Rental car confusion, what is your best advice?

[MillauFr]

Yes, definitely book, cancel and rebook as necessary. Sometimes I do this six times, but it eventually comes in for about half of the first price I see (several months out) on Costcotravel.

Ditto. Also never prepay because if the price drops you can't cancel and rebook.

 

[nancy drew]

I'm curious about these low car rental rates you all talk about. Maybe my idea of "low rate" is different from others', but I am seeing a cost of $350 through Costco for a 3 day rental of a compact car. I'm seeing $250 for the same car through AAA. Then there is the expense of gas, parking, etc. Knowing that I can use a car service and taxis and spend less than that amount for our purposes, why would I instead rent a car? Or are there lower rates that I'm not aware of that make it worthwhile? FWIW, we would be renting at the airport and dropping off the car in Anaheim. Isn't it more cost-effective to use taxis/car service?

 

[jeffg4]

I'm curious about these low car rental rates you all talk about. Maybe my idea of "low rate" is different from others', but I am seeing a cost of $350 through Costco for a 3 day rental of a compact car. I'm seeing $250 for the same car through AAA. Then there is the expense of gas, parking, etc. Knowing that I can use a car service and taxis and spend less than that amount for our purposes, why would I instead rent a car? Or are there lower rates that I'm not aware of that make it worthwhile? FWIW, we would be renting at the airport and dropping off the car in Anaheim. Isn't it more cost-effective to use taxis/car service?

Check the details on your rates. If you are picking up and dropping off at a different location, you are likely paying a "drop off charge" which can be as high as $150 in California depending on what type of car you're renting. The only way to avoid a drop off charge, in my experience, is to inquire with the rental companies directly over the phone. Sometimes they will agree to waive the drop off charge, but not in most cases. Also, if you have a rental club membership, they may waive the drop off charge. The decision to rent a car comes down to cost and convenience. Do you want to pay the additional cost for the convenience of having the car?

 

[nancy drew]

Check the details on your rates. If you are picking up and dropping off at a different location, you are likely paying a "drop off charge" which can be as high as $150 in California depending on what type of car you're renting. The only way to avoid a drop off charge, in my experience, is to inquire with the rental companies directly over the phone. Sometimes they will agree to waive the drop off charge, but not in most cases. Also, if you have a rental club membership, they may waive the drop off charge. The decision to rent a car comes down to cost and convenience. Do you want to pay the additional cost for the convenience of having the car?

Thanks for explaining that. For us, for that cost, I guess it doesn't make sense to rent a car and spend all of that money. I just kept hearing all of this talk of renting a car to save money, and I thought there was something missing. I guess most people are doing round trip car rentals.

 

[riostoker]

I'm curious about these low car rental rates you all talk about. Maybe my idea of "low rate" is different from others', but I am seeing a cost of $350 through Costco for a 3 day rental of a compact car. I'm seeing $250 for the same car through AAA. Then there is the expense of gas, parking, etc. Knowing that I can use a car service and taxis and spend less than that amount for our purposes, why would I instead rent a car? Or are there lower rates that I'm not aware of that make it worthwhile? FWIW, we would be renting at the airport and dropping off the car in Anaheim. Isn't it more cost-effective to use taxis/car service?

Really investigate whether or not it is going to save you money to use taxi/car-service. We are taking an 8 day trip in September, flying into San Diego, spending four days there, then 4 days in Anaheim, flying out of John Wayne. I thought for sure that I would just use the car in San Diego and then drop it off in Anaheim our first day there and take a shuttle or something to the airport. WRONG!

I compared many different sites - Kayak, Expedia, Priceline, and discount codes I can use at the company where I work.

Across the board, the rental rate ended up being DOUBLE for me dropping off at Anaheim as opposed to dropping off at the airport. I have no idea why. I was looking at minivans since I need that size for our family. Depending on the rental company and discount, I could find a minivan for $40-$50 per day keeping it the whole week and dropping off at the airport. If I only kept it 4 days and dropped it off in Anaheim, I think the lowest rate I found was about $102 per day. Ridiculous! In the end, it was cheaper for me to keep the car the whole week and return it to the airport than it was to go carless in Anaheim and take a shuttle to the airport. Even though my return location is still different than my pick-up location, the rates were drastically different when the drop-off location was Anaheim.

I don't know whether it was the shorter time (not getting a weekly rate) that was the issue, or maybe they jack up prices for Anaheim drop-offs... not sure. But DEFINITELY do comparison shopping. I was shocked.

