Rental Car Prices

[disny_luvr]

We will be renting a car for only the second time this summer, so I don't have a lot of experience with car rentals. We have booked a two-week rental with pick up in San Francisco and drop off in San Diego. We are using Enterprise as my husband gets a pretty good discount with them through his work. Our trip is in June/July. Is it common for rental car prices to drop? Should I keep checking the price? We are about three months out from our trip, so I'm not sure if prices will drop anymore.

TIA!

 

[EACarlson]

If he's getting a discount through his work, he's probably using a corporate discount code, which is a set price and not going to change. If you'd like, you can input your information at www.autoslash.com and they will keep checking and let you know if they find something that beats your price. If he gets a discount with Enterprise, he probably gets one using the same code with National. I've found National to have better vehicles than Enterprise for a very similar price. I think with my code it is an extra two dollars per week to book with National instead of Enterprise.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I find that rental car prices do drop significantly lots of times. Every year we go to Hilton Head, the prices drop between when we initially reserve and the time we actually go. Every few weeks, I check prices again and there's often a drop, maybe a lot, maybe just a little. Last month we reserved an SUV for May at the Cape-checked again today and the price was down about $50. And be sure to check a few days beforehand. Sometimes there's a last minute drop.

 

[Donna M]

I always make a car reservation when I make the air reservation, but I never prepay; the price has always dropped. It starts to drop about a week and half out. I will make a new one then cancel the old one, it becomes a game to see how low I can get it to go. Your situation could be different because of the company involvement and renting in California.

 

[ilikecarrentals]

Just be aware if you are using a corporate discount the price may not change. Some corporate discounts are a flat price based on the rental parameters. e.g. a one way in California is $35 per day. If you keep checking and the price never changes then you will know.

It is probably worth comparing to other agencies and non corporate rates as occasionally they can be cheaper and will fluctuate. With one way rentals some agencies may want to move cars and some may not. It can result in some crazy price comparisons. Check https://carrentalsavers.com/ to compare multiple agencies.

 

[disny_luvr]

Thank you, everyone! I really am thrilled with our current price, but it never hurts to see if I can save a few bucks. Just for giggles, I priced out a rental for the same dates, same car type without the corporate code and it is almost $4500 for the two weeks with pick up/drop off at two different locations. We are currently quoted at $1167 so I'm not complaining one bit! If we were paying $4500 there is absolutely no way this trip would even be happening!

 

[Gr8t Fan]

We use Autoslash to track our car rentals. You give them your confirmation number, date and price and they monitor it for any price drops and email you when they occur. We've saved lots of money over the years.