Cheap Rental Car
Getting a cheap rental car can either be a piece of cake or the nightmare of all nightmares. I have found no one thing that works every time. It usually takes a combo effect to get a good rental car. This being said, it is usually easier to get a cheap rental car than it is to get cheap airline tickets. The difference is you have to mix it up a bit.
Below are my 10 nifty tricks to getting the cheapest rental car possible.
- NEVER call the rental company directly. If you call Hertz up and ask for their cheapest rate, I guarantee you that you will be paying top rate +.
- The booking engines such as Orbitz and Travelocity are a good resource to find the base price, but I certainly would not accept their first offer.
- Get a bid from Orbitz or Travelocity, then go to Hotwire and Priceline and bid 30% - 40% lower than the quoted amount. A fair number of times you will have your bid accepted.
- 4. Look for a rental agency that is away from the airport. It is a bit of a pain, but you will save a bunch if you are willing to take a shuttle to get your car rather than walk to the rental desk.
- My favorite trick of all is to get the best bid that I can, reserve the car, then when I get to the airport, go to the various car rental counters and ask them if they will beat the quoted price and offer an upgrade. I would say about 30% of the time this works. Most of the time you are not required to pre-pay for the rental car, so you can do this. Do not do this if you purchased the car from Hotwire
or Priceline
, for you have already pre-paid for your car.
- Join AARP or AAA. They always offer a discount.
- Rent the car for longer than a week. Weekly rates are always better and can save you tons.
- Make sure that you get a rental contract that includes unlimited mileage. If you are paying by the mile, you are going to pay out the nose when you bring the car back.
- Decline the upgrades and the full tank of gas. Fill the car up yourself and save a ton of money. If the rental car company fills the tank up with gas, you are going to pay a real premium.
- Decline the insurance offering or upgrade. If you use an American Express card, or if you have personal car insurance at home, it will cover your insurance. You do want to be careful in doing this to make sure that you are indeed covered, but as a general rule, the insurance option is a big rip off.
Well, there you have it – My10 nifty car rental tips. May your car rentals always save you money.
