august 2013 codes for rental cars?

[gmeh1]

Your post just made me LOL!

I must admit, its been kind of boring without any major movement on price since last week. I was rather hoping for something a little more profound once the weekend had passed! Fingers crossed we have something big coming up by Friday .

You cut me up. I literally look forward to your posts, always so upbeat and fun.

 

[gmeh1]

Can you post the code even if not valid it may become valid again at some point and help others

They rarely, if ever, reuse codes. That would be ultra confusing.

 

[anorman]

Also the visa coupon for 30 is a virutal coupon. Just need to pay with your visa. I used it in april with no issues at all.

That is great to hear. I was hoping someone would chime in with experience on this code. I am using it to rent a full size car from Alamo with the Insider's discount for 14 days (Aug 14 - 28) at $270.

 

[puffkin]

Your post just made me LOL!

I must admit, its been kind of boring without any major movement on price since last week. I was rather hoping for something a little more profound once the weekend had passed! Fingers crossed we have something big coming up by Friday .

My rates have not budged since last friday (3 weeks out) so I too am hoping that this friday (2 weeks out) will see a little movement.

 

[anorman]

My rates have not budged since last friday (3 weeks out) so I too am hoping that this friday (2 weeks out) will see a little movement.

I am at 2 weeks before my trip right now and I am not showing any improvement in the rate I got at 3 weeks......it is actually $45 more expensive! I'm continuing to check though..........

 

[donnaf516]

I'm at 3 weeks out today and hoping to see some type of decrease. The best I have so far was at about 6 weeks out with a dollar city special on lock low and go 8/22-9/2 for $222.34 including taxes. Not a bad deal but after paying $155 for 10 days with Alamo standard that ended up being a mini van last year I'm a little spoiled. Fingers crossed for something but I'm not going to complain about what I have. Hoping to see some movement soon.

 

[brettb]

Another interesting Priceline observation:

Back before I got the Alamo rate I was happy with, I had felt out Priceline. I made deliberately low-ball bids over the course of several days. At the time, this produced an interesting result.

Once I had bid, sometimes it would offer my an instant rebid on the same class. When I low-balled that, it would come back with a "limited offer" - usually on the class of car I had just bid on or another class I had bid on that day. At the time, it came back with an offer of $15/day for a Standard Car. Interestingly, the *total* price ($235.55) for their *offer* of $15/day was less than if I had bid $15 ($251.25) - or even $14 ($238.90). (This was on a 10-day rental of a Full Size from 8/3 to 8/12.)

Now that I'm just a few days away, Priceline sent me a "Still Looking for a Rental Car in Orlando, FL?" email with several offers in it:

Economy: $12/day $206.40 total
Compact: $12/day $207.70 total
Mid-Size: $12/day $207.20 total
Standard: $13/day $221.85 total
Full-Size: $14/day $232.00 total (Note: bidding $14 back then totaled $238.90)
Std SUV: $26/day $387.30 total

I find it interesting that bidding X per day costs more than an "offer" of X per day.

I guess my thought is that it is worth bidding (so low that you will not win) on Priceline well in advance of departure so that you might get this sort of offer in the event that prices on your rental of choice don't come done enough in the intervening time.

I will say that I'm glad I didn't jump on the $235 for a Full-size offer back then when the best rate I could get was $306 with the National KLM code -- I'm much happier with my $179 Standard with Alamo that I snagged.

 

[njmomtoone]

Can you post the code even if not valid it may become valid again at some point and help others

It was wiothout any codes or coupons, just a straight reservation.

 

[donnaf516]

Another interesting Priceline observation:

Back before I got the Alamo rate I was happy with, I had felt out Priceline. I made deliberately low-ball bids over the course of several days. At the time, this produced an interesting result.

Once I had bid, sometimes it would offer my an instant rebid on the same class. When I low-balled that, it would come back with a "limited offer" - usually on the class of car I had just bid on or another class I had bid on that day. At the time, it came back with an offer of $15/day for a Standard Car. Interestingly, the *total* price ($235.55) for their *offer* of $15/day was less than if I had bid $15 ($251.25) - or even $14 ($238.90). (This was on a 10-day rental of a Full Size from 8/3 to 8/12.)

Now that I'm just a few days away, Priceline sent me a "Still Looking for a Rental Car in Orlando, FL?" email with several offers in it:

Economy: $12/day $206.40 total
Compact: $12/day $207.70 total
Mid-Size: $12/day $207.20 total
Standard: $13/day $221.85 total
Full-Size: $14/day $232.00 total (Note: bidding $14 back then totaled $238.90)
Std SUV: $26/day $387.30 total

I find it interesting that bidding X per day costs more than an "offer" of X per day.

I guess my thought is that it is worth bidding (so low that you will not win) on Priceline well in advance of departure so that you might get this sort of offer in the event that prices on your rental of choice don't come done enough in the intervening time.

I will say that I'm glad I didn't jump on the $235 for a Full-size offer back then when the best rate I could get was $306 with the National KLM code -- I'm much happier with my $179 Standard with Alamo that I snagged.

