Kayak.co.uk launches ‘Fuel Cost Calculator’

Record-high oil prices mean the cost of travel is being unceremoniously passed on to the consumer. Increasingly, higher prices are hidden in additional fees and travellers very often only discover these higher costs after it’s too late to change providers. One primary example of this is the cost of car hire. A growing number of holidaymakers are arriving at their final destination only to discover the cost of car hire is much more expensive than expected due to the total cost of petrol.

To help travellers avoid this unpleasant surprise, Kayak.co.uk has launched a ‘fuel cost calculator’ and MPG filter tool enabling consumers to make a more informed decision and plan budgets in advance when hiring a car. While other petrol calculators exist on the web, Kayak.co.uk is the only site that instantly integrates the total price per day so that users can compare the final price across car hire agencies and car class.

“The price of petrol can vary depending on where you go on holiday and what type of car you hire, but more often than not car hire can be far more expensive than first thought,” said Annie Wilson, Director of Business Development for Kayak.com. “To help consumers make an informed choice, Kayak.co.uk has enhanced its car rental search results with fee calculators and MPG information to expose factors that might sway the consumer’s final decision. We also offer people the choice of what kind of car they’d like to search for. As more travellers become aware of their growing carbon footprint, consumer demand for a fuel efficient model or hybrid cars is on the rise.”

Estimate Total Fuel Cost of Rental Car

In response to the rising cost of hiring a car, Kayak.co.uk launched a Miles Per Gallon (MPG) filter and Fuel Cost Calculator on the results page of its car hire search (kayak.co.uk/cars) in an effort to provide the relevant information travellers need to make smart decisions.

In an industry first, Kayak.co.uk’s Fuel Cost Calculator estimates the total cost of petrol for a trip and instantly adds this figure to the daily rate of each car option. The Fuel Cost Calculator takes into consideration four factors:

-Miles per gallon for each vehicle
-Average price of petrol
-Number of estimated miles travelled during trip
-Type of driving including motorway, town, and combination (town and motorway).

“Whether consumers are trying to save money or be more environmentally friendly, Kayak.co.uk’s car hire search helps them make better decisions,” said Lincoln Jackson, director of product management at Kayak.com. “Even if you are travelling a modest distance, the Fuel Cost Calculator can be used to find the best bargain - which is sometimes a more expensive car class with higher petrol mileage. Eco warriors will like Kayak.co.uk’s new filter for hybrid vehicles, which allows users to compare prices for hybrids only or compare the MPG and price of hybrids alongside those of other car classes."

Kayak.co.uk’s new MPG slider allows users to set parameters for acceptable fuel efficiency. The MPG range is dictated by the car results that are returned. The MPG rating is derived from FuelEconomy.gov (UK data from Vcacarfueldata.org.uk) and car manufacturer data allows travellers to choose the most fuel efficient vehicle available for their trip requirements.