Priceline rental car rates

[Herding_Cats]

I’ve only had to rent a car 3x ever, but have an upcoming trip (February) planned and with the state of Disney busses, a rental car is a must.

I currently have a car booked through hertz using a mousesavers coupon code. However, when I look at Priceline, it shows the same rate but NOT any of the taxes/fees in the “amount due.” It amounts to about a 33% discount on what I’ll end up paying if I keep my current reservation.


Also, I saw mentioned in another thread about not being able to “skip the counter” when using 3rd party bookings or something? We used Alamo back in August (through Alamo, no coupon codes) and basically walked into the garage and drove away. This is what I would prefer to do again.

 

[Leigh L]

Are you a Costco member? I find the best car deals there. Usually Budget has the lowest prices, but sometimes Alamo is around the same price or slightly higher. I usually aim for Alamo myself.

Sorry, I know you asked about Priceline. I've used Priceline for hotels, but never much luck with car rentals. (We rent fairly often, at least a couple of times a year.)

There is another website, I can't remember the name, AutoSlash? I think if you search there they show the best deals from everywhere.

 

[Herding_Cats]

I’m not a Costco member so that idea is out.

I’ve been comparing rates every few weeks (have free cancellation, haven’t paid anything yet) and the hertz rate is currently the cheapest by about $30. I’m really mostly wondering if the PL rate isn’t including all of the taxes and fees and I would get hit with those on the back end of the rental.

 

[Spartan86]

PL does show you the estimated total in smaller print below the posted daily rate. Additionally if you select one of the deals it takes you to a “checkout” page where the taxes and totals are shown.

Incidentally keep checking pricing. I’ve often rebooked numerous times as we approach the day of the rental.

 

[_19disnA]

If you are not a frequent renter, I would avoid the 'no name' brands since they always try to stick you with added fees for unnecessary things like 'insurance', fuel refills, etc. Haggling with them at the counter is very annoying and some of those low budget rentals are somewhere offsite with their counters having limited hours. The aggravation of using them isn't worth the few dollars you might save. Make sure you know the exact type of vehicle you are renting. All rental car companies seem to use terms differently then you or I. Their idea of a 'large size' vehicle is more like what I would call a 'compact' car. Make sure the vehicle is the right size for your party including the luggage you will be bringing.

 

[EACarlson]

Hertz will absolutely let you enter your member number to skip the counter through Priceline. On the checkout page there is a space on the left side for the Gold Plus Number. Put that in and it should populate your info on the Hertz site. I did this in October and my name was on the board when I walked up. Alternatively you can call Hertz with your confirmation number and they can add your Gold Plus number to the res on their side.

I use Autoslash, they check all of the publicly available rates and codes and show you all the results, then you book through Priceline. I got a minivan this way in DEN last month for 240/week compared to the Alamo listed price of $700.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

We use priceline all the time... actually I always reserve two cars from diffrent companies. No cards or deposits necessary. Last October I had one from thrifty and one from Alamo... thrifty was out of cars so I was thankful I had the alamo one. We walked stright to the car.
Keep checking back with priceline cause prices change and sometimes they have last minute deals.