Tips/Codes for Rental Car?

[MKCP5]

Looking to rent a car on May 20--just a small one, and i am still finding it to be about $275. That's quite a bit more than I was hoping to pay. Anyone have any tips? And have you used any of the "off" brands? They are a little less expensive, but that makes me nervous.

 

[kj2mom]

I always check carrentalsavers.com and I check several times a day. When I first check I make a reservation I can live with but then whenever I found anything less expensive, even if only a couple of dollars, I would make a new reservation then cancel my original. I wanted to use a company on site as opposed to having to shuttle but that was pretty much my only requirement. I ended up going with Dollar at about $50 less than the reservation I initially made (I think I rebooked 4 times during the couple of months finally settling on one 3 days before our trip). I was really hoping to get around $200 (4th of July week) and I ended up with $165.

 

[J'aime Paris]

Thanks for the tip!
I had a car rental arranged with costco travel for $140.
Searched carrentalsavers and was able to get same category of vehicle for $121!

 

[Disco]

If you're a southwest flyer you can check out their discounts. You can get points towards flying and big discount rates. If your not a SW flyer you can still use the discount codes from their site and plug them into the rental car sites and still get the savings.

 

[jiminy14]

I booked a full-size car with Thrifty for our upcoming May 8-17 a couple of months ago for $258. In the past two days, the rate has dropped to $185 and I re-booked the reservation. You have to be diligent and check several times a day, every day to get a great rate.

 

[kj2mom]

Thanks for the tip!
I had a car rental arranged with costco travel for $140.
Searched carrentalsavers and was able to get same category of vehicle for $121!

Fantastic! I look at that as a counter service meal saved! Definitely keep checking as your trip gets closer and check at all different times of day. I ended up finding my best rate one night at 11pm when I checked right before bed. When I got up in the morning I checked again and the rate had gone back up quite a bit. I happened to catch it right at the right moment!

 

[BizmoFunyuns]

Sometimes it is just luck to get the free upgrades. I recently rented a car for a one way trip to meet family already on vacation. Reservation was for a standard car for one day. Ended up getting a brand new infinity crossover. Not very standard at all, fully loaded even. So many buttons in there I didn't even get a chance to see what they all did!

 

[cassie58]

If you are renting for Disney, go on Mousesavers.com. They have a list of codes for discounts for different companies. It also tells you which companies are the "value" brand of the more expensive companies. I also check through Ebates and retailmenot.com for coupon codes for whichever companies I am checking. When I was looking for a rental car for DS's soccer tour. in Tampa, for 5 days, starting on a Wed.,was only finding rates for $200+. It didn't qualify for weekend or weekly, which made it harder. But I kept checking, and found the coupon code for Alamo, which ended up being cheaper to start, had a free upgrade to midsize, and then with the code came to $127, and I got Ebates % as well! SW did have discounts, as did BJ's Wholesale Club membership, but neither ended up being better.