The Most Expensive U.S. Destination to Rent A Car over the Christmas Holiday

A survey conducted by comparison website CheapCarRental.net revealed costs of car rentals across the United States over the Christmas holiday.

The survey examined car rental rates in 40 popular U.S. destinations over the time period spanning Dec. 23–27, 2018. For each city considered, the rate for the cheapest available rental car was established at the city’s major airport.

New York City is the most expensive U.S. destination to rent a car over the Christmas holiday, followed by Seattle and New Orleans. In the Big Apple, travelers will pay $179 per day for the most affordable car, by far the highest rate among all destinations considered by the survey. When you compare the Christmas holiday rates to non-holiday winter rates, there’s a price increase of more than 223 percent.Travelers will pay $118 per day for the most affordable car rentals in Seattle and $109 per day for the most affordable car rentals in New Orleans. Seattle’s rates are up more than 300 percent for Christmas.

The least expensive destinations according to the survey include Louisville, Orlando and San Antonio, where travelers can find rental cars for around $40 per day.

The following table shows the 10 U.S. destinations with the highest car rental rates over Christmas, along with a comparison against regular prices during the winter months. The rates shown reflect the average daily rate for the cheapest available car during the period spanning Dec. 23–27, 2018. Each respective city’s main airport was chosen as the pick-up and drop-off location.