Renting a Mini Van Questions

[JohnDaleswife]

I was originally going to rent a full size car with Costco, but now realize a mini-van would suit our needs much better. North Georgia, Enterprise through Costco, 7 day rental on a minivan is $340.

 

[StirlingSilver83]

I'm not really a big help here, but we are renting a mini van for our trip in March. Before I knew my husband could use his work's travel company to book a promotional deal the cheapest I saw was from Hertz and I believe that it was around $800...that price was for 2 weeks. But my hubby got a deal through enterprise through his work so we are only paying $650 for 2 weeks...I would wait until your trip gets closer to see if you can get promotional deals.

 

[pooch]

I will need a minivan (ugh!) for a few days of our trip sept 2017. Would it make sense to rent for 2-3 days versus just keeping the darn thing for the whole trip (7 days )?

 

[tobikaye]

It depends on the price and availability. I was looking at a rental for a weekend getaway once and the price for the 3 days was only about $20 less than for the full week. I booked the full week and figured it would be easier to pick it up a couple days earlier. I ended up having to cancel as I had to cancel the trip.

 

[Piglet]

Thank you all for the help!! I appreciate your responses!!

 

[brownhaired_girl]

You can try Contract code 7014926 20% off. Coupon code AD3868JST $25.00 off specialty. and Prod. code AS1 Alamo insider.

We have a minivan for 15 days Sept 22-Oct 6 for $390 at this time. Used AP member 15000 for contract code. It seemed a bit better than the Alamo insiders code

 

[Piglet]

We have a minivan for 15 days Sept 22-Oct 6 for $390 at this time. Used AP member 15000 for contract code. It seemed a bit better than the Alamo insiders code

Do you have to show any documents when picking up with this code?

 

[NotUrsula]

First thing to know is that minivans are THE most popular model of vehicle in rental fleets, so they have the highest daily price. The simplest answer to how to save money is DO NOT rent a minivan. (Which makes more sense than you might think; lots of people who drive minivans at home want to rent them because they are what they prefer, even though they might only have 4 passengers on the trip. Bottom line is, if you don't need seats for more than 5 people, go with a full-sized car -- MUCH cheaper, and lots of trunk space.)

 

[FigmentSpark]

The problem isn't the seating for more than 4, it's the luggage space for 4 suitcases + carry-ons.

 

[brownhaired_girl]

Do you have to show any documents when picking up with this code?

i have not been asked for any documents. i also have full sized reserved. when I get there i will ask the attendant what is available in full sized aisle. i have gotten minivan at full sized price. If minivans are available in full-size aisle you just need to be sure the checkout person uses the correct reservation. I had one question me once, but when I told her the attendant said it was ok she did it. Another poster (who I believe may have worked there before) posted that the person at the checkout gate would have known what was allowed from the full sized aisle. I'm sure this won't work every time but I'll have a backup plan.

 

[FigmentSpark]

So, you had a minivan reservation AND a full size reservation. You checked out the full size lane first, hoping for (and finding) a minivan, so you just took that and let your minivan reservation lapse? Did you do the online check in for both first or did you go to the desk? How did that work?

 

[brownhaired_girl]

Yes, for that trip I had two reservations. That was a reservation I did a couple years ago. I didn't do online checkin that time for that reservation. I don't think the online checkin would work for that plan. The only time I did the online checkin was for my last reservation this past April. For my September trip I have 2 separate reservations.

 

[brownhaired_girl]

We just got back from a 10 day trip Sept 5th-15th. I had signed up for the Emerald Aisle at National. Got Emerald Aisle reservation for $208 for 10 days. You are only assured of a midsized car with this reservation. We needed a minivan and I was aware that there might not be one on the emerald aisle. I had a backup reservation at Alamo with their Insiders Club and another coupon for $309. Both of these memberships are free to join. I went to the Emerald Aisle and asked the lady that was working there if there were minivans on the emerald aisle at that time. She asked how many people we had and I explained that we had 6. I explained that I did have a reservation with Alamo (which I believe is a sister company). She took me to the minivan area and told me that I could close one. I believe I had read other posts from someone who previously worked there who stated that the people working the aisle know what they are allowed to let people take on any given day. She was very nice and I did make note of her name. When we packed up and went to leave the person at the window said "This wasn't on the aisle today but I will let you take it this time." I did tell her that the person who was working the aisle had told me that I could take the minivan. This saved me $100 that day. I certainly wouldn't expect this to happen during a busy time of year but I sure felt as though I scored that day.

It looks like it was Sept 2013 and I had reservations at National and Alamo. My bad for remembering wrong.