Renting a car in Brussels

Have you searched through
www.rentalcars.com
which compares all standard rental companies- They seem to offer competitive rates

I always rent with http://www.autoeurope.be/. Prices are much better there than with the standard companies.

There are ways of getting some discount from Europcar for example if you have a Carrefour Bonus Card, you can get 15% reduction
http://partner.europcar.be/carrefourbonuscard/?lg=fr

I just rented a small compact car for $256.00 for one week, unlimited mileage etc. This may be a special rate for tourists. I rented via their USA tel. no. which is 800 223-5555. I also used an American credit card to pay although I’m not sure if this was necessary or not. It was a Nissan Micra which was perfect for us. They are located on Ave. de la Couronne 496 which is where we picked it up and returned it. It would have cost 60 euros extra to pick up at Midi Station or the airport.

For europcar, If you're an american or canadian, and you use your american credit card, the rate will be lower because then the insurance is not included in the rental cost.

To give you an example, a weekend rental for a peugeot 208 is coming at 101 dollars or around 70 something euros.

if you actually go through the europcar.be site, the same car goes for 101 euros, or 133 something dollars.

The difference is the following, as stated on the europcar website:

Basic coverage not included in rates below
Proof of USA or Canada residence must be provided at the rental location to benefit from coverage-excluded rates.

You can also get extra insurance from questor (not sure of the spelling) and it will run you cheaper than getting it from the rental place.

Otherwise, indeed, other companies are extremely expensive, unless they have a special promotion going on.

Momondo or skyscanner sometimes have cheaper rates at the "usual" car rental places, but europcar seems to always have the best rate, specially if you don't pick it up from the airport or the Midi station.

Have you tried https://www.easyterra.be? Easy to use website and cheaper rates than most. Hope this helps.