# Priceline Car Rental- $16 per day came through!



## Liz Wolf-Spada (Jun 18, 2010)

:whoopie: 
Priceline, $16 per day for 2 weeks on Hawaii, starting June 9th!
Liz


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## chester1122 (Jun 18, 2010)

It was a good tip to use priceline.  I just got 10 days for October on the big island at $17 per day with Hertz for a standard car.  Even this far out it was worth it.  Saved over $100 from my national reservation.


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## NEGreyhound (Jun 18, 2010)

Great advice. Thanks for the heads up. It saved me a lot. They wouldn't take $16 but they did take $17 per day for the week of Aug. 20, 2010 with a compact car.This being our first trip to Hawaii I am really looking forward to it. Thanks again.


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## MuranoJo (Jun 19, 2010)

I plan to do this next year for a Sept. visit.  Good to see you can get those rates in June for an Oct. visit.  I was thinking it would have to be much closer to the visit date.

Have had great success using PL for overnight stays in Seattle on the way to HI or MX for a cheaper airfare.


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## Cathyb (Jun 19, 2010)

*Do you mean July 9?*



Liz Wolf-Spada said:


> :whoopie:
> Priceline, $16 per day for 2 weeks on Hawaii, starting June 9th!
> Liz



Great price but don't you mean July 9?  What size car and what company did you get?  See you at Kona Hawaiian the second week.


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## Liz Wolf-Spada (Jun 19, 2010)

Oh dear, yes, July 9 to 23rd. Mid size car and it came through National. I need electronic mirrors and seat adjustment, so hopefully it will have that. I just can't easily drive bigger cars as I am now down to 4 feet, 9 inches. (Still shrinking LOL)
Liz


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## geoand (Jun 19, 2010)

*I have a question*

Apologize if this has been covered before.  Have made a bid on Priceline for car on big island.  Of course, they responded it was too low.  Do they keep my bid on record or do I need to check periodically?


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## Palguy (Jun 19, 2010)

You must renew your bid if it is turned down. You can do so every 24 hours.


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## DeniseM (Jun 19, 2010)

geoand said:


> Apologize if this has been covered before.  Have made a bid on Priceline for car on big island.  Of course, they responded it was too low.  Do they keep my bid on record or do I need to check periodically?



You must rebid every time you are turned down.  Ignore the price they  recommend - it's just designed to get you to over bid.  Instead, increase your bid by $1, every 24 hours.


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## Wishiwasatthebeach (Jun 19, 2010)

I paid $11/day plus taxes, total of 9 days, full size car on Kauai. Bid in Jan 2010 for next week. I still can't get priceline to accept my $16 on Oahu, but have back up reservation already.


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Jun 19, 2010)

Wishiwasatthebeach said:


> I paid $11/day plus taxes, total of 9 days, full size car on Kauai. Bid in Jan 2010 for next week. I still can't get priceline to accept my $16 on Oahu, but have back up reservation already.


We travel to Hawai'i almost every year, and I always do a lot of checking around to try to get the best prices. 

It has been my experience that the ability to use Priceline for auto rentals on Hawai'i varies significantly from island to island, as well as from year to year.  In general, we have had the greatest success using Priceline on Kaua'i, though our last couple of trips Priceline has worked out better.  In none of our visits to O'ahu has either Priceline or Hotwire worked out; I've always been able to get comparable or better deals by renting directly from a car rental agency, with judicious use of available codes.  

If you asked for a Hotwire quote you should do, if only to have a point of reference for bidding on Priceline.  

But if you've been turned down at $16/day by while HW gives you $16/day, then I would take the HW bid. 

******

Note that if there is some significant activity occurring on an island at a given time, rates can sky rocket.  On one of our recent trips to Kaua'i we arrived to discover that the annual state outrigger canoeing championships were taking place in Hanalei the same weekend we arrived.  

Fortunately we had made our reservations almost nine months earlier, so our rate was locked in.  But they shifted us to a different size car (larger), and there were no vehicles on the lot.  Standing in line, we heard of people who were paying $75 per day for mid-size cars.  

Hotel rooms were also at a premium.  We did have a couple of nights at a hotel in Kapa'a before we checked into our timeshare; again we had locked in those rooms about nine months earlier using Hotwire.  Everything on the east and north shore areas was totally booked, and I understand that there were people spending the night on beaches in their $75/day rental cars.


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## Cathyb (Jun 19, 2010)

*4'9" -- I am a foot taller *



Liz Wolf-Spada said:


> Oh dear, yes, July 9 to 23rd. Mid size car and it came through National. I need electronic mirrors and seat adjustment, so hopefully it will have that. I just can't easily drive bigger cars as I am now down to 4 feet, 9 inches. (Still shrinking LOL)
> Liz



Liz:  Do you want about 5 inches from me?  I am now a bit taller than DH as he is shrinking faster than me - lol.  Thanks for the extra info.  I went immediately to Priceline and tried a dollar cheaper for a compact and it came back and said:  "One time only -- we will let you have the car for $17/night."  I passed because with fees and less Costco discount I would only save 50 cents -- and didn't have to prepay.


