Please tell me everything you can about Priceline car rentals.

[ForTheLoveofDisney]

We are taking a quick trip to Disney in September. plane lands at 11:30pm 9/13 and we depart at 4:50pm 9/17. We were originally talking about taking ME but I took it once before and it was alright but I really like having a rental.

This is a last minute trip (got a great DING! fare and great hotel rate through APs) so we haven't budgeted for any extras. We're going on the cheap. I know taking ME is free but I admit, I like a rental.

With that said, I've been punching in codes and discounts, checking out mousesavers.com and I just can't see us paying that type of money.

It was suggested to me a few years ago to try Priceline by someone who "always" uses Priceline. I never did look into but now I'm really considering it.

Please tell me your experiences using Priceline. The good, the bad and even the ugly. Please tell me your rates and what I can expect. Are you treated differently as a Priceline customer?

Also, I was on the Priceline website and they have an area to enter a Rental Car Discount Code. What is this? How does that work?

Thank you for taking the time to answer my post.

 

[rlduvall]

Someone please help this young lady out . . . . because I'd like to know, too.

 

[scammermom]

I did the Name your own price in May. I was looking for an SUV or Minivan. Start as low as you can even if it says "that would be a good price but..." You have some time to play with it. You can only name a price for a certain type of car once a day. For instance, I bid $13/day on an SUV. I was declined. So I changed to a minivan and was declined. Game over for today. I think it's every day you can try again, $14, etc. I do remember I got the SUV for $17/day.

It ended up being with Alamo. The only complaint I have is their "buy our insurance" tactic when you go to pick up the car at the desk. I know my car insurance covers me. My deductible is low. I don't want their insurance. The woman was very adament I had to have insurance. I had to practically yell at her about the sixth time that this was paid, I wasn't buying etc. Another customer wasn't having such a good time at the counter. The man told her she couldn't have the car if she didn't purchase insurance. BS! I'm not real happy with Alamo. But I don't think it has anything to do with buying thru Priceline just their company ways.

Hope that was remotely helpful to ya!

 

[Lewisc]

PL bought lowestfare.com You can now use PL to book hotel/rental car/airfare just like you would from sites like expedia. You were probably on that part of PL when you were asked for a discount code. They also have the name your own price option.

Just be careful, policies such as a free extra driver and a grace period for returns may not apply for PL rentals. You'll be charged a VERY HIGH RATE if you need to keep the car an extra day. I don't think you can use the quick rental programs like the Emerald Club to bypass the line.

 

[tracys2cents]

Alamo and Budget have cars starting at $19 a day on your dates.....why risk paying for a Priceline car in advance and not being able to change anything or being able to get a refund should your trip be cancelled?

 

[ForTheLoveofDisney]

Alamo and Budget have cars starting at $19 a day on your dates.....why risk paying for a Priceline car in advance and not being able to change anything or being able to get a refund should your trip be cancelled?

Well, I just looked at Budget and did reserve a car. I can always cancel if I do better with Priceline.

Thanks, everyone, for your replies. I would really love to snag a car for $12 a day which doesn't seem unheard of from what I've seen here (searching) and on BiddingForTravel. The worst they can tell me is not accepted. I think I'll wait and bid much closer to our trip, though.

 

[miss missy]

A girl at work used PL for a car rental, not sure what place, but she didnt pay attention to the time on the ressie and when she arrrives, the ressie was cancelled and they were sold out! She paid a LOT more at another place because of that. So make sure you choose the correct time on your ressie!

 

[tracys2cents]

Never found priceline to be worth the risk when it comes to car rentals. If they have a car for $12 a day you can bet that $13 or $14 a day would be available directly from the car rental company.....and no priceline fee to pay and no risk of paying in advance.

For Next week ,Alamo had compact cars at MCO for $68 a week. That's less than $10 a day. Can't beat that so why waste time trying?

 

[shelleyr25]

I have used Priceline twice for car rentals and had a good experience both times. The first time was in San Juan PR and the second in San Diego. Both times I researched for the lowest price available from the big name rental agencies and then put my price bid in much lower than the going rate. Both times I was granted my price after a few attempts. The prices that I got were definitly below the going rate in both of the locations. Both times my rental was with Avis. In San Diego they were also able to upgrade us from a sedan to a minvan at no extra charge.
I was nervous about paying in advance however both situations worked out well for me and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

 

[szymon]

April,

What size car are you looking for? I guess you want to spend around $73 ($12/day on Priceline)...

Thrifty has a compact for $84.89 for your dates.

Using the Entertainment book $15 off coupon , you can get an economy car at Alamo for $81.02.

Szymon