Has anyone ever used priceline for a car rental?

[JRTINKERBELL]

I'm wondering what your experience was. I'm renting for 8 days, so going through the rental companies are quite high. any suggestions? The dates are Jan7- jan 8.

 

[kilee]

I haven't used priceline. But did you look on mousesavers.com for all the discount codes. We have an 8 day trip coming up. Our total after tax, and fees is $182.56. Not too bad!! At least I didn't think so. After playing with all the codes this was the lowest I could get it, but it's down from $257.00 (ish). That is through Alamo.

 

[momof2inPA]

Last Nov. we used Priceline and got a car reservation from Budget for a decent price, but we had a problem with Budget charging us for insurance that we did not want. My husband was tricked/quick-talked into initialling in the wrong place. Our last trip, we used codes and specials to reserve at a great price from Dollar.

If you do reserve with priceline, when you pick-up the car there is an area at the bottom of the sheet where they can put estimated money due at car return. Make sure they fill that out as $0.

 

[denisenh]

Originally posted by momof2inPA
Last Nov. we used Priceline and got a car reservation from Budget for a decent price, but we had a problem with Budget charging us for insurance that we did not want. My husband was tricked/quick-talked into initialling in the wrong place. Our last trip, we used codes and specials to reserve at a great price from Dollar.

If you do reserve with priceline, when you pick-up the car there is an area at the bottom of the sheet where they can put estimated money due at car return. Make sure they fill that out as $0.

I am not sure that the above mentioned problem is a priceline problem. Sounds like a Budget Rental problem, like the poster states.

We have used Priceline only once for a car rental. It was on a trip made in August. Our quotes were outrageous $$$ and codes didn't help because most are valid if renting a week or at least over a Saturday and we weren't.
We ended up with a minivan through Alamo at MCO and were just fine with it. We didn't take the extra insurance but we always do the prepaid gas (for the sake of convenience), so we owed for that.
I would be sure to check well for your lowest non priceline quote before considering priceline. Then check out Bidding for Travel for further info to help you bid.

 

[Grog]

Just curious....if you book a car throught Priceline, and it is pre-paid, does the rental company still put a hold on your credit card? I usually use Dollar and I think the hold is $350, but then I have always booked the car myself and the cost is taken out of the credit card deposit when I return the car.

 

[inkkognito]

Yes, they do still put a hold on your charge card.
We use Priceline for car rentals a lot when we do quickie weekend trips. First, I find the best possible prices with the discount codes, and then I bid below that amount. We almost always end up with Avis or Alamo, although we did get Hertz once (the fact that we had to take a shuttle bus vs. being onsite at MCO was mitigated by the fact that they upgraded us from an ecomony car to a RAV4).
I've never found any of the companies we've dealt with to be overly pushy with the insurance. I've noticed they try to get you to upgrade car class when they are out of the class you rented (which they don't tell you). But if you don't bite on the paid upgrade, they will upgrade you to the next class at no charge.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[denisenh]

inkkognito, we are contemplating a Disney Cruise (a 3 day in February. 1st timers) and I love that link in your signature! Lots of good info!!!

 

[Grog]

Thanks inkkognito

 

[DebbieF]

We used PL for our Palm Beach stay this past April. Luxury car for $30/day. National. We also are getting an SUV from Hertz for $25/day for our trip to DW Nov.1 for a week. So far no problems-if your flight time changes though, I would call the rental co. to tell them because on the PL confirmation it states the time.

 

[JRTINKERBELL]

I tried all the discount codes, and they were all over $220!!! The difference is because it is 8 days, not just a week. The extra day's charge is atleast $30!! Ithink I'll try bidding with Priceline.

 

[Dancind]

I've gotten a full size for $20 day, and a mid-size for $18 per day on Priceline. The first rental was for 16 days, so it saved us some $$. We got Hertz both times, so had to take the shuttle to the off-site location. The second time, we got an upgrade to a Rav4 also. Diana