doing this and is there anything I might be missing other than the Irish site doesn't have a pay now option and only a price for pay at the counter is available?

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well brexit might have an impact on your rental there.

when you actually rent, Brexit will probably have happened, deal or no deal, and there is no way we can foresee what it will do the the sterling pound, and how economy will be affected

still you'll need to pay in USD, and you may realise that it costs you substantially more

what you may have missed here, is that the price in euros is just an indication based on today's exchange rate.
as it's a pay on arrival rental, you'll pay in USD and it will not cost what you see today in euros, it will cost what it says in Dollars, and that will translate into GBP on the day you pick up the car, whatever the USD->GBP exchange rate is at that time

bottomline, the price you see now in euros don't mean a thing. What matters is the price in USD (also shown on the site) and what it will really cost in GBP when you collect, maybe months from now, and post-brexit

[thatdavieguy]

Originally Posted by chmurf

well brexit might have an impact on your rental there.

when you actually rent, Brexit will probably have happened, deal or no deal, and there is no way we can foresee what it will do the the sterling pound, and how economy will be affected

still you'll need to pay in USD, and you may realise that it costs you substantially more

what you may have missed here, is that the price in euros is just an indication based on today's exchange rate.
as it's a pay on arrival rental, you'll pay in USD and it will not cost what you see today in euros, it will cost what it says in Dollars, and that will translate into GBP on the day you pick up the car, whatever the USD->GBP exchange rate is at that time

bottomline, the price you see now in euros don't mean a thing. What matters is the price in USD (also shown on the site) and what it will really cost in GBP when you collect, maybe months from now, and post-brexit

See more...

Avis.ie let you pay or to wait for payment on collection for a higher price so not sure why the OP doesn't see that option, you don't need to be a resident of RoI to hire from them and from looking at my dates they are cheaper than Avis.co.uk

If they are cheaper by comparison and better than you get elsewhere then there's nothing stopping someone booking, can simply pay your money into Revolut for example and complete the booking, job done.