Price Change on Rental Car

[Dax]

Ok, I am actually renting a car in Pittsburgh, but I am sure this applys to anywhere, how often do you check and change your rental car prices? My original price for my Budget rental in June for 9 days was going to be $290. That was about 2 mo ago. I just re-checked again for about the 4th time, and it is down to $260. Is this normal? I am sure it will continue to drop.

Does anyone else obsess over this or is this just me. I check like EVERY company once a week. Its like an addiction.

 

[Crazy4mandms]

You are soooo lucky!! I orig booked over 4 months ago through Avis (we don't have Alamo here any longer..they were great!!) and the price has gone UP by $150!!! They are the only co. around here that offers unlimited mileage so I don't check any others. But I understand your obsession! Renting the van and the price of gas are the MOST expensive part of my whole trip!!! Good for you getting the price down!

 

[oldcrow]

I made a car reservation through Enterprise in Los Angeles about 2 months ago for the last weekend in April. A month later I rechecked it and the price had dropped, just like yours. In fact, I was able to upgrade by 2 whole car groups and the price was still lower than the original price. I just hope the price doesn't jump before I get there. (I'm more worried about Delta at this point though. If I can get to L.A. I'll be so happy I'll probably pay whatever they ask for at the car rental desk.)

 

[ACDSNY]

OK I'll admit to checking quite often on car rental rates. I booked our Oct 06 rental back in Dec 05. Standard SUV 10 days total w/taxes $288 at Alamo. It's a great rate, but I still check off and on to see it I can get a lower rate. I'm pretty loyal to Alamo they seem to have the best rates on the vehicle types I need. Plus I won a 4 night/5 day WDW trip from them last year.

 

[adamandallie]

We are going to Seattle in a couple of days and I have also been obsessed with the rental car rates. They change constantly. When I first started looking back in Dec the rates at the airport were well over $300 for a week rental of a mini van. I ended up booking a mini van through Enterprise off airport location and got a rate of $206 for the week but we have to take a cab to get there and they needed to have the car back the night before our departure to get that rate which means another cab or airport shuttle to the airport (an additional $30 for cab fares). Over this past weekend I checked the airport rates again and the rates are down to $266 at Alamo. Still a little higher than the off site rate but I think I will take it for convenience sake. I can get that rate lower at Alamo if I use the prepay option but I'll hold off until the last minute for that since there are cancellation fees involved if something happens with our trip.

 

[drogerstn]

... how often do you check and change your rental car prices?...

I check almost weekly unless I've got a rate which I feel is probably too good to beat; then, I check maybe every 3 weeks or even less frequently.

Two examples:

1. Last spring I booked a rental car for a 5-6 day period in July and I checked every one or two weeks and re-booked 2 or 3 more times including the week prior to our trip.
2. I booked a "mid-size" (small) SUV in February for 10-days in June at a total amount of $169 (including tax & fees). I have only checked back once or twice since then (over 2 months) because this is a good rate.

 

[justplaingoofy]

I'm obsessed with getting a great deal

Its such an accomplishment to save $$ for getting the exact same thing.
Last April reserved a midsize through Alamo w/tax & fees $169, kept checking back and found in the end of July the same car for $129.

 

[ACDSNY]

There doesn't seem to be any hard and fast rules to get the best price. Sometimes my early reservations have had the best rate and sometimes it's within the last few weeks before a trip.