I've never used Priceline, are all the companies in the terminal or would you possibly have to take a shuttle? Also, I always thought if you made a bit and it was accepted you were locked into it. Is that right?

 

[brettb]

I've never used Priceline, are all the companies in the terminal or would you possibly have to take a shuttle? Also, I always thought if you made a bit and it was accepted you were locked into it. Is that right?

When you bid (or receive and "offer") it tells you the rental car companies you may get. These include Alamo, Avis, Budget, Hertz and National; these are all located in the terminal - there's no shuttle bus.

Yes, your bid is binding and you will pay for the rental immediately; there are no refunds. (If you bid a ridiculous amount, say $4 on a Full-size, you have very little to worry about. If I had gotten my 10-day rental for $115, I wouldn't have been upset. But you don't want to play with dates and times - you only want to bid on a rental you can actually use.)

For me, personally, I'd pay more for a regular rental through National or Alamo. I would NOT use Priceline to save $20. Or even $50 on a many-day rental. I probably would have kept my $306 National Emerald Aisle reservation over the $235 Priceline (unknown, have to stop at the counter even if it ends up being National) Full Size.

 

[DisneyDreamer1974]

So my husband decided to join Costco yesterday, 18 days before our trip. I just wonder if it would be possible to beat a $240 rate for a full size for 8/17-8/26 with them? Do I have to call and get a code from them directly or just log into the website? Or is all the info I need available to the general public on their site?

 

[EpcotMatt2]

Try mousesavers.com for discounts.

I had checked them out first. But unfortunately there were none there.

 

[richmo]

So my husband decided to join Costco yesterday, 18 days before our trip. I just wonder if it would be possible to beat a $240 rate for a full size for 8/17-8/26 with them? Do I have to call and get a code from them directly or just log into the website? Or is all the info I need available to the general public on their site?

Yes, its possible. You can check out costcotravel.com and use their low rate finder. It generally does a pretty good job. You may not see the great rates yet, since you're still 17 days out, but keep a close eye in the next week or two.

 

[SSRFred]

So my husband decided to join Costco yesterday, 18 days before our trip. I just wonder if it would be possible to beat a $240 rate for a full size for 8/17-8/26 with them? Do I have to call and get a code from them directly or just log into the website? Or is all the info I need available to the general public on their site?

You can check rates on costcotravel.com. It's open to the general public. You will only need to register with your Costco membership number if you decide to rent a car through them.

 

[puffkin]

I'm at 3 weeks out today and hoping to see some type of decrease. The best I have so far was at about 6 weeks out with a dollar city special on lock low and go 8/22-9/2 for $222.34 including taxes. Not a bad deal but after paying $155 for 10 days with Alamo standard that ended up being a mini van last year I'm a little spoiled. Fingers crossed for something but I'm not going to complain about what I have. Hoping to see some movement soon.

I can totally understand being spoiled. I always rent standard size, 8 days with an approx 11pm Friday to 5 pm Saturday rental time (yes, creatures of habit ) with Alamo and we usually have our pick of minivans and SUVS in the row. Last May I paid $83 all in (I think my base rate was $22 or something ridiculous like that) and October I was something like $117 all in. We were down the week before Easter, so high demand time, and I was still able to get a $240 rate, which is the most i have EVER paid but could live with given that week. So while I am not completely horrified at my current $184 rate, I am certainly hoping to do better!

 

[elgerber]

I have never used Alamo before. I just did online check in for our car, and it gave me the option to put a credit card in, and proceed directly to the garage. So, does this work like National, you just walk out and pick a car in the proper aisle (full size aisle, with a standard reservation)??

 

[puffkin]

I have never used Alamo before. I just did online check in for our car, and it gave me the option to put a credit card in, and proceed directly to the garage. So, does this work like National, you just walk out and pick a car in the proper aisle (full size aisle, with a standard reservation)??

Yes, exactly. You will need to show your credit card, license etc at the booth then at the garage exit.

I typically just use the kiosks on the way out to the garage because sometimes in the past I have been able to lower my reservation within hours of my rental so I don't like to lock myself in. Since we usually arrive pretty late at night, there is never a wait and the whole process takes about two minutes and the kiosks are right across from the entrance.

 

[elgerber]

Yes, exactly. You will need to show your credit card, license etc at the booth then at the garage exit.

I typically just use the kiosks on the way out to the garage because sometimes in the past I have been able to lower my reservation within hours of my rental so I don't like to lock myself in. Since we usually arrive pretty late at night, there is never a wait and the whole process takes about two minutes and the kiosks are right across from the entrance.

Excellent, thank you! We are also arriving late, and I just want to get the heck out of the airport as fast as possible LOL.

 

[jrw118]

I am 3 weeks out today and have a budget and alamo reservation for a minivan for 8/12-8/27 for $259 total. Anyone think it will drop or see anything competitive?

 

[Bob P]

I am 3 weeks out today and have a budget and alamo reservation for a minivan for 8/12-8/27 for $259 total. Anyone think it will drop or see anything competitive?

Definitely maybe! Never say never....