Have You Rented A Car More Than a Week?

[xmas16]

I am planning a late Jan 09 visit. I'll be there for 9 days. I'm renting a car for that time also. I've signed up for some car rental programs (i.e. National's Emerald Club), the rates for a week (mid-size)are reasonable but adding on 2-3 extra days sends the rates well into the 300's-400's . Does anyone have any tips to bring that price down? I'm looking at the boards and the codes on various sites. So far that has not brought the price down too far. Is there any other way? Can you share what you paid for renting a car greater than a week? I briefly thought of renting for a week then seperately renting for the extra days. I def could use advice..................Thanks

Steve

 

[kaytieeldr]

Well, yeah, that's what I was going to suggest - especially if the two-three days' rental can be timed for a weekend, since sometimes there are special rates for that. Weekend usually means 12:01 PM Friday afternoon to 11:59 AM Monday morning.

You may find it most cost-effective, if you can even break down your rental this way, to return to the airport for the transaction - since you may get the best rate by using two different rental agencies.

 

[minster22]

I just had a rental from4/22 to 5/1. I rented from Alamo, used the Walmart code with a $25off ecoupon and the total for a midsize was $131.00 with all taxes and fees.This did not start out this low....it began at almost $300.00 and stayed very high for quite awhile. If I remember correctly about a month before our trip the rates started to come down and bottomed out about 2 weeks prior to our trip.Couple of things I have learned over the past few years renting at MCO (Alamo in particular),rent on the hour on pickup and dropoff....this can impact your rate by $100 or more!!!Definately use the kiosk, can save a huge amount of time at MCO. Rates go down as the date come closer up until 2 weeks to 10 days before your trip....then they shoot back up again. Keep checking (I am like a crazy person doing this) just when you think they cannot go any lower....Oh, and this was a rental beginning during New England school vacation week, never thought it would go so low!! Good Luck!!

 

[burns2225]

I rented off priceline for 10 days(7/22-8/1/08)from MCO and got a great price of $177 for a midsize(this price included tax)through Hertz. I did my quote on priceline about 6 months in advance. I just looked on hotwire for prices and then went down a couple dollars for my quote and it was accepted right away with no problems. Hope this helps! Good luck!!!

 

[Brian Noble]

This is pretty standard. If you book for more than 7x24 hours (plus an hour or two's grace period), most agencies will carge you the additional days at the daily rate. Typically, it only takes 2-3 extra days before you are paying twice what you would have paid for one week.

My advice is to always keep checking, and keep an eye on mousesavers for discount opportunities.

 

[CruisinPT]

We just rented from Avis 6/24-7/5. When I first booked 6 months out, the rate was $450.00. About a month before our trip I checked again and it went down to $300.00. 2 weeks before the trip it ended up to be $250.00 for the 11 days. I would just book and wait it out. Good luck!