I'm not sure what your plan is for your trip and why you are dropping off in Anaheim, but if it is an option to drop off at the airport at the end of your trip instead, look into that.

 

[Micahisgood54]

I like Costco for rental car they were super easy and they gave us a 20$ gift card for going through them!!!!!

 

[nancy drew]

Really investigate whether or not it is going to save you money to use taxi/car-service. We are taking an 8 day trip in September, flying into San Diego, spending four days there, then 4 days in Anaheim, flying out of John Wayne. I thought for sure that I would just use the car in San Diego and then drop it off in Anaheim our first day there and take a shuttle or something to the airport. WRONG!

I compared many different sites - Kayak, Expedia, Priceline, and discount codes I can use at the company where I work.

Across the board, the rental rate ended up being DOUBLE for me dropping off at Anaheim as opposed to dropping off at the airport. I have no idea why. I was looking at minivans since I need that size for our family. Depending on the rental company and discount, I could find a minivan for $40-$50 per day keeping it the whole week and dropping off at the airport. If I only kept it 4 days and dropped it off in Anaheim, I think the lowest rate I found was about $102 per day. Ridiculous! In the end, it was cheaper for me to keep the car the whole week and return it to the airport than it was to go carless in Anaheim and take a shuttle to the airport. Even though my return location is still different than my pick-up location, the rates were drastically different when the drop-off location was Anaheim.

I don't know whether it was the shorter time (not getting a weekly rate) that was the issue, or maybe they jack up prices for Anaheim drop-offs... not sure. But DEFINITELY do comparison shopping. I was shocked.

I'm not sure what your plan is for your trip and why you are dropping off in Anaheim, but if it is an option to drop off at the airport at the end of your trip instead, look into that.

We are flying in to LAX and staying in LA for a few days, then going to DLR for a week, then flying out of SNA. So there really is no way to bring it back to the same airport without wasting a good portion of the day and spending money on a shuttle anyway.

 

[nicolispicoli]

Basically what @jeffg4 said. Low rates aren't guaranteed, I suppose it's all about when you're coming, how long you need a car, if you're paying hotel parking, etc.

You might be seeing $250 v. $350 right now, but if it were me, I would still book Costco and watch it daily until right before my trip. You never know how much it could drop before.

Before I bought a new car, I rented cars to drive back and forth to Disneyland from Sacramento. Even recently when flights in were expensive, but not out, I paid $50 to rent a car and drove to Disneyland, dropping it as soon as I arrived at the GCH and then flew home.

I don't think people rent cars solely to get them back and forth from the airport. Obviously, most people have some other reason because as you said, otherwise they would just use a car service/shuttle to get around. There are some people who would rather just get a car than deal without that hassle. That's not me, I'll save whatever I can

 

[wildflower329]

The different pick up and drop off location is what is killing you on rental car pricing. We are going to be there end of August, flying in and out of SNA, and our Sun-Sat rental is $145 for a full-size car. While we could probably use transportation for a little less than that, the flexibility the car gives us far outweighs the difference in cost since it is so small.

 

[V.I.N.C.E.N.T.]

Check your credit card point reward systems (if you have any). For example, Chase Sapphire will give you a deep discount on a car rental for using any amount of points for the reservation. We recently went on a trip to Hawaii, I used one point (yes $1 worth) and paid the rest in cash. Got a convertible mustang for the week for $24 per day with the discount. The card also covered all insurance so I did not need to purchase any additional coverage.

 

[limace]

Just got a week early in August through Costco for $154 for a midsize!

 

[smchristy]

I have a rate with Alamo for Thurs to Mon for a mid-size SUV - $134 (including taxes). I used Expedia to compare rates. The nice thing about it is that I only reserved the car, didn't have to pay for it yet. I could have gotten a cheaper deal with a different car, but I wanted the mid-size SUV.

 

[riostoker]

We are flying in to LAX and staying in LA for a few days, then going to DLR for a week, then flying out of SNA. So there really is no way to bring it back to the same airport without wasting a good portion of the day and spending money on a shuttle anyway.

I didn't say taking it back to the same airport. My trip is very similar to yours. Fly into one airport, fly out of a different one. The HUGE difference in cost for us was WHERE we returned the car... whether we returned it to Anaheim (not where we picked it up) or SNA (not where we picked it up). The daily rate was $100+ if we returned to Anaheim. It was $40+ if we returned to SNA. SOOO.... keeping it the full 8 days, picking up at one airport, returning at another was STILL cheaper than picking up at one airport, keeping the car 4 days and returning in Anaheim. I never said anything about returning to the same airport where you picked up.

