$8/day car rental from Priceline

[MapleGirl]

FYI, I got a car rental for 9/25-10/2 (Compact from Alamo) for $8 a day through Priceline. I named my own price. With taxes and fees is comes to $130.12. I am quite pleased. Hope this helps someone with their rental search.

 

[maps]

That's a great price. I have been getting horrible rates and am tempted to go with Priceline. I have never used them so I'm not that comfortable with it. Have you used them before? Any tips I should know about renting through them? Thanks in advance

 

[MapleGirl]

That's a great price. I have been getting horrible rates and am tempted to go with Priceline. I have never used them so I'm not that comfortable with it. Have you used them before? Any tips I should know about renting through them? Thanks in advance

This is my first time as well. I am optimistic!

 

[rflorek]

If you're loyal to a specific rental company, don't use Priceline. You will end up with one of the majors, but you can't choose a specific company. Also, your rental is prepaid and non-refundable so make sure you will be happy with what you get.

Do some research on a site like www.betterbidding.com to see what others' winning bids have been, as well as on sites like Hotwire, and then bid about 40% off of the lowest you can find.

Good luck!

 

[robinb]

Congratulations!

I checked Hotwire for your same dates and got $10.95 per day or $129.31 with taxes and fees. It looks like Priceline's fees are a bit more than Hotwire's fees even even though the daily rate was less. Hotwire also has a mid-size for only $1 more per day.

 

[marandr]

How far ahead of time should I try priceline? I've never done this before? This is a great deal. We're looking for a midsize car though. But I'm willing to pay a little more.

How exactly does it work?

 

[CarolAnnB]

Can you specify that you want an agency that is IN the MCO terminal so no shuttle bus is involved? Or could you end up having to schlep your bags all over? I have never tried this but you have me thinking about it now!

 

[robinb]

Priceline is *great* for rental cars. I wouldn't book too far in advance, though. You never know what will happen and your reservation is non-refundable.

The following companies work with Priceline:
Hertz
Avis
National
Alamo
Budget

Quick tutorial on how I bid on PL:

(1) Go to Hotwire and check your dates for a car and write it down for each car class you would be interested in. Be aware that the smaller cars are not always the cheapest! I would personally not ever bid on an Economy sized car for a family. Many people report being upgraded to a Compact for free but I have also seen people "stuck" with the smaller car. I usually create a quick spreadsheet with this information.

(2) Calculate 60% of the Hotwire price. This is your starting point. How does that compare to your current reservation? Remember to take into account taxes and fees, there will be more fees on a Hotwire or Priceline reservation. If your current reservation is less, then you cannot do better with Priceline.

(3) Have a maximum price in mind. I know that I would prefer to rent with National/Alamo in the airport at MCO over Avis/Hertz off the airport and a few dollars savings is not worth the extra hassle.

(4) Start bidding on Priceline using the number calculated in (2). You may rebid if you change the car type. I will bid a few types (typically Compact, Midsize, Standard, Full Size) in one sitting. If a bigger car is available for your bid, but a smaller is not I think that you will be upgraded so bidding the same amount for each car type is a waste of time.

(5) IGNORE any comments that Priceline makes about "good chances" and "great chances" when you enter your bid. They are designed to trick you into paying more than you have to.

(6) If your bids are rejected you may try again in 24-hours. I will increase my bid by $1 on each car type per day. This is where the spreadsheet comes in handy . Sometimes I will re-check the Hotwire rates to make sure they are the same. If they go up then I stick with my $1 a day increase. If they go down, I retry a previous failed bid.

 

[rlahsin]

I just booked with Priceline (name your own price) for 8 nights...10/4-10/12. I booked a standard size car with Alamo, and with taxes, fees, etc. the grand total came to $204. I think that's pretty good for 8 days.

 

[yrdlyprincess]

wow, I'll have to look into that. I'm going in Nov hope they have a great deal going for then!

 

[Rpsemont]

We've used priceline before and not had any issues. However, I would only try priceline within a week or so of travel. IMO, the main downside of priceline is that you may not get a free driver. So I always factor in savings, vs if I do a traditional rental and know the spouse is free. The other downside is that you can't precheckin on line or go right to the garage. For most of our rentals the past several years, I have been able to use codes and coupons and get a price less than the hotwire price. That doesn't seem to be the case this fall, although prices do seem to be coming down. April 2007, I did priceline about a month before our travel days. Then about a week before I could have booked NAtional EA for the same price.
Keep in mind with priceline, If you have to cancel for any reason, there's not refunds.
$8 is a great price! Enjoy!

 

[Wendaeh]

Thanks for the great info Robin!

Priceline is *great* for rental cars. I wouldn't book too far in advance, though. You never know what will happen and your reservation is non-refundable.

The following companies work with Priceline:
Hertz
Avis
National
Alamo
Budget

Quick tutorial on how I bid on PL:

(1) Go to Hotwire and check your dates for a car and write it down for each car class you would be interested in. Be aware that the smaller cars are not always the cheapest! I would personally not ever bid on an Economy sized car for a family. Many people report being upgraded to a Compact for free but I have also seen people "stuck" with the smaller car. I usually create a quick spreadsheet with this information.

(2) Calculate 60% of the Hotwire price. This is your starting point. How does that compare to your current reservation? Remember to take into account taxes and fees, there will be more fees on a Hotwire or Priceline reservation. If your current reservation is less, then you cannot do better with Priceline.

(3) Have a maximum price in mind. I know that I would prefer to rent with National/Alamo in the airport at MCO over Avis/Hertz off the airport and a few dollars savings is not worth the extra hassle.

(4) Start bidding on Priceline using the number calculated in (2). You may rebid if you change the car type. I will bid a few types (typically Compact, Midsize, Standard, Full Size) in one sitting. If a bigger car is available for your bid, but a smaller is not I think that you will be upgraded so bidding the same amount for each car type is a waste of time.

(5) IGNORE any comments that Priceline makes about "good chances" and "great chances" when you enter your bid. They are designed to trick you into paying more than you have to.

(6) If your bids are rejected you may try again in 24-hours. I will increase my bid by $1 on each car type per day. This is where the spreadsheet comes in handy . Sometimes I will re-check the Hotwire rates to make sure they are the same. If they go up then I stick with my $1 a day increase. If they go down, I retry a previous failed bid.

 

[ElizabethB]

Just correcting one item.

Avis is in the airport terminal -- not offsite.

Hertz, however, is offsite as indicated, requiring a shuttle.