March 2015 Car Rental Rate Watch

[coastgirl]

FYI just saw a more reasonable rate pop up at Dollar for a city special. It's still not quite as good as the one I booked some time ago with the infamous zoom zoom rate, but I haven't seen anything that comes close in a while.

 

[pigletto]

Just checked and there has been a big drop for my dates with Budget (March 18th to the 25th). Still too high for me at $280 or so, but much better than they have been. You can try Budget with various codes out there.
I'm happy though because once one of them starts to drop, usually it starts a downward trend, so I will be watching carefully. I expect March to be a little higher, but I am hoping to get our rental for $150 for the week or less.

 

[richmo]

It's nice to see the rates starting to budge a little for mid-March. My dates are almost the same as pigletto and I see the same thing. I would encourage those of you that don't have anything booked to do so...but still stay away from anything pre-pay. Hopefully, this will be the beginning of a trend.

The oddest thing I've seen this year, as compared to past years at the same time, is that at more than one agency the lowest rates with no codes were showing a full size pickup truck as the lowest rate, even below economy and compact. That seems to have gone away, at least for this morning.

March is less than 4 weeks away, so its getting time to start paying attention a little more.

 

[Zim]

Someone here posted about autorentals dot com and yesterday I got the same rates I'd already been finding (around $44 per day for our Sunday to Thursday trip on March 29 - April 2) ...

But, this morning at that site it dropped to $24 a day, changing my total car rental from $238 to $139 for the economy class. I'll keep watching, but I'm pretty happy about a hundred dollar drop in price!!!

UPDATE: Changed again - for the same price I went directly through Budget and now have the Fastbreak attached to the rental so we can hopefully go straight to the garage - I've heard people mention that desk is often closed at late hours and our plane lands at 10:30 so we have our fingers crossed.

 

[pigletto]

Dollar is down for me today. Alamo should drop soon if history is a predictor. Right at the 6 week mark as I've seen every time before. It's a critical time for me to watch. They will go low, then shoot back up and finally drop again at a week or so out, but never quite as low as they get at that 6-ish week mark. It's been the pattern for me for years.
With my Costco discount I can get around 240 for a Standard now. But I expect lower.

 

[SunkistJoy]

9 day Budget minivan- 2/28 to 3/9, out of Tampa. I was able to get it down to $274.56 using codes from Retailmenot. BCD D464700; coupon MUGZ165. Hoping the price continues to drop.

 

[richmo]

Like pigletto, I'm right at the 6 week mark and I've seen good improvement at Dollar in the past couple days, especially with city specials. Still not quite what I booked a few months ago, but things are starting to stir. Historically, I've done best anywhere from 1 to 3 weeks out this time of year, but it all varies by agency, car type, discounts, etc. Glad to see some movement...time for daily looking!

 

[jkelly86]

Thank you, Sunkist! BCD D464700 worked for me in April. I combined it with coupon MUGZ001 (BJs, $25 off). I googled the BCD and can't find its origin. If anyone has any info, I'd appreciate it.

 

[n2mm]

Trying to help my daughter find a decent rate for March 27 to April 2. I think she's too close to Easter to get a good price. Both Alamo and National are crazy high.

 

[mrsboz]

We are going March 6th to 16th I'm still not seeing great rates. A little concerned here. Anyone have any ideas I'm not seeing?

 

[richmo]

We are going March 6th to 16th I'm still not seeing great rates. A little concerned here. Anyone have any ideas I'm not seeing?

Not really. There was a day or two last week where the rates dropped quite a bit, but then they went right back up. I think since we're getting closer, we should see rates bouncing around much more than they had been.

In your case, you hit the three week mark this Friday. If you haven't already, book something now that is non-binding. But once you hit that three week mark, historically there will be rate changes from then until even just a few days before you leave. Once this week is about over, you should be checking at least every day, even a few times a day when you get a chance. I'm not seeing great rates close to dates right now, but they're not as bad as what we're seeing for our actual dates. Hang in there...

 

[pigletto]

I was surprised too. Once the rates start to drop the pattern has typically been that they continue to drop at least for a few days. Not last week. They went down.. and shot back up pretty quick. I have a standard booked with Alamo for $240 but considering it's just for a week I'm not impressed. I've never ( in ten trips) paid more than $200 and we've always gone for 10 days or more. I'm still hopeful, but it is concerning. And I've gone at higher crowd times than this, so it being March doesn't really excuse it.
I will try Priceline a few days before we go if all else fails I guess.

 

[sammielynn]

So happy I booked very early, I haven't seen anything near my $137 for a week with Budget.

 

[richmo]

So happy I booked very early, I haven't seen anything near my $137 for a week with Budget.

That is good! I'm at $132 base/$187 total with Dollar for a week (lock low and go). I still think I'll do better, but at last look it's mostly over double that.

 

[pigletto]

Getting better. Prices have dropped on the Costco site and I could get a standard with Budget for $220 Canadian. I'm waiting though. Strangely I could also get a full size van for only $15 dollars more. If I were bringing 5 more people I might consider it.

 

[mjf]

Well... things are improving at least. Our 12 day rental in mid-March is down to $395 (U.S.) for an intermediate with Budget using the Costco code (A017600) and a coupon for $35 off a weekly rental (MUGZ165). This is considerably more expensive than we're used to.

I've cancelled two previous reservations. The first was for $470 and the next was $447. Hopefully there will be at least one more with a much bigger reduction!

 

[auntyjenn]

If you need a mini van, are you open to a full-sized van? They must have a bunch that no one want to drive at Budget they were $100 cheaper than a full-sized car

 

[richmo]

If you need a mini van, are you open to a full-sized van? They must have a bunch that no one want to drive at Budget they were $100 cheaper than a full-sized car

I'll second that. For my dates (3/19-25), I'm seeing a base weekly rate for a full sized van at Budget for $200 (without codes), which is very cheap for that vehicle. An Economy car for the same dates is $465. Go figure...

I know I'm always the one to say stay away from prepay, but if the full size van works for you, the prepay rate is $180. For that class of vehicle, I can almost guarantee you won't see anything lower. In this case, i'd do the prepay. For other classes, I'd still hang in there...

 

[Kelli4Cy]

I'll second that. For my dates (3/19-25), I'm seeing a base weekly rate for a full sized van at Budget for $200 (without codes), which is very cheap for that vehicle. An Economy car for the same dates is $465. Go figure...

I know I'm always the one to say stay away from prepay, but if the full size van works for you, the prepay rate is $180. For that class of vehicle, I can almost guarantee you won't see anything lower. In this case, i'd do the prepay. For other classes, I'd still hang in there...

For our 10-day stay in March I was able to get a rate of $320 all in, for a full size van through Budget. That's $56 less than the best rate I had previously for a mini van through Alamo, using the Vroom Vroom code - which I wasn't 100% comfortable using anyway. IF I can get a better rate, I'd be thrilled. But I'm pretty happy with this rate right now.

 

[mrsboz]

Kelli4CY did you have a code for this rate?