The car hire price you see online is rarely the price you pay. The headline rate is the cheap bit. The money goes at the desk: the excess, the deposit, the fuel, and the "are you sure you don't want our cover?" chat while your kids melt in the queue behind you.
The excess is where the real money goes
Basic cover on European hire comes with an excess, and Which? says it can be up to £2,000. That's what you pay if the car gets scraped, whoever's fault it was. You've got three ways to deal with it.
The desk's own "super cover" (often called SCDW) cuts the excess, often to zero. It's the easy option and the pricey one: MoneySavingExpert has seen it at up to £42 a day, and when Which? priced a week in Málaga the big hire firms averaged £147. Its one real upside is that the desk will usually drop the big deposit hold.
A standalone excess policy from an insurer, bought before you fly, is what Which? and MSE both recommend. MSE says from about £2 a day; in that same Málaga test the top-rated policies averaged £23 for the week. The catch: if there's damage, the hire firm takes the money from your card and you claim it back afterwards.
DiscoverCars Full Coverage is the broker's add-on, and it works the same way as a standalone policy. DiscoverCars says plainly that the desk can't see it, so you still leave the normal deposit on a credit card in the main driver's name. If something happens you pay the hire company, then claim through "My Booking" within 90 days with the rental agreement, the pick-up and return checks, the invoice and proof you paid. The limit is on your voucher and tops out at €5,000.
It covers tyres, glass, undercarriage, lost keys and even the wrong fuel, but not interior damage, cleaning, third-party damage, hail and floods, and anything that happens while you're breaking the rental terms. Our honest view? Which? gave the insurance DiscoverCars sells a poor policy score in 2026. If you hire more than once a year, an annual policy from a well-rated standalone insurer makes more sense than buying Full Coverage every trip. And if you haven't got a credit card with room for a four-figure hold, the desk's cover may be the only thing that gets you the keys, however much it stings.
One more thing. If you do get talked into the desk's cover, Full Coverage doesn't cancel itself. DiscoverCars' help pages say it's non-refundable once the rental starts, so you'd be paying twice. Cancel it by 23:59 local time the day before pick-up and the refund goes back to your card.
Deposits, fuel and the other little earners
MSE says most hire firms want a credit card for the deposit, typically £500 to £1,200, and won't take debit or prepaid cards. On a credit card it's a hold. Where a debit card is accepted, some firms take the money and pay it back later. GOV.UK's advice is to look at the excess and deposit, not just the price: a slightly dearer deal with a small deposit can be the better one.
Fuel: go for full-to-full (or "same to same") and keep the receipt from a petrol station near the return. Policies that make you buy a tank from the firm are, in GOV.UK's words, "often at inflated prices".
Drivers and borders: young driver fees start at different ages depending on the firm. Europcar says under 26, Hertz under 25, Sixt under 23. Extra drivers cost extra too, and MSE's advice is to add them when you book, not at the desk. Drop the car somewhere else and you'll usually pay a one-way fee. Driving into another country needs the firm's permission and often a cross-border fee, so ask before you plan that day trip.
Airport or town? Airport and station desks often add a location fee; Sixt and Hertz both list one. A town desk can work out cheaper, but on an island the taxi into town may well swallow the saving. Do the sum first.
Your licence: if it was issued in England, Wales or Scotland, the hire firm may ask for a DVLA "check code". You get it from GOV.UK's view your driving licence service with your licence number, National Insurance number and postcode. It lasts 21 days, so don't make it a month early.
Booking timing, photos and the desk
Book early with free cancellation, then check again nearer the time. MSE's tip is to cancel and rebook if the price drops. DiscoverCars advertises free cancellation up to 48 hours before pick-up, but read its terms (updated 23 March 2026): cancelling gets you Booking Credit, and you can ask for any unused amount back as money within a year. Its price guarantee pays out in credit too: find the identical deal cheaper elsewhere within 24 hours of booking and you get the difference as Booking Credit.
At pick-up, film the whole car, wheels and windscreen included, plus the fuel gauge and mileage, and get any damage written on the form before you sign. The UK International Consumer Centre and ECC Netherlands both say so, and so does DiscoverCars' own small print. If a damage bill turns up later, ask for their photos and object in writing.
So, is DiscoverCars any good?
It's a real, big broker. On 17 October 2026 it had a Trustpilot TrustScore of 4.6 from 291,778 reviews. Which? is cooler: 74% overall and five stars for showing extra charges clearly, but two stars for satisfaction with the hire firms it lists, Goldcar among them, and its verdict is to look elsewhere. DiscoverCars is useful for putting lots of local firms side by side so you can compare deposit, fuel policy and supplier rating, not just price. Skip the cheapest unknown name with a huge deposit and a buy-a-tank fuel policy, pick a better-rated supplier, and bring your own excess policy.
If you want to compare, these are the airports most of our readers fly into:
- Tenerife: car hire at Tenerife South (TFS) · Tenerife hotel prices
- Majorca: car hire at Palma (PMI) · Majorca hotel prices
- Costa del Sol: car hire at Málaga (AGP) · Costa del Sol hotel prices
- The Algarve: car hire at Faro (FAO) · The Algarve hotel prices
- Benidorm: car hire at Alicante (ALC) · Benidorm hotel prices
- Lanzarote: car hire at Lanzarote (ACE) · Lanzarote hotel prices
- Gran Canaria: car hire at Gran Canaria (LPA) · Gran Canaria hotel prices
- Crete: car hire at Heraklion (HER) · Crete hotel prices
- Cyprus: car hire at Paphos (PFO) · Cyprus hotel prices
- Corfu: car hire at Corfu (CFU) · Corfu hotel prices
Sorted the car? The hotel is usually the bigger bill. Pop it into our free hotel price tracker and we'll tell you if the price drops after you've booked.
Facts checked 17 October 2026 against DiscoverCars' terms and help pages, Trustpilot, Which?, MoneySavingExpert, GOV.UK, UKICC, ECC Netherlands, ECRCS and rental firms' own fee pages. Prices and policies change, so check the live terms before you book. DiscoverCars links are affiliate links.