Ever use Hotwire for car rental?

[briannesmom]

I have been pricing rental cars all day using the codes from mousesavers. So far my best deal (by almost $200) is from Hotwire. We need either an SUV or mini van for 14 days. Has anyone used Hotwire to book a rental car before? Just curious what rental agency you got and if you had any problems.

Thanks

Amy


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[tinaluis]

We've used them in the past and have gotten Hertz (off-site but just a short shuttle ride away). We had no problems at all and didn't receive the "high-pressure" sales pitch on CDW protection that others have reported. A word of advice, though, we checked out Hotwire's site but didn't make a reservation and instead went the Priceline route. After that, we received weekly emails from Hotwire telling us that the price of a full-size car had gone down and we should check out their site. All told, the original price per day was $23.95 and it went down to $15.95 per day near the time of our trip. We were upset that we hadn't just booked a cancelable back-up because we could have saved quite a bit of $$ on an 8-day rental. Good luck!

 

[zippeedee]

I've used them for my last three trips. I got Budget in Tampa and Hertz in Orlando twice. All were quick and easy pickups and drop offs, without any sales pitch. I just told them to waive all the insurances and signed my name. I'd have a hard time giving up control of my flight times and airline to use them for airfare, but I don't care what company my car comes from, and they only contract with the big companies anyway, so no risk of getting "rent a wreck". I will say that the closer to arrival (except for major peak times) the cheaper the rate seems to be. Mine went down about $10 a day from 12/26 when I booked my flights to the week before my April trip.