Car Rental Help! May 11-May14

[Soon2B4]

I am not that experienced with car rentals. We usually use ME from MCO. I am looking for a car rental from St Pete/Clearwater airport (PIE) on May 11 and drop off at Sanford (SFB) on May 14. The best I have come up with is through Costco with Budget for a Full Size for $120.74/$154.82 with fees. I was debating using Priceline. TIA for any suggestions!

Here are their rates before fees. It just seems so high compared to other areas.


Economy
$106.51

Compact
$111.86

Intermediate
$115.41

Standard
$120.74

Full Size
$120.74

Premium
$187.27

Luxury
$240.09

Intermediate SUV
$244.90

SUV
$249.70

Convertible
$249.70

Mini Van
$249.70

Full Size Van
$252.10

 

[sammielynn]

I have found the best prices on Hotwire.com

 

[Soon2B4]

There best rate right now is $202 for an economy. I think I will just book through Costco and if a better rate comes out between now and then I will cancel and rebook.

Adding: I found a discount through Costco and Budget that will give us an upgrade to premium at the full size price. With fees it will be $165. Compared to everything else, I guess that isn't so bad.

 

[pinkprincess30]

I searched all over (including Costco). I ended up making a bid on Priceline. What you do is start WAY low. For instance, I needed a minivan for 1 week. The lowest price I found was $50 a day or so (PLUS tax).

So day one I bid $20/day. You can only bid every 24 hours. Next day I went to $25...and so on. I ended up getting it for $30/day + tax. So for 7 days (returning van on the 8th day) I paid $297.00 TOTAL. It is by FAR the best deal I have found bar none.

I was told to do this by my SIL, who is the Deal Queen, and they vacation at least 3x a year!

Good Luck!

 

[nkereina]

Have you checked weekly rates? Even though you don't need it for week, sometimes it's cheaper to get that than consecutive daily rates.

 

[Lewisc]

The OP wants to pickup a car at PIE and drop it off at SFB. I doubt PLs "name your own price" will let you bid on that one way rental. Same with the Hotwire deals. Either site might give you a conventional rate but not likely to be any better then a rate you get on your own.

The rates the OP got look reasonable.

 

[Soon2B4]

I did try PL and hotwire was high. I bid $20, then $25, and then $30. All were denied saying they were too low for a standard car. With the Costco rate before fees it works out to $41 a day for a free upgrade to premium.

Can you do a weekly rate and return the car early? Are there any penalties or fees for doing this? I haven't checked if it was cheaper, but it's something I may look into.

 

[Lewisc]

I never thought PL would give you a good deal on your one way rental.

Some customers who didn't qualify for the rate they booked, got re-rated. In other words if you don't keep the car enough days to qualify for a weekly rate your rental rate may be re-calculated. Some rental agencies give you a weekly rate if you rent the car for at least 4 days + 2 or 3 hours (5 day rental). Some won't give you weekly rate unless you keep the car over Saturday night.

For a one way rental your rate looks good.

 

[nkereina]

Can you do a weekly rate and return the car early? Are there any penalties or fees for doing this? I haven't checked if it was cheaper, but it's something I may look into.

I think it may depend on the company and maybe even the location. I did this with Hertz in New Jersey and Budget in LA and they were both ok with this. It's kind of nice because you aren't pressured to get to the return location at a certain time.

 

[sweetdana]

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2677662

I just booked priceline on a Standard for 12$ accepted. (10 days) it asked for 2$ if I wanted to upgrade to full. I took it.. This was aboyt 2/3rd off what I found anywhere.

I have pricelined hotels for local Michigan trips, cleveland, and Chicago; they have all worked out.. I hope Hertz works out