Compare Car Rentals Abroad
Compare rental options across the major platforms, and sort out your driving permit, insurance and local road rules before you go.
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Taipei Car Rental | Drive to Taipei 101 Observatory, Taipei Zoo, Maokong Gondola, Yangmingshan, Taipei Airport
Taipei
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10% OFF
Kuala Lumpur Car Rental | Drive to KL Tower, Kuala Lumpur Chinatown, Indian Mosque, KL Bird Park, Little India, Brickfields
Selangor
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10% OFF
Waygo Summer Car Rental Deals 10% OFF – Portugal
Hit the road this summer and save up to 10% on car rentals during the busiest travel season. • Applicable destinations: Portugal
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2026-08-25
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Tainan Car Rental | Rent a Car to Chimei Museum, Guanziling, Ten Drum Culture Village, Wanpi World Safari Zoo, Sicao Green Tunnel
Tainan
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2029-12-31
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15% OFF
Osaka Car Rental | Drive to Universal Studios, Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan, Osaka Airport, Osaka Castle, Osaka Metro
Sennan
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15% OFF
Nagoya Car Rental | Drive to Ghibli Park, Nagoya Aquarium, Oasis 21, Legoland Resort
Nagoya
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30% OFF
Okinawa Car Rental | Rent a Car to Gyokusendo Cave, Churaumi Aquarium, Okinawa World, International Street, Shuri Castle
Naha
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40% OFF
Pattaya Car Rental | Rent a Car to the Sanctuary of Truth, Nong Nooch Tropical Garden, Khao Kheow Open Zoo, and Elephant Jungle Sanctuary
Pattaya
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15% OFF
Queenstown Car Rental | Drive to Coronet Peak, Lake Wakatipu, Skyline Queenstown Gondola, Queenstown Gardens, Deer Park Heights
Queenstown
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9% OFF
Tokyo Departure: Car Rental with Driver to Mt. Fuji/Hakone/Nikko - Chinese-speaking Driver
Car charters • Tokyo
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Renting a car abroad: four things to settle before you book
Documents: a permit is not a global key
The counter normally wants three things: your original domestic licence, the official foreign-language document that goes with it, and your passport. Turn up without one of them and you usually do not get the car, and the refund terms in that situation are written in the rental company's favour.
- Two conventions govern permits in practice. An International Driving Permit is issued in the form set out by the 1949 Geneva Convention or the 1968 Vienna Convention, though a small number of jurisdictions still issue an older form. A permit is a standardised translation of the licence you already hold, not a licence in its own right.
- Which form your permit is issued in and which forms your destination accepts are two independent questions. Your own authority decides which form it can issue you; your destination decides which forms it will accept. Some authorities issue only one form, some issue both, and travellers have been turned away at the desk with a perfectly valid permit in the wrong form.
- A permit never replaces your domestic licence. Carry both together. Most countries will not accept the permit on its own, and neither will the rental desk or a police officer at the roadside.
- That means two separate checks before you book, and doing one does not cover the other. First, your own licensing authority: which convention does it issue under, and does it offer a choice? Second, the official traffic authority of your destination, or your own foreign ministry's travel advice for that country: which forms does it accept, and does it also accept a domestic licence presented with an official translation?
- Some countries are party to neither convention, and residents there cannot obtain a permit at all. If that is your situation, the usual route is an official translation or notarised copy of your domestic licence, or a bilateral recognition arrangement between the two countries. Confirm it with your own authority, and treat any website offering to sell you an international licence as a scam rather than a shortcut.
- Bring a credit card in the main driver's own name, with the name matching the licence. The counter uses it both to confirm who you are and to hold the deposit pre-authorisation, so leave headroom on the limit.
- Minimum driving age and minimum licence-holding period are two separate conditions, and both vary by company, country and vehicle class. Confirm on that rental company's own terms page that you qualify, then pay.
Insurance: ask what the excess is before you decide what to add
Rental cover is built in layers. The names change from company to company and country to country, but the structure does not. When the counter offers you an upgrade there is really only one question worth asking: what is the excess on this agreement right now?
- CDW or LDW, the collision or loss damage waiver, is not, strictly speaking, insurance. It is the rental company waiving its right to recover damage costs from you. It almost always leaves an excess, also called a deductible, and up to that amount the bill is still yours.
- SCDW, or Super CDW, does exactly one thing: it lowers the excess or removes it. If the base rate already includes CDW, what the upgrade buys is the difference in excess, not the difference between covered and uncovered.
- Theft protection covers the vehicle being stolen or damaged during a theft. It does not cover the luggage and personal belongings you left inside it.
- Third-party liability is a completely different thing from damage to the rental car: it covers injury to other people and damage to their property. Most countries mandate a basic level by law, but that statutory level can sit far below what a real claim costs. In the US the layer sold to top it up is normally called SLI, supplemental liability insurance.
- PAI, personal accident insurance, covers injury to the people in the car and very often overlaps with travel insurance you already hold or with benefits attached to your credit card. Find out what you are already carrying before you buy it a second time.
- CDW exclusions are strikingly consistent across companies: windscreen and windows, tyres and wheels, undercarriage, roof, mirrors and interior. Those are precisely the parts a road trip is most likely to damage, which is also why the upgrades exist.
