Well maybe it's not a trick, but we booked a car with Payless about a month ago for our trip and got a rate of $79 for 3days. I checked back a week ago and it was down to $66, so I booked it and cancelled the old one. Just this a.m. I checked again and it's down to $52, once again booked it and cancelled. We leave this Sunday, so I guess the closer to your arrival date you can book, the better deal you might get. If you know you need a car, book it in advance but keep checking back to see if the rate dropped. I don't rent cars very frequently so maybe this is normal procedure for companies.