Booking on Nova Drive vs booking through a comparison site in Malta

What a comparison site actually is

A comparison site — or broker — aggregates offers from many car-hire suppliers so you can scan them in one place. That is a real convenience. The important detail is that the broker is not usually the company that hands you the keys: the booking is fulfilled by a supplier you meet at the desk, whose own terms then apply.

The companies behind the big names are worth knowing by their own words. Rentalcars.com is “a trading name of Booking.com Transport Limited”, part of Booking Holdings [rentalcars.com]. Maltacar.com is operated by EasyTerra B.V. of the Netherlands, CoC Leeuwarden 01104443 [maltacar.com]. DiscoverCars is a broker whose Malta page carries the on-page disclaimer that “The above prices are only approximate”, as of 2026-07-03 [discovercars.com/malta]. None of that is a criticism — brokers do a job that suits some trips well. It just means the supplier’s own terms apply at the desk, so read them before you book.

What to confirm before you reach the desk

The parts that most often surprise people are the deposit, the excess and the pickup point, because the booking site sells the reservation but the supplier applies its own policy. Here it is in the brokers’ own words.

DiscoverCars describes its Full Coverage as a reimbursement product: “you’ll still have to leave the security deposit with the rental supplier when you pick up the rental car” [help.discovercars.com]. In plain terms, the online cover pays you back afterwards; the desk still takes a deposit. The same help centre adds that “If you want to reduce the amount or eliminate the security deposit, we recommend purchasing the rental supplier’s optional coverage when you pick up the car” [help.discovercars.com] — so lowering the deposit means buying the supplier’s own product at collection, on top of what you paid the broker.

Refund timing is a supplier-and-bank matter too. Booking.com’s own guide notes that, depending on the bank and supplier, a deposit refund can take anywhere from about two weeks to 30 days to appear on your account [booking.com]. And where you actually collect varies by supplier: DiscoverCars lists Malta pickups as an in-terminal desk, a car-rental centre a short walk away, a free shuttle you call on arrival, or a meeting point outside the terminal [discovercars.com/malta]. All quotes as of 2026-07-03. None of this is hidden: it sits in the supplier terms, which are worth reading before you book.

What booking on Nova Drive shows before you pay

Booking on Nova Drive shows those same points at the moment you book, so none of them is left open until the desk. With Nova Drive Malta:

• One all-in price, from €3.78 a day for an Economy — VAT and the airport fee are already included, so the total shown is the total you pay.
• The deposit and the excess are shown before you book. The refundable deposit is held on a credit card in the main driver’s name at pickup and released after the car is returned in its agreed condition. Debit cards are not accepted for the hold — we say so here rather than let you find out at the desk.
• CDW with an excess and third-party cover are included, and the optional Zero Risk Protection upgrade removes the excess entirely, with a refundable €300 deposit still held on a credit card.
• Meet-and-greet in Luqa, in both directions, 08:00–02:00, seven days a week — you know the pickup point before you travel.
• Paid in full online when you book, non-refundable once paid, and a local booking team to call: NovaDrive Service Centre Ltd, based in Marsa.

The detail on the hold and the excess is in our deposit and excess explainer, and how the handover works is on our Malta airport car hire page. When you are ready, you can see your dates and the full price at /#book.

Side-by-side: what each channel publishes

Everything in the comparison sites column below is quoted from those companies’ own public pages, as of 2026-07-03; the footnote links go to the source. A blank or “Not publicly available” cell means the information isn’t published as a single policy, not that it doesn’t exist.

Swipe the table sideways to see all columns

When another booking site is the right choice

Booking with us is not the right answer for every trip, and it would be dishonest to pretend otherwise. A comparison site is often the better tool when:

• You want to scan many suppliers’ prices at once. That is exactly what a broker is built for, and this site does not show you the whole market.
• You need one-way hire. Nova Drive does not offer it (every rental returns to its starting point), so if a one-way drop-off is essential to your trip, another booking site whose suppliers offer it is the practical route. Our one-way car hire page explains our honest position and the alternatives.
• You are loyal to a major brand’s points programme and want the booking to sit inside it.

The point of this page is not a price-race claim — we will not tell you we are always cheaper, because it depends on your dates. The point is what is settled up front: whichever platform you use, check that the price, deposit, excess and pickup point are shown before you book, as they are here.

Questions to ask before booking through any channel

Whichever channel you use, the same handful of questions separates a clean booking from a surprise at the desk. They are worth asking of any broker, booking platform (including us) or supplier:

• Is the price all-in? Are VAT and the airport fee already included, or added later?
• What card does the deposit hold need? Credit only, or is a debit card accepted? Whose name must it be in?
• Whose excess policy does the desk apply — the one you saw online, or the supplier’s own?
• Where exactly is pickup? An in-terminal desk, a walk to a centre, a shuttle, or meet-and-greet?
• Who do you call if the flight is late? The booking site, or the pickup desk?

With Nova Drive the answers are shown before you pay: all-in pricing, a credit-card-only hold in the main driver’s name, the excess shown before you book and removed entirely by optional Zero Risk Protection, Luqa meet-and-greet, and a local booking team to reach around the clock.