- Rental cover attached to a credit card comes with conditions. It typically requires the entire rental to be charged to that card, caps the rental length, excludes certain countries and vehicle classes, and usually covers only the CDW layer, with no third-party liability at all. Ask the card issuer what is in scope for your specific trip rather than treating “my card covers it” as an answer.
Local rules: same car, different rulebook
These are structural differences between destinations, not prices that move with the season. Every one of them is cheaper to learn before you go than at the counter.
- Japan accepts only the Geneva 1949 form. The Japanese police state outright that a permit issued under another convention, including the Vienna 1968 form, cannot be used to drive in Japan, even where the issuing country is itself a party to Geneva. If your authority issues both forms, check which one you were handed before you fly.
- Japan separately accepts the domestic licences of a small number of jurisdictions when they are presented with an official translation into Japanese from a recognised issuer, and rental desks generally insist on the original document rather than a copy. Whether your jurisdiction is on that list, and who is allowed to produce the translation, are questions for the Japanese police's own published page, not for a rental company's summary.
- The period you are permitted to drive in Japan runs from the day you enter the country, not from the day the document was issued, and it ends when the document itself expires if that comes first. Anyone staying long or entering repeatedly should check that condition specifically.
- Japan and Thailand drive on the left with the steering wheel on the right. Korea, the US and continental Europe drive on the right. If your destination drives on the opposite side from the one you are used to, give yourself an adjustment period: no long distances and no mountain roads after dark on the first day.
- Japanese expressways run on ETC, the electronic toll collection system. The ETC card has to be hired from the rental company together with the car and inserted into the in-car unit before you can use the ETC lanes. It is usually not available on the spot, so add it when you book.
- Japan's unlimited expressway passes for foreign passport holders are regional permits, not one national ticket. Which regions a pass covers, and which passes are on sale at the time you travel, are set out in the expressway operators' current notices. Book the pass with the car and have it linked to the ETC card the rental company issues.
- In the US the most underestimated line item is the one-way or drop fee. It is a separate charge from airport fees, and on a cross-state route it can exceed the rental rate itself. If the itinerary genuinely needs a one-way, price it in while you are still comparing.
- Collecting the car at a US airport adds a layer of pass-through charges, such as an airport concession recovery fee, normally calculated as a percentage of the rate. A downtown branch avoids that layer; what it costs you is the time to get there.
- In Europe the default transmission is manual. Automatic has to be specified, usually costs more, and sells out first. In peak season, booking late can mean manual is all that is left.
- Austria, Switzerland, Czechia, Slovenia and Hungary charge for motorway use with a vignette rather than a booth at every junction: you buy it or register the plate before you get on the motorway, and not being stopped is not the same as being compliant. Several of them still charge separately for particular tunnels and mountain passes on top of the vignette. A hire car does not guarantee the vignette is already there, so confirm it when you collect the car.
- Italy's ZTL restricted zones and low-emission zones elsewhere in Europe are camera-enforced. Nobody stops you at the time. The notice reaches the rental company months later, and it charges an administration fee to your card on top of the penalty you still owe the authority. If your hotel is inside a restricted zone, ask it to register your plate before you drive in.
Pick-up and drop-off: this is where the bill grows
The rate is only part of the quote. What actually inflates the final bill is fuel, mileage, timing, and the five minutes in which you hand the car back.
- There are three fuel policies. Full-to-full is the simplest and usually the best value. Pre-paid fuel, where you collect the car full and return it empty, only works out if you are certain you will run the tank down. Same-to-same means you have to record the gauge position at the moment you take the car.
- Mileage is not always unlimited. On a long itinerary, confirm the rate includes unlimited mileage; distance beyond the allowance is billed per kilometre or mile, and that charge is invisible at pick-up.
- Collecting the car is your one chance to inspect it. Film one continuous video of all four sides, the wheels, the windscreen, the roof and the interior, and make sure the time and place are visible. Have existing damage written onto the condition report and signed by the agent. A later dispute turns entirely on what you recorded at that moment.
- Late returns are rarely billed by the minute. Once you are past the grace period the charge usually jumps by a whole extra day, and the cost of the cover you took can be recalculated along with it. Leave yourself slack before your flight home.
- The contract sets out explicitly what it allows across borders and between islands. Crossing national borders in Europe, state lines in the US, or taking the car on a ferry between Japanese islands may need declaring in advance or may be prohibited outright, and breaking that clause voids the cover. If you plan to do any of it, say so when you book.
- Deposit release is not immediate. Lifting a pre-authorisation typically takes several working days and sometimes a whole statement cycle. Check that your card limit can carry the deposit and the rest of the trip's spending at the same time.
- Extras such as child seats, winter tyres and navigation units normally cost more bought at the counter than pre-booked, and in peak season may simply not be in stock. Registering an additional driver is usually cheaper pre-booked as well.
- Returning out of hours and dropping the key in a box usually leaves the liability with you. Anything that happens between you walking away and a member of staff actually inspecting the car can end up on your account. Where you can, schedule the return for a time when the branch is staffed.
This page does not assume any particular nationality. What you are required to carry, and what a destination will accept, depend on the licence you hold and on where you intend to drive, so treat everything here as something to confirm through your own licensing authority and the destination's official channels. The regulatory content was verified in August 2026. National rules, rental company terms and fee structures all change over time, and minimum ages, charges and penalty amounts vary by company, region and vehicle class. Before you travel, the official notices and the rental agreement in your own hand are what count.