Car rental tips

[maxiesmom]

Anyone have any tips on finding a reasonable priced rental car? I'm trying to talk a stubborn family member into a quick trip, and in order to do so I need to make it as cheap as possible.

Finding a hotel off-site that is cheap and nice and will sleep 6 is the easy part. Finding a rental car that will hold 6 and doesn't cost an arm and a leg for 4 nights? Not so much. As I am finding now, any savings we would get by staying off-site would be eaten up by the rental car.

Any tips or advice? We would be tied to set dates, so no hope in finding something cheaper by moving the dates around.

 

[skelooch]

The number one factor with rental cars is your pickup, dropoff dates and times.
There are many discount codes for the various rental agencies.
One place to start looking is http://www.carrentalsavers.com but there are many more, that others will likely share.

The most important thing about getting the best rate you can is to be diligent, once you find a rate you can live with book it, but then keep checking at least daily for better deals. Sometimes there are great rates but they may only be there for a day, so you have to check often. There is no penalty for booking and cancelling as often as you want when booking directly with the rental car company.
However when booking with sites like Priceline, you commit at the time of booking with your credit card and are non-refundable.

Also follow the threads here on the DIS as members are always posting deals for various times of year that they have had success with.

The companies I have gotten the best prices from over the years have been Alamo, National and Dollar.

 

[grimley1968]

Another thing to consider is this: will anyone else in the party be of driving age? I'm not asking that for the same reason rental companies ask it. I'm asking because it could be less expensive to rent two small to medium sized vehicles than to rent one van big enough to haul 6 people and luggage. In my experience rental companies often try to charge an exhorbitant premium for vans.

That way you'd also have a little more flexibility to travel in smaller groups if interests diverge in the middle of the vacation.

 

[Minnie J]

Another good car rental site to use is www.sidestep.com. I always use them to look for car deal and hotel deals. Also google car rental codes for discount codes out there! Good luck