# Alamo/Costco Rental rate just dropped



## UWSurfer (Sep 25, 2008)

As per recommendations on TUG, I periodically re-check car rental rates and found that same exact rental from Alamo/Costco on Maui dropped $5.50 for a weekly rental from what I had booked a week ago.

Yeah, ok...not huge $ but certainly a gallon of gas or so.  

Interesting to note, when I called up the old reservation to cancel, it still had the old rate and hadn't automatically adjusted down.

It certainly is worth checking periodically.


----------



## LAX Mom (Sep 25, 2008)

I've been watching Costco/Alamo for prices on Maui and they've gone down a couple of times. Yesterday I booked a weekly rental for $110 including almost $40 in taxes & fees! That is $70 for a week in a compact car.

There is a new customer facility charge of $1 per day that wasn't on my first booking several weeks ago. 

Taxes & fees:

Taxes, Surcharges and Fees
Customer Facility Charge 1.00/day $7.00
Airport Concession Fee Recovery $5.95
Rental Mtr Vhcle Schg 3.00 Usd/day $21.00
Veh.registration Fee / Weight Tax $2.45
Sales Tax (4.1660%) $3.31

Edited to add:
You always have to make a new reservation if you find a better rate, at least with Alamo. They don't adjust prior reservations automatically, at least I've never had it happen to me.


----------



## UWSurfer (Sep 25, 2008)

As is always the case, these rates are date sensitive and subject to supply and demand.   That said, the difference between a compact and midsize car is $3, so I did book the midsize.   We are there 11/15- 11/22 and the total price with tax & fees is now $157.50 picking up at OGG. 

This is the best I could do using a $20 discount coupon on-line.   I could save roughly $10 more with a lowball rate with hotwire, but there's an excellent chance I'd have to pay for a second driver at $10/day which doesn't apply to Costco rentals.

Sometimes this all makes my head spin.


----------



## dmbrand (Sep 25, 2008)

Good info!  Would it be better to lock in a car rental now for a June 2009 vacation, or wait till a later date?  We will be on Oahu; are summer rentals difficult to obtain? DawnB


----------



## BevL (Sep 25, 2008)

dmbrand said:


> Good info!  Would it be better to lock in a car rental now for a June 2009 vacation, or wait till a later date?  We will be on Oahu; are summer rentals difficult to obtain? DawnB



Car rentals are different than plane tickets or timeshare exchanges.  You can always cancel without penalty, unless you go through Priceline or Hotwire.  So I always reserve a car as soon as I know when and where, then just watch.  If the price goes down, I just make a new reservation and cancel my old one.


----------



## eakhat (Sep 25, 2008)

We do exactly as BevL does.  We make reservations as soon as we know our travel dates, and we also recheck reservations several times.  We have saved lots of money by rechecking the rates.


----------



## falmouth3 (Sep 25, 2008)

You can also cancel Priceline reservations - IF you haven't put in an offer that is accepted.  In that case, your credit card is charged and there are no refunds or changes.  I've made and canceled car reservations on Priceline several times as the prices dropped.


----------



## LisaRex (Sep 25, 2008)

You might also consider booking a smaller car and waiting to get the upgrade pitch at the counter. 

We traveled to Maui with friends in July.  We booked a midsize SUV for $350.  Our friends booked a midsize sedan for $160.  When they arrived, they offered a small SUV for an additional $10/day.  With taxes, he paid about $100 less than us for a very similar car.


----------



## UWSurfer (Sep 25, 2008)

I used to routinely book a subcompact at the bottom of the rental rates and get placed in a mid or full-size car at no additional  charge.   That ended a few years back when more and more of the places actually started stocking tiny cars in their fleets.

When the difference between a subcompact and a mid-size rental rate is $3 a week, it's not worth it to book a tiny car.

When we were in Oahu at Spring Break we rented a Malibu, it had trouble with the trunk and were put into a Buick Regal, and when the check engine light came on I traded it for a Saturn SUV.   Funny thing was while the Saturn was a larger vehicle, the luggage space wasn't any larger than the trunk of the Regal.


----------



## LAX Mom (Sep 25, 2008)

I actually prefer a small car, easier to park and better gas mileage. The midsize was a few dollars more, but the compact will be fine this trip.


----------



## Carlsbadguy (Sep 25, 2008)

What I have found recently my last 3 trips if you arrive late in the day there aren't any small cars left as people want to save money on gas  I booked a compact for National at Indianapolis- all they had were large SUVs available- finally found a Toyota Rav 4 on the lot.
In MAui booked a compact with Alamo and was told to choose a midsize.   Be careful with Alamo in MAui. I had to return my first car after driving for a little while and then it took me 3 trys to find a car that the key door opener worked correctly. People leave the keys in their pockets while swimming and short them out.


----------



## DeniseM (Sep 25, 2008)

falmouth3 said:


> *You can also cancel Priceline reservations - IF you haven't put in an offer that is accepted.*  In that case, your credit card is charged and there are no refunds or changes.  I've made and canceled car reservations on Priceline several times as the prices dropped.



