Our Top Nine Car Rental Strategies
I’m always thinking about air travel and how to get the best deals. Today I’m turning my attention to finding the best savings on car rentals. Here are my recommendations:
1. Make an initial car reservation as soon as you know your rental dates and times.
If you’re not completely sure of your exact time or date, consider making multiple reservations. It is often impossible to change a reservation and keep the same deal.
2. Check sites that specialize in car rental discount codes and coupons.
Some examples are AAA, AARP, Costco, American Express, Rentalcarmomma, and Retailmenot.
3. On each car rental company’s site, start without any codes.
Also try omitting your frequent renter number if you have one. Then start applying the codes and see what happens. Using a discount code can sometimes increase your price.
4. After you make a reservation, continue to monitor prices right up until you travel.
As with airfares and hotels, car rental prices are all supply and demand and change constantly. They may well drop within the last couple of weeks prior to travel, but go up again just a few days before.
5. Consider Hotwire and Priceline.
Check Biddingfortravel and Betterbidding, to see what others are saying about successful bid prices. Remember that if your bid is accepted, no changes or cancellations are allowed.
If you plan on bidding, make a backup reservation that you can cancel, first. Then keep looking at Hotwire for price drops and keep trying Priceline bids every few days.
6. Ask about and avoid extra driver fees.
In some states they aren’t legal (in Hawaii they are). Some discount contracts, such as those through Costco, include an extra driver. Some companies waive the fee if the other driver is your spouse or domestic partner. Frequent renter programs may also include an extra driver. The main point is to know the added driver policy at time of reservation to avoid extra fees.
7. Join the rental company’s frequent renter program.
This is fast, won’t cost you anything, and could save you considerable time when picking up your rental. It might also get you a free upgrade, should you want one.
8. Don’t pay for extras you don’t need or want.
Check with your own auto insurance carrier as well as with your credit card company, as you likely already have insurance when driving a rental car. Decline to return the car empty (fill it yourself), and forget any upgrades.
9. Avoid hidden charges.
Some companies still give you a 59 minute grace period to return your rental, before the next day’s charges begin to accrue. Check to be sure that there are no early return fees which could invalidate your rate. Consider skipping frequent flier miles for your rental as these usually come with a fee.
What’s worked best for you in finding the best car at the best price?
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Try a comparison site for picking the right deal, it’s an easy way to get the best deal for the time.
Also, if you’re looking for driving a long distance look for hidden mileage charges and consider a car like a Prius, that will make it cheaper.
So right Gareth. I forgot to mention that I do always use one of the comparison sites first, but only to get an initial sense about how each company is pricing.
Comparison sites do not typically reflect what the best deals are at each company, however, once you’ve played with all of the codes, discounts and other possible variables. So I check several sites anyway, not just the ones that come up lowest in a comparison.
Aloha, Jeff
Point No. 3 is an interesting one and something I was recently caught out on. We can get obsessed with coupon codes and only use the ones that appear to offer the best discount. many rental car companies seem to offer coupon code discounts in only certain hire locations, so inputting a code right at the start then simply assuming it’s worked can lead to paying more than necessary.
When booking, only book the basic hire – as coupon codes rarely extend their offers to additional services such as insurance or additional drivers – then add those additional needs, one by one, when you pick up the vehicle. That way you can monitor exactly how your bill adds-up so there’s nothing hidden amongst it.