 

[sharona]

@nancy drew You need to look at all costs for your dates. See what it would cost to keep the car and drop it off at SNA instead of Anaheim. Don't forget to include your shuttle or car service cost to get from Anaheim to SNA when comparing dropping off vs. keeping the car (and the per bag tip you'll likely give the driver). Also calculate any gas and parking costs for your hotel and the parks if you'll be driving there.

Alamo has had some great rates lately and if you google you will find coupon codes for $30 off or free one car class upgrades. Sign up for the Alamo Insiders program and see if that gets you a better deal than Costco or AAA. Another great source of car rental deals is Southwest's website. It also allows you to use coupon codes on top of their deals.

 

[bcla]

I check Priceline first and then I double check prices with the actual car rental sites. Check for online coupons - I find codes all the time (just Google the company name and coupon) and have received emails with discounts from several companies in the last couple of weeks.

Once you see what they are going for then you can either go with what you find or name your own price with Priceline. I have had very good luck getting cheaper prices that way and the cars have all been exactly what I was looking for. Priceline only deals with the big car rental places when doing the name your price.

Really - I was worried that they might stick me with Advantage, Firefly, Fox, or E-Z.

I would note that the big advantage of standard car rentals is that there's no general penalty for a no-show and most reservations don't require a credit card or prepayment. I've actually had multiple reservations open on Priceline where I got a better rate each time. Once I rented a car for my wife to take someone else out, but then she recruited me to drive them around in my car. When we got to the rental counter where my wife decided to bail on the rental, the agent simply asked if she wanted to cancel then and there. I've also rented where we were to arrive by bus in Reno. The bus broke down and arrived so late I figured I didn't need the car for that day. I called up the rental counter and was told that it didn't really matter if I didn't show up. I ended up renting a car super cheap - $22 for less than 24 hours including all fees. I think the base rate was $12/day.

I think one issue with prepaid rentals (like Priceline bidding) is that it's harder to modify the reservation.

 

[tzeitel]

Really - I was worried that they might stick me with Advantage, Firefly, Fox, or E-Z.

The name your price deal with is Alamo, Avis, Budget, Hertz, and National.

 

[nancy drew]

I didn't say taking it back to the same airport. My trip is very similar to yours. Fly into one airport, fly out of a different one. The HUGE difference in cost for us was WHERE we returned the car... whether we returned it to Anaheim (not where we picked it up) or SNA (not where we picked it up). The daily rate was $100+ if we returned to Anaheim. It was $40+ if we returned to SNA. SOOO.... keeping it the full 8 days, picking up at one airport, returning at another was STILL cheaper than picking up at one airport, keeping the car 4 days and returning in Anaheim. I never said anything about returning to the same airport where you picked up.

@nancy drew You need to look at all costs for your dates. See what it would cost to keep the car and drop it off at SNA instead of Anaheim. Don't forget to include your shuttle or car service cost to get from Anaheim to SNA when comparing dropping off vs. keeping the car (and the per bag tip you'll likely give the driver). Also calculate any gas and parking costs for your hotel and the parks if you'll be driving there.

Alamo has had some great rates lately and if you google you will find coupon codes for $30 off or free one car class upgrades. Sign up for the Alamo Insiders program and see if that gets you a better deal than Costco or AAA. Another great source of car rental deals is Southwest's website. It also allows you to use coupon codes on top of their deals.

I checked Costco, AAA, and Alamo and we are looking at $500-700 or more to keep an economy car for our whole trip, returning it to an airport. And that doesn't include any parking expenses or gas. Bummer. We still might do the shorter rental. Compared to those prices it looks like a bargain. Just trying to firm up the itinerary.

 

[8timesblessed]

We love Costco. I had booked months ago but checked the night before and the rate went down $30 so I rebooked. 4 days in a full size for 85 from orange county.

 

[sharona]

I checked Costco, AAA, and Alamo and we are looking at $500-700 or more to keep an economy car for our whole trip, returning it to an airport. And that doesn't include any parking expenses or gas. Bummer. We still might do the shorter rental. Compared to those prices it looks like a bargain. Just trying to firm up the itinerary.

Wow that is outrageous. Last year we drove a rental (mid SUV) from San Diego to San Francisco over 7 days dropping off in downtown SF for under $300. It was through National and i believe we used a code for an airline frequent flyer program and a $25 off coupon I found online...

 

[NMcowboy]

Costco... always check a few days before vacation too, in some cases the prices drop even further..