I'm not sure I understand this.  If your bid isn't accepted - you don't have a Priceline reservation to cancel.


----------



## Sunterra (Sep 25, 2008)

UWSurfer said:


> Interesting to note, when I called up the old reservation to cancel, it still had the old rate and hadn't automatically adjusted down.


The rental agencies do not adjust down without your help.



DeniseM said:


> I'm not sure I understand this.  If your bid isn't accepted - you don't have a Priceline reservation to cancel.


To me, and obviously, to you; a PL reservation is one you bid on.  But I suppose that that f3 is talking about a 'regular' booking that can also be done on the PL site.


----------



## DaveNV (Sep 26, 2008)

I just recalculated my Costco Alamo reservation for our upcoming trip to Sedona, and was able to save another $13 for the week.  Not bad - that's a modest lunch for two somewhere...

Now, if I could only get my November Kauai reservation to go down - the latest prices are up over $100 from what they were last April.    Good thing I made the reservation back then!

Dave


----------



## jehb2 (Sep 27, 2008)

Thanks.  Costco Hertz price became respectable.  I wouldn't have even bothered to check again had I not seen this thread.  Thanks.


----------



## Teddie2 (Sep 29, 2008)

I was looking at costco/alamo for next May and all cars come up over 200 for a week.. pretty steep.  I guess I will keep looking and they may come down. I have a lot of time and usually book when I see a good value.. It would seem from these posts that good value would be in the 150 range.


----------



## californiagirl (Sep 29, 2008)

I checked today after seeing this thread and my rate has gone up from when I booked.  We will be on Kauai this Friday.  Back in August I locked in a Costco rate of $179.11 for a convertible for a week.  This rate includes taxes, surcharges/fees and second driver!!

I was really excited when I got this rate...recommended by a fellow tugger.


----------



## falmouth3 (Sep 29, 2008)

DeniseM said:


> I'm not sure I understand this.  If your bid isn't accepted - you don't have a Priceline reservation to cancel.




You can make a regular reservation through priceline without putting in a bid.  I had 3 different reservations that I cancelled as the prices dropped.


----------



## Cathyb (Sep 29, 2008)

Agree with Howard -- we had cockroaches with our Alamo car in Maui


----------



## DaveNV (Sep 29, 2008)

Teddie2 said:


> I was looking at costco/alamo for next May and all cars come up over 200 for a week.. pretty steep.  I guess I will keep looking and they may come down. I have a lot of time and usually book when I see a good value.. It would seem from these posts that good value would be in the 150 range.



Teddie, take note that the Costco coupons expire December 31st.  They'll have new coupons for the new year, they just aren't there yet.  So the rate you saw was probably the regular prices.  Check them later on.  As I recall, the next year's coupons show up on the Costco website in early December.

Dave


----------



## rickandcindy23 (Sep 29, 2008)

UWSurfer said:


> As per recommendations on TUG, I periodically re-check car rental rates and found that same exact rental from Alamo/Costco on Maui dropped $5.50 for a weekly rental from what I had booked a week ago.
> 
> Yeah, ok...not huge $ but certainly a gallon of gas or so.
> 
> ...



Keep checking, Steve.  I think you will find an even better deal as you get closer.  Gotta love those Costco Alamo prices!  We ended up with a fabulous rate of $179 for fifteen days for a full-size car in Tampa.


----------



## Kauai Kid (Sep 29, 2008)

rickandcindy23 said:


> Keep checking, Steve.  I think you will find an even better deal as you get closer.  Gotta love those Costco Alamo prices!  We ended up with a fabulous rate of $179 for fifteen days for a full-size car in Tampa.



Have you gotta be a member of Costco to get these prices?

Thanks, Sterling


----------



## rickandcindy23 (Sep 29, 2008)

Sterling, we have rented dozens of cars through Costco, as members, but Alamo has never asked for our membership card.


----------



## UWSurfer (Sep 30, 2008)

*Just dropped again...*

A check this morning has the mid-size down about $6 from my last update...or $11 from my first reservation.

Compact rates went down even more.   With taxes and fee's we now have a reservation for a compact (Chevy Cobalt or similar) for $144.66 out the door.

I'll keep checking until we leave.


----------



## Mimi (Oct 6, 2008)

We just booked our Alamo/Costco cars for Maui and Kona for June/July 2009. Thanks.  We used our Quicksilver I.D. # and the price was the same whether we used our Costco membership # or just left the box blank. Total price for Economy (2 weeks) in Maui was $383.82. Total price for Midsize (2 weeks) in Kona was $406.41. Using the online Alamo discount on their website, the rates were higher.


----------



## UWSurfer (Oct 6, 2008)

UWSurfer said:


> A check this morning has the mid-size down about $6 from my last update...or $11 from my first reservation.
> 
> Compact rates went down even more.   With taxes and fee's we now have a reservation for a compact (Chevy Cobalt or similar) for $144.66 out the door.
> 
> I'll keep checking until we leave.




They went back up again to the rates originally quoted.   Lesson here to periodically check the rates and make a new reservation when you find a better rate.

fyi...


----------

