Priceline novice/ nervous

[PatMcDuck]

I am so frustrated with the rental car rates for August I want to SCREAM! LOL. I am considering Priceline. What is a rough idea of what to bid for a minivan?

I am scared of getting Dollar/ in the past they charged me extra at the last minute for an extended minivan, and they love to tack on the fee for spouse to drive, too......... I am not sure if they would do this with a Priceline reservation, too.If I have free 2nd driver thru AAA, Emerald, or something, would that hold with a Priceline reservation?

Also, I saw someone her say that since they had Quick****** or Emerald, they still went and picked their own car, even with the Priceline reservation.

Any expericed Priceliners out there? I can live with getting Hertz and riding that bus, if I have to.

 

[SB in KY]

Well Priceline does not book through Dollar so you don't have to worry about that. Personally we have not gotten Hertz but once through Priceline at MCO and it was faster than waiting in the Alamo line even with the shuttle ride so I didn't mind.

National did not let us use Emerald for Priceline reservations, Alamo did let us bypass the counter with ***********.

I don't know your dates...I am not having much luck on Priceline for end of July, beginning of August, but others have had good luck with them. I may need to raise my bid a little or it maybe the fact that it is a 2 week rental that is giving me trouble. Either way something will have to be better than the rates I am getting through direct bookings!!

 

[CarolA]

Priceline rentals do not include an extra driver so you have to pay for that on top of the rental.

Also, no gurantee of the "extended minivan" without an extra charge.

 

[rlduvall]

Alamo did let us bypass the counter with ***********.

So after you won the bid with Priceline, did you call Alamo and give them your QS number or how did you handle that? I know they can't add it to existing reservations, so I was wondering how you made that happen. I love emerald aisle and QS service.

TIA

 

[decerbod]

bump

 

[clombardi]

Well...your post gave me some courage tonight. I have also been completely annoyed at the rates for the end of August, then I saw your post and thought, "It is time to try Priceline." So I dove in and guess what?????

I tried a mid-size first for $12 but no luck. Then they asked me to change something about my request. I chose the car type because I can't change the dates. I changed to $14 because I was now asking for a larger car.

I wound up with a full size car from Alamo for $14 a day. With tax and fees, it comes to $143 for 7 days! That is an awesome price!

 

[maciec]

Well...your post gave me some courage tonight. I have also been completely annoyed at the rates for the end of August, then I saw your post and thought, "It is time to try Priceline." So I dove in and guess what?????

I tried a mid-size first for $12 but no luck. Then they asked me to change something about my request. I chose the car type because I can't change the dates. I changed to $14 because I was now asking for a larger car.

I wound up with a full size car from Alamo for $14 a day. With tax and fees, it comes to $143 for 7 days! That is an awesome price!

WOW! That is a great rate! I am trying to get Priceline to accept a bid for our 3 day trip to Maine at the end of this month for $24 per day and have had to luck for a full size car. I do have a full size car booked through Budget for $153 and I think that's ridiculous! I am going to keep trying though.