Which review sub-score matters most for car hire?
In the Rate Pulse sweep of 7 Nov 2026, pick-up time was the biggest or joint-biggest gap between the top-rated and lowest-rated brands at 10 of 17 airports. Efficiency was next.
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How to improve your car hire review scores
Which review sub-scores separate the best-rated car hire brands at 18 airports, and a step-by-step plan to lift yours, starting with pick-up time.
By the DayRunner team ·
Fix pick-up time first. Across the 18 airports in the Rate Pulse sweep, the review sub-score that most separates the best-rated car hire brands from the worst is how long customers wait to collect the car. Efficiency comes next, and cleanliness separates them least, so the counter usually matters more than the car.
This guide shows the data, a five-step plan, and a table you can copy to track each fix.
What the data says
We took every brand with 50 or more reviews at each airport, sorted them by rating, and compared the top third with the bottom third on each sub-score. Bali had too few rated brands, so 17 airports are in the comparison. Scores are out of 10 and come from rentalcars.com customer reviews, as shown in the brand ranking.
Average gap between the top and bottom third, all 17 airports:
| Sub-score | Average gap (points) |
|---|---|
| Pick-up time | 1.79 |
| Efficiency | 1.70 |
| Value for money | 1.40 |
| Ease of finding the desk | 1.38 |
| Condition of the car | 1.17 |
| Drop-off time | 1.17 |
| Cleanliness | 1.08 |
Pick-up time was the biggest gap, or tied for it, at 10 airports. Efficiency was the biggest at 5, once tied. Value for money led at Amsterdam and drop-off time at Bangkok.
| Airport | Biggest gap | Points | Second |
|---|---|---|---|
| London Heathrow | Pick-up time | 3.00 | Efficiency 2.73 |
| Athens | Pick-up time | 2.81 | Finding the desk 2.67 |
| Brisbane | Pick-up time | 2.52 | Finding the desk 2.52 |
| Auckland | Pick-up time | 2.46 | Condition 2.20 |
| Barcelona | Efficiency | 2.30 | Value for money 1.84 |
| Rome Fiumicino | Pick-up time | 2.07 | Efficiency 1.98 |
| Munich | Efficiency | 2.05 | Value for money 2.05 |
| Queenstown | Pick-up time | 1.88 | Efficiency 1.86 |
| Christchurch | Efficiency | 1.66 | Pick-up time 1.56 |
| Madrid | Efficiency | 1.03 | Finding the desk 1.00 |
Source: Rate Pulse sweep, 7 Nov 2026. It's one snapshot in the November shoulder season, so treat it as a strong pointer, not a law. Ratings build up over years of reviews, so they move far less day to day than prices.
Two more things stand out.
A shuttle bus doesn't sink you. At Christchurch the top-rated brand ran a shuttle bus and scored 9.6 from 691 reviews. At London Heathrow a shuttle brand topped the table at 9.1. In-terminal brands did average a little higher at most airports (9.0 against 8.6 at Christchurch), so off-airport operators start behind on finding the desk and waiting.
Cheap doesn't mean badly rated. At Auckland a brand priced at 0.47 of the market median rated 9.2 from 637 reviews. The lowest-rated brand there was priced 32% above the market. More on that in ratings vs price.
Step by step
Find your gaps
Open your airport, pick your brand in the ranking, and note every sub-score flagged 0.3 or more below the airport average.
Pick one
Start with the biggest gap. If two are close, start with pick-up time, since it drags efficiency down with it.
Measure the cause
Time ten real pick-ups from the customer reaching your desk or shuttle stop to driving away. Write each one down.
Fix the slowest step
Look first at paperwork, card holds and upsell talk at the counter, and at how often the shuttle runs.
Re-check in a month
Look at the sub-score again. If it hasn't moved, time another ten pick-ups and see if the fix stuck.
What each sub-score really measures
Each sub-score maps to a part of the operation you can time or count. This is the checklist to work from.
| Sub-score | What the customer is judging | What to measure | Common fixes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pick-up time | Arrival at desk or stop to keys in hand | Minutes per pick-up, queue length at peak | Pre-filled rental agreements, online check-in, a second staff member for the 2 busiest flight banks |
| Efficiency | How smooth the whole process felt | Number of steps and signatures, surprise questions | One script for the counter, deposit and excess explained before arrival |
| Finding the desk | Signs, directions, shuttle stop | Calls or messages asking where you are | Exact meeting-point text and a photo in the confirmation email |
| Value for money | Price paid vs what they expected | Gap between quoted and final price | State the insurance excess and fees on the booking, not at the counter |
| Drop-off time | Return and inspection speed | Minutes from arrival to shuttle or terminal | Fast return lane, inspection photos on a phone |
| Condition | Mechanical state, dents, age | Fault reports per 100 hires | Pull tired cars from airport work first |
| Cleanliness | Inside and out | Complaints per 100 hires | A clean checklist signed off per car |
Value for money is the one sub-score that ties straight back to price. It's usually the gap between the advertised rate and what the customer paid once extras were added. If yours is low, check the base vs all-inclusive rate story your booking pages tell, and how hard the counter pushes ancillary revenue.
A worked example
Say you run 40 cars from a shuttle-bus depot at Queenstown. Your brand rates 8.4, against a market average around 8.8. Your pick-up time sub-score is 7.2, flagged 0.9 below the airport average.
You time ten pick-ups on a busy Saturday. The average is 34 minutes from the customer reaching the shuttle stop:
| Step | Minutes |
|---|---|
| Wait for shuttle | 14 |
| Ride to depot | 6 |
| Counter paperwork and card hold | 11 |
| Walk-round and keys | 3 |
The shuttle wait and the counter are 25 of the 34 minutes. Two fixes follow. Run the shuttle every 10 minutes during the two biggest arrival banks instead of every 20. Email the agreement the day before so the counter only checks the licence and takes the card.
If those cut the average to around 20 minutes, the next month of reviews should show it. Those numbers are hypothetical. The method is the point: time it, find the biggest block, fix that block.
Copy this tracker
Keep one row per fix. Review it monthly.
| Month | Sub-score | Your score | Airport average | Gap | Fix in place | Measured result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov | Pick-up time | 7.2 | 8.1 | -0.9 | Shuttle every 10 min at peak | 34 to 22 min |
| Dec | Pick-up time |
Why it matters for price
Ratings decide where you sit on a broker's results page and how much a customer trusts your price. A strong supplier rating gives you room to charge closer to the market instead of undercutting it. The price rank you can hold depends partly on it.
Rate Pulse shows your sub-scores next to every competitor's at your airport, flagged where the gap is 0.3 points or more. Open your city and check where you stand before you change anything.
Questions
Do you need an in-terminal desk to rate well?
No. At Christchurch the top-rated brand in the sweep ran a shuttle bus. In-terminal brands did average a little higher at most airports, so a shuttle brand has to work harder on pick-up time and finding the desk.
Can I just be cheaper to get better reviews?
Not reliably. At Auckland one brand priced at about half the market rated 9.2, and the lowest-rated brand was priced well above the market. Price changes the value-for-money score, but the counter experience drives the rest.
How often should I check my sub-scores?
Monthly is enough for most operators. Scores built on hundreds of reviews move slowly, so give each fix a few weeks before you judge it.
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