Awesome International Car Rental Booking Site

I rarely rent cars outside the US. Even domestically, big-name rental companies seem sketchy and predatorial, and I don't understand all the gotchas (e.g. returning your car early can cost hundreds extra). Renting abroad is far worse. It can feel like a back alley drug deal.

But I needed a car for my recent Portugal trip, and someone highly recommended EconomyCarRentals.com. It's an online platform for discount worldwide bookings which appears to be run by a woman in Belarus. What could go wrong?

Absolutely nothing. I got a great car from a great local Portuguese company at a great price. Every aspect of the transaction was a delight. I did have one nerdy local issue early on: The Portuguese EZ-Pass is a thingee called "Via Verde", and I needed one, but it hadn't been offered during booking. So I called the lady in Belarus, expecting to confuse her. What would she know about Portuguese EZ-Pass? But she answered immediately and authoritatively: "Yes, you definitely want Via Verde, and you can ask for it when you pick up the car for just a few bucks, no problem." That was good enough for me, but, five minutes later, she emailed an exact price (indeed, a few bucks).

EconomyCarRentals arranges rentals worldwide, and I don't think I'll ever rent another car anywhere without going through them.