Car rental in Melbourne is not known for being an incredibly cheap service, but those special deals can be found if you know where to look. Although the ‘big six’ multi-national car rental companies should always be taken into consideration when renting a car, it’s still important to look outside the airport car rental services and take a look at the offerings of ‘independent’ small businesses.

One way that cheap car rental services can be found is through contacting your favourite airline’s frequent flyer program. Often, as is the case with hotels, car rental companies offer discounts to members of a certain airline’s frequent flyer program, or even offer large mileage bonuses which may be used towards another trip, saving you money. It is usually possible to net some frequent flyer miles by renting a car from one of the ‘big six’ car rental companies (Thrifty, Hertz, Budget, Avis, Europcar and Red Spot), but mileage bonuses may be limited time offers. If you’ve provided your frequent flyer program with an email address, chances are they’re sending special offers on car rental to your inbox every day. If you’re like me, you don’t even read them, which is a bad

habit to get into!

Try using a car rental comparison web site such as vroomvroomvroom.com.au to find the best deals. Often, when you see all the fares lined up side-by-side, it is easier to get a clearer picture of what’s on offer. In addition, these ‘deal aggregators’ may have found a car that you couldn’t when searching manually!