Needing a rental car for a weeks vacation. This is a last minute "not in the budget" item. Where would I find the best rates? What company? What website? Anyone know of a coupon that would help me out? Thanks for your input!
Priceline! Start you bidding low. I was able to get a midsized car recently for $10/day. I would start at $5 day and see if it is accepted. If not, go up a buck or two.
They do add the taxes on (I dont think there were any extra Priceline fees) so add a little more for that. I dont believe the taxes would be any extra than doing any other company though.
carrentals.com has the best rates I've found
I've used Hotwire.com at least 7 times for car rentals and they by far have the best rates that I've found. Case in point, we're using them for a car rental in Kauai next month; going rate was $29/day; we booked it through hotwire for $17/day. Although you don't know which rental agency they will assign you; they are all the major ones so it's not really a big deal that you don't know until you purchase (unlike booking a hotel or flights through the site)
enterprise sometimes does a cheaper rate for a week than if it were just a few days. Call and ask for the weekly rate or any specials they are running. Once they tell you that, ask what is the discounted State Farm rate. Enterprise will give State FArm insureds a cheaper rate, even if they are paying out of pocket. You don't have to produce your state farm insurance or anything. Hertz is sometimes much cheaper on a per day basis, so, call them as well. After the hail storm we had in June, cars are all booked solid in the metroplex and they have pulled cars from other markets here to try and meet the need. Bottom line - a car is going to be difficult to get! Plan ahead, get there early, and realize that even if you have a reservation, they will give your car away! Good Luck
I usually book through the Costco website and try to keep it under $200/week incl. taxes, but have rented for as low as $125 using the coupons on their website. I don't pre-pay, but would consider it, if it was last minute. Thanks, Leah for the priceline info!
Budget and Alamo have great last minute deals and sometimes I find a lower rate there. Check their websites.
I used rent-a-wreck once and will never use them again. It was not much cheaper than the major companies, their paperwork took forever, the office was a slum, and they limit how far you can drive from their office (probably because the car really was a wreck and they didn't want to have to go too far to tow it back.)
I found Budget to be the best with the lowest prices, unlimited miles... If you reserve it on line you even get more of a discount...
If you know of anyone that has those coupon books, they have some additional discounts in them... I reserved a SUV for 6 days, received $25.00 off plus up to 20% off (which only turned out to be 10%) but hey that took care of the taxes so I ended up saving $50 there and another $30 by doing the online price vs going in.
My mom one time used Priceline but when they add their fees and taxes it would have been cheaper going straight through the company...
Look on www.retailmenot or if you have an entertainment book there are coupons. My relatives just rented O. for the beach and found Enterprise to be the lowest rate....and they are a family-owned company--which I like. :)
Budget website...reserve online and pay (ccard or w/put a hold on the debit card when you return) at the counter and I also use a Entertainment book coupon code; all you need is the code. Very reasonable rate for unlimited mileage.
