Which car rental company is the best?

[erbeaman]

Coupon codes, stacking discounts, contract id's, entertainment book specials- oh my! My head is spinning! Which car rental company have you found consistently has the best deals? I'm just trying to figure out where to start!

 

[backyardponder]

There's no good answer. It will drive you nuts...sorry, apparently it has already succeeded!

I always book with Avis. My insurance company has decent rates with them and the insurance included if I book this way has much better coverage. I have an Avis wizard number and at most locations can walk straight to the car and leave. I do look around for better deals. If it is a few dollars, I just use Avis and I don't worry about it. We do have an upcoming trip to Anchorage and Avis was way too high, so I did book Alamo.

Good Luck!

 

[safetymom]

We prefer Hertz. They offer a good discount to AAA members and they also offer a number of specials. We find the cars to get in great condition.

 

[kamms]

We prefer Alamo as they always seem to have the best rates, and we really like how fast we can get our car and be on our way (we use the kiosk). We rented from Budget one year and enjoyed that also, but Alamo is the one we prefer.

 

[korie99]

Add me to the Alamo fan club. We used them for our January trip and it was the easiest thing ever. Our rates were phenomenal ($80 for the week!) and I loved that we could pick our own car. I was prepared to be asked to add on insurance or some additional costs at the counter, but the only they asked was if we wanted to prepay for our gas. We booked a full size car and ended up with a really nice Nissan Altima. Within minutes we were done at the counter, had selected our car, and were on our way. I wasn't prepared for how simple it would be! I signed up for their insiders club and got a $40 off coupon and got the membership discount as well. It blew everyone else's rates out of the water!!

My suggestion would be to sign up for a few different memberships (I chose Alamo, Enterprise and Payless) and see what kind of offers you get emailed to you.

 

[skelooch]

I too usually have the best luck with Alamo in getting the best rates.
They are onsite, you select your own car and they have kiosks which make check in a breeze.

Have never had a problem with them.

 

[ccgirl]

Coupon codes, stacking discounts, contract id's, entertainment book specials- oh my! My head is spinning! Which car rental company have you found consistently has the best deals? I'm just trying to figure out where to start!

As far as Best deals, I find either Budget or Alamo (sometimes National as well). The others (Hertz, Enterprise, Avis) seem to be much more expensive.

 

[andreadoiron]

we love alamo because you get to pick your own car and you can usually (if you book early enough) get a reasonable deal. join alamo insiders (free) for deals and codes
i've read horror stories about budget which is why we stick with alamo.
oh and alamo is onsite at the orlando airport vs taking a shuttle to a location. i think we had to do that for hertz? years ago and it was a pain.