Priceline

[dsnymom2003]

Has anyone had success with Priceline for rental car? We want to rent from here in NC and drop back off here. What was the best rate you were able to secure? Did you have any trouble getting the right size car?

 

[jojo9610]

We rented through Priceline last month at the Raleigh Durham Airport for $25 per day for a compact car. No problems getting what we wanted.

 

[Green Tea]

I have gotten mini vans, once for $15 once for $25. You will absolutely get the kind you reserve. Look at the car section of betterbidding.com for ideas on pricing. Small cars likely about $11 or 12 a day, and on up.

 

[IDoDis]

I almost always use priceline for car rentals. The best rate I got was $12 per day for an intermediate car in Orlando for 10 days. I always go for the intermediate car. If they don't have one available when you arrive, they upgrade you for free or will throw in a GPS or satellite radio. The most I've paid via priceline is around $24 per day. This is for the bid your own price rentals. You can visit betterbidding.com and see what other people have paid for priceline and hotwire rentals in your area. Priceline is typically a few bucks a day lower than the price you'll see on hotwire.

This summer I could not get a good deal on a rental via priceline locally and opted to go with Enterprise for a weekend road trip for $20 per day.

I've never been disappointed with the priceline rentals. They are always the name-brand rentals from the airport.

 

[rflorek]

I have never tried a Priceline rental when you were taking the rental car out of state on a trip, but I guess it can be done (I've always done PL for a destination, like Maine & San Diego, where I would stay in the general area for vacation)

 

[NeverlandClub23]

I just used Priceline a few weeks ago when I went to Cedar Point and needed to drive from the Cleveland airport. The company ended up being Hertz and everything went really smoothly! I originally put in $13 a day and a little window came back and said that was too low. So I put in $14 a day and got that. I didn't have to pay a dime over what I paid when I went through Priceline (it is non-refundable). I just wanted a small economy car and got a Kia Spectra (power windows and locks). I had unlimited miles and I put gas in it myself before turning in (I drove about 200 miles). I would definitely do it again!

 

[robinb]

I have also rented from Priceline a few times and I never had a problem *except* you have to stand in line instead of just going straight to the car. My advice is to start bidding at 40% off of Hotwire's price for the size of car you want, ignore the messages that are telling you that you are bidding too low and DO NOT bid on an Economy car expecting an automatic upgrade. Some places don't have Econ cars on the lot and others do and will charge you A LOT to upgrade to a car that will fit your family.

 

[swilshire]

I have never tried a Priceline rental when you were taking the rental car out of state on a trip, but I guess it can be done (I've always done PL for a destination, like Maine & San Diego, where I would stay in the general area for vacation)

You might find that taking the car out of state violates the terms of the rental. We ran into this once with a rental directly from the company. Never occured to me until I read the paperwork.

Now I stick with National, who is much more liberal about that sort of thing than a lot of companies. I've even taken them into Canada with no problem and from England to Scotland.

Sheila