March 2015 Car Rental Rate Watch

[Mickeysduck]

Just did an online chat with someone on the VVV site. I told him I live in the US, with a US license, and asked if I can rent from this site or is it for other countries only?. He said "you can definitely book through our site".

Unless I could find a better deal before I leave, this is the one I will be using.

 

[Echo queen]

On August 23,2014 I booked an economy car with hertz for $82 my dates are 03/11/15 to 03/17/15 it's just DH and I so a larger car isn't needed.

On Christmas Day I found an earlier flight time and was able to change my flight for $4!!! I was able to change my car pick up to 6hrs earlier for free.no charge. Very happy Christmas gift.

 

[lidec]

Having no luck finding a minivan from MCo to TPA for 3/26 to 4/2. Everything except pay nows are around $600. Anyone else finding anything?

 

[Ragman]

Found a full size for the dates we are travelling for $298 thru the vroomvroomvroom site with Advantage Rent A Car. $100 cheaper than anyplace else Ive looked.

Has anyone here used Advantage? Any issues with them?

Ive never had to cancel a booking but I would like to lock in this rate just in case I cant find anything cheaper. The site says I can cancel at anytime and they dont charge my card but Im still skeptical.

What are others experiences with cancelling a booking?

 

[coastgirl]

I make a ton of bookings while searching for the perfect rate. I keep an email file for them so I don't miss one. I cancel all existing ones when I find a better one. I've never been charged. Have done this with DOllar, Alamo, Enterprise, etc.

 

[Ragman]

Was able to get it down about $20 by booking thru the Advantage site and using this coupon code I found online. DCRCM10A

getting there...

 

[pigletto]

I keep thinking the drops have to be coming soon. We are 8 weeks out from our trip. For most of our trips we see pretty big drops around the 6 week out mark (give or take). So I'm not losing hope, but if it stays the way it is now, I'll book a car service for $150 and forget about the car.

 

[richmo]

I keep thinking the drops have to be coming soon. We are 8 weeks out from our trip. For most of our trips we see pretty big drops around the 6 week out mark (give or take). So I'm not losing hope, but if it stays the way it is now, I'll book a car service for $150 and forget about the car.

My experience has been the big drops have come about 3 weeks to 1 week out, at least for the typical car classes. If you can book the car service and back out without penalty, go ahead.

One thing that I've done in the past is to simulate a car rental by changing dates to see how the rates are behaving. For example, my actual rental period is a Thursday in mid March at noon to about 6 PM the following Wednesday. Using just Alamo with no codes and no prepay and a compact car as an example, I start working backwards, moving the rental back a week at a time, but always keeping Thursday at noon to Wednesday at 6 PM. Here's what I'm seeing this morning:
Actual dates $507
1 month out $507
3 weeks out $507
2 weeks out $507
1 week out $221
This week $274

In this case, the best rates are about one week out, which is consistent with what I've seen before. I should point out that this is just a guideline. In reality, I would expect a higher demand in mid-March than the last week of January, so that could affect things. I should also point out that in some of those tests some of the other car classes were less expensive than Compact...I just stuck with that to keep things consistent. Bottom line...keep looking, but once you get inside that two week window, really look.

 

[jadejazzkayla]

I'm flying into TPA. I reserved a minivan from budget. 7 days 31mar-7apr. $280.

bcd travelocity - x474200
$40 coupon - mupz044

 

[jkelly86]

jadejazz-
Is your rental out of MCO or TPA?
That code hasn't been working out of MCO this year.
jkelly

 

[jadejazzkayla]

jadejazz-
Is your rental out of MCO or TPA?
That code hasn't been working out of MCO this year.
jkelly

tampa

what code? the bcd or the coupon?

 

[jkelly86]

The BCD, sorry...

 

[Kelli4Cy]

The BCD, sorry...

Sorry, what is BCD?

 

[richmo]

Sorry, what is BCD?

It's a discount code that Budget uses. I think it stands for Budget Corporate Discount, but that's just a guess.

 

[Kelli4Cy]

It's a discount code that Budget uses. I think it stands for Budget Corporate Discount, but that's just a guess.

Thank you!

 

[SuzyQue]

Have been mainly checking Alamo, Dollar, and Costco Travel and over the last day or two rates have been dropping. We're flying into Tampa but may be the same for Orlando. For those of you who book through Costco Travel, be sure and try manually putting the codes in the Alamo site yourself, tonight I got a rate $100 less using the Alamo site. ~~

 

[Canadian Disney Mom]

Has anyone ever used the "Puerto Rico Direct" contract ID (211220) with Alamo? I need three one day rentals and this is giving me the best rate. I have been unable to find what the requirements are for the contract ID.

I need a car from
1) MCO to FLL 2/27-2/28
2) FLL to Port Canaveral March 8-8
3) Port Canaveral to MCO March14-15

Using the Puerto Rico Direct ID and the double upgrade coupon, I am getting about $35USD for each of the three days.

 

[Kelli4Cy]

Have been mainly checking Alamo, Dollar, and Costco Travel and over the last day or two rates have been dropping. We're flying into Tampa but may be the same for Orlando. For those of you who book through Costco Travel, be sure and try manually putting the codes in the Alamo site yourself, tonight I got a rate $100 less using the Alamo site. ~~

I've mainly been checking Alamo and have seen the rates dropping, too. Just hope they continue to go down.

 

[tngal]

My experience has been the big drops have come about 3 weeks to 1 week out, at least for the typical car classes. If you can book the car service and back out without penalty, go ahead.

One thing that I've done in the past is to simulate a car rental by changing dates to see how the rates are behaving. For example, my actual rental period is a Thursday in mid March at noon to about 6 PM the following Wednesday. Using just Alamo with no codes and no prepay and a compact car as an example, I start working backwards, moving the rental back a week at a time, but always keeping Thursday at noon to Wednesday at 6 PM. Here's what I'm seeing this morning:
Actual dates $507
1 month out $507
3 weeks out $507
2 weeks out $507
1 week out $221
This week $274

In this case, the best rates are about one week out, which is consistent with what I've seen before. I should point out that this is just a guideline. In reality, I would expect a higher demand in mid-March than the last week of January, so that could affect things. I should also point out that in some of those tests some of the other car classes were less expensive than Compact...I just stuck with that to keep things consistent. Bottom line...keep looking, but once you get inside that two week window, really look.

Thank you so, so, so much for your post! I was looking at 700 - 800 dollars for a minivan rental for 10 days mid april, but when i went by your "theory" it brought it down a lot. I guess i will wait till the end of march to look at rates. I understand that that time of yr it may be a little higher, but the less out of my pocket, the better ! thanks again

 

[richmo]

Thank you so, so, so much for your post! I was looking at 700 - 800 dollars for a minivan rental for 10 days mid april, but when i went by your "theory" it brought it down a lot. I guess i will wait till the end of march to look at rates. I understand that that time of yr it may be a little higher, but the less out of my pocket, the better ! thanks again

You're welcome...that has worked for me in the past. BUT, I tend to stick with one of the more common car classes (compact, intermediate, etc.). Minivan rates don't always play by the "rules", whatever they may be. Even though that simulation worked for you, remember that March/April is busier than February, so demand will likely be up. I would encourage you to put in a non-binding reservation now for the best you can find, then get aggressive looking when your dates get a little closer.