Find the best deal you can today and book it. Then keep checking. Either the price you have will be the best deal, or you'll find a better one. When you find a better one, book it, and cancel the old one. Mousesavers.com is a good place to start. They list lots of coupons and discount codes. Most rental companies allow the use of a discount code + a coupon, one of each.
Be wary of any code that includes free insurance. Usually it's a business or membership type of discount where they could ask for ID at the counter.
We find the best deal is using the Costco code with
Alamo. I like Alamo that they allow me to choose the vehicle. We can skip over one that smells like smoke or with a dark interior that will be hot. The kids like a sunroof, etc.
I also like that I can skip the counter and use their touch screen kiosk which is basically right next to the long line of crazy people who don't know that the kiosk is about the same level of difficulty as an ATM machine. It prints a receipt and I take it with me, choose a car and at the exit booth show my printed receipt, DL, CC, and the hang tag from the rearview mirror. Easy peasy.
If for some reason you choose to not use a coupon (incl e-coupon codes) you can do online check in and skip the kiosk step completely. Just walk out the rental car garage across the street and choose from Alamo's section.
OTOH, if having a free addl. driver is important to you Budget allows a spouse to drive with no addl charge.
I believe that is the case with Alamo but only if you sign up for their Insiders program. I don't know how it works with adding the 2nd driver and using the kiosk. The one time I tried to do it, it kept adding in the addl driver fee even though Costco members shouldn't be charged it either.
Maybe someone with recent experience can elaborate; we haven't rented in a while.
hth!
