How far in advance to book rental car?(Budget car rental)

[pinkxray]

I was messing around on rental car prices for our trip in May and got a price of $270 for 10 days which seems pretty good. When I looked about 2 months ago all the cars were over 500.

Should I just book now even though there is still about 6 months to wait? Will prices drop or go up?

Also the company is Budget, good?

Thanks

 

[lovetoscrap]

I am going to move this to the Transportation board

 

[WyldLynx]

I have used Budget before and had no major issues, everything was fine.

I got a good rate with Enterprise for 8 days for $256 and this is for a minivan. I went ahead and made a reservation even though we are not going until Sept.

My opinion is if you have found a good rate reserve it.

 

[rcjr0620]

I used Budget at MCO in June of 2009. I had a serious problem at the rental counter with agent Bob L. – identified on the rental contract as employee #71843. I was repeatedly lied to about several aspects of the rental including the optional insurance being “Florida State Law.” This agent went as far as to falsify my contract.

Budget is part of the Avis/Budget group and I was told by other Budget employees that the counter agents receive commission for any additional services that are purchased. Being pushy is one thing, but falsification and being deceitful are unacceptable. I was also told that these “practices” are well known to management and are overlooked.

I don’t expect this from Avis/Budget or any other major company. If you use Budget read your contract carefully before departing the counter.

 

[pinkxray]

I used Budget at MCO in June of 2009. I had a serious problem at the rental counter with agent Bob L. – identified on the rental contract as employee #71843. I was repeatedly lied to about several aspects of the rental including the optional insurance being “Florida State Law.” This agent went as far as to falsify my contract.

Budget is part of the Avis/Budget group and I was told by other Budget employees that the counter agents receive commission for any additional services that are purchased. Being pushy is one thing, but falsification and being deceitful are unacceptable. I was also told that these “practices” are well known to management and are overlooked.

I don’t expect this from Avis/Budget or any other major company. If you use Budget read your contract carefully before departing the counter.

wow, thanks for the heads up. I'll definitely pay more attention if I chose to use them. Thanks!

 

[Detailor]

Because car rental rates fluctuate pretty wildly over time - they go down, then go up and maybe stay that way for a while, and then tend to go down again as the reservation dates get closer - I like to rent the size vehicle that I'm going to need several months in advance of my dates. Then I watch rates regularly until it's time to go and update my reservation as rates go down. It's not unusual to experience savings over time.

So, I makes sense to me to book now and keep watching to see if the rates go down between now and your 2010 trip.

Dick Taylor

 

[airhead]

Because car rental rates fluctuate pretty wildly over time - they go down, then go up and maybe stay that way for a while, and then tend to go down again as the reservation dates get closer - I like to rent the size vehicle that I'm going to need several months in advance of my dates. Then I watch rates regularly until it's time to go and update my reservation as rates go down. It's not unusual to experience savings over time.

So, I makes sense to me to book now and keep watching to see if the rates go down between now and your 2010 trip.

Dick Taylor

Yup,me too. I have already reserved my Budget rental for next July. I also have applied a code and the price has been reduced .I expect to reduce that price even more as i get closer to my vacation.