Car hire prices by pick-up day of the week

By the DayRunner team · 7 November 2026

No pick-up weekday was dearer across the board in this sweep. Averaged across the 17 airports other than Munich, every weekday sat within 3% of the median. Some airports had their own weekday shape, but they didn't agree with each other. Munich was the outlier: Monday to Wednesday pick-ups were about double Friday's.

This is one Rate Pulse snapshot of rentalcars.com, 7 Nov 2026, covering pick-ups 8 to 21 Nov 2026. Each weekday shows up twice in those 14 days. That's enough to spot a big pattern, not enough to call it a rule.

How we got these numbers

• One snapshot: rentalcars.com search results, searched from New Zealand, swept 6 to 7 Nov 2026 (NZ time). November is a shoulder month in most of these markets.
• 3-day hires, picked up at the airport on each of 14 days, 8 to 21 Nov 2026 (Sunday to Saturday, twice). Daily rate = 3-day total ÷ 3, in NZD.
• For each pick-up day we take the median compact daily rate (economy for Bali, which has no compact). Each weekday figure is the average of its two days.
• Local currency figures are converted from NZD at the ECB rate for 6 Nov 2026 and rounded.
• This is the whole market at each airport, all brands together, so the brand filter used on other pages doesn't apply. Bali had only 152 offers from 3 brands.
• Advertised prices, not what brands earned. Full method: How Rate Pulse works.

Typical compact rate by pick-up weekday (NZD)

Bold is the dearest weekday. The last column is the dearest weekday's average divided by the cheapest's.

Athens, Bangkok, Lisbon and Bali moved by a dollar or two at most, so no weekday is bolded there.

All airports together

Each weekday's average as a share of the airport's median, averaged across airports (100 = level).

The early-week lift in the first row is mostly Munich. Take it out and the weekdays sit within 3 points of each other.

Munich, day by day

Munich's compact median for each pick-up day, in NZD with euros converted:

Monday to Wednesday averaged about NZ$179 (about €89). Friday averaged NZ$87 (about €43). That's about 2.05 times.

The same shape showed in Munich's SUVs and estates. SUVs went from NZ$89 for a Friday 13 Nov pick-up to NZ$268 for Tuesday 17 Nov.

The second week was dearer than the first. Monday to Wednesday 16 to 18 Nov averaged NZ$201, against NZ$156 for 9 to 11 Nov.

We haven't found a sourced reason for the pattern, so we're not giving one. The Munich dashboard lists the events and holidays in the window, each with a link. Whether any of them is behind it, one snapshot can't say.

Other airports with a weekday shape

• Madrid: Wednesday the dearest at NZ$75 (about €37), Friday the cheapest at NZ$56 (about €28).
• London Heathrow: Tuesday NZ$81 (about £34), Sunday NZ$62 (about £26).
• Queenstown: Friday the dearest at NZ$234, Monday the cheapest at NZ$194.
• Dublin: Friday and Saturday at NZ$45 and NZ$44 (about €22), every other day NZ$37 to NZ$40.

The cheapest weekday changed from airport to airport. Friday was cheapest at Munich, Madrid and Paris. Sunday was cheapest at London, Christchurch, Dublin and Lisbon. Monday was cheapest at Auckland, Brisbane, Rome and Queenstown.

What operators can take from it

• Don't assume a weekday pattern. Averaged together the airports were close to flat by weekday, and the ones with a shape didn't agree.
• Look at your own airport by pick-up day. A Munich operator pricing the same every day would have been well under the market early in the week and over it on Fridays.
• Separate weekday from dates. Munich's two weeks had the same shape but different levels, so something beyond the weekday moved the second week.
• Check dates before you chase the pattern. Use the dashboard's dates to watch to see what falls in your window, then decide for yourself.

Questions

Sources

1. Rate Pulse sweep of rentalcars.com, 7 Nov 2026
2. Rate Pulse: Munich
3. Rate Pulse: Madrid
4. Rate Pulse: London Heathrow
5. Rate Pulse: Queenstown
6. Rate Pulse: Dublin
7. How Rate Pulse works