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## Liz T (Jul 9, 2010)

Is $16/day inclusive of all fees?  If not, what did the final per day price come out to be?

Has anyone run into the problem of renting via Priceline and then incurring an additional daily fee for a 2nd driver? 

This year, due to uncertainties around illness, we avoided prepaying with Priceline and reserved using http://www.discounthawaiicarrental.com/. Our daily price for a compact on the big island and Kauai was around $16-$17/day, including the 2nd driver. Including all fees the actual price was around $24/day. The companies contracted were Thrifty and Alamo. The transactions were blessedly uneventful.


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## Luanne (Jul 9, 2010)

Liz T said:


> Has anyone run into the problem of renting via Priceline and then incurring an additional daily fee for a 2nd driver?



Yes.  We had this happen the first time I used Priceline for Hawaii.  I had put the car in my name, but dh was going to drive.  We were charged the additional driver fee. The car was with Alamo.  This time I put dh as the driver and we didn't add me as a driver so no additional fees.


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## LisaRex (Jul 9, 2010)

T_R_Oglodyte said:


> Everything on the east and north shore areas was totally booked, and I understand that there were people spending the night on beaches in their $75/day rental cars.



I've paid way more than that for an oceanfront room.


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## RedDogSD (Jul 9, 2010)

Steve gave up my best tip.  Use Hotwire to get a good gauge.  Most of the same companies that work with Priceline also work with Hotwire.  So, I almost always take 50% off the Hotwire quote and try it on Priceline.  Last time I was in Hawaii, Hotwire wanted $16/day.  So, I tried $8/day on Priceline which failed, but then $9/day worked fine on the following day.  This was in April, when demand is lower, so the summer prices will be higher.

Also, sometimes the "increase price by $1/day" rule works, but another rule is to keep bidding the same price (if you know your price is reasonable) and wait until you get closer to the actual date.  As the day approaches, they bring down the prices that they are willing to take so that they sell out. Cars sitting in their lots earn them no money.


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## Luanne (Jul 9, 2010)

I usually do several "re-bids" on the same day by changing the size of the car, along with the price.


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## RedDogSD (Jul 9, 2010)

The re-bid strategy works great in Hotels because often times you can add areas to your bid that don't even have the Hotel category that you want.  For example, we like to stay in the 4 star Hotels for cheap on Priceline, so if our first bid does not work, we just add one of the areas that does not have any 4 star Hotels.  That gives us a free re-bid.  For some areas, you can get 6 or 7 free re-bids in one day.  

For cars, not an option because everyone has all sizes of cars.  When I change the type of car, I always worry about over-bidding.  Just because they would not take $13/day for a Mid-size, maybe they would have taken it for a Compact.  So, if I add Compact to my bid, should I increase the bid by $1, or just try again with the lower category of car.  That is a tough call.


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## Luanne (Jul 9, 2010)

When I re-bid on car sizes I only bid on sizes I'd accept.  Usually I'll switch between mid-size (or standard?), full-size and premium.


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## RedDogSD (Jul 9, 2010)

Luanne said:


> When I re-bid on car sizes I only bid on sizes I'd accept.  Usually I'll switch between mid-size (or standard?), full-size and premium.



It works easily if you start with the lowest category that you will accept because then the re-bid is free.  For example, if they did not take your $16/day bid for Mid-size, then if you re-big on Full Size or Mid-Size, you just increase by $1, and really, you are just bidding $1 more on a Mid-size.

However, if you start at the Top because you hope to get a Premium car, it is harder.  So, your bid for $20/day is rejected.  So, you want to re-bid on Premium or full Size, but what price do you go with?  You only know that $20 was not enough for Premium, but what if it was enough for Full size.  So, you can try same price again, or increase price.  If you increase price, you may have overpaid.  Maybe they price points were $15 for full size and $22 for premium and you just re-bid $21 for Full Size.

You see my point.  For cars, it is more complex.  For Hotels, you usually get a true "free" re-bid without risk of overpaying.


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## Luanne (Jul 9, 2010)

RedDogSD said:


> It works easily if you start with the lowest category that you will accept because then the re-bid is free.  For example, if they did not take your $16/day bid for Mid-size, then if you re-big on Full Size or Mid-Size, you just increase by $1, and really, you are just bidding $1 more on a Mid-size.
> 
> However, if you start at the Top because you hope to get a Premium car, it is harder.  So, your bid for $20/day is rejected.  So, you want to re-bid on Premium or full Size, but what price do you go with?  You only know that $20 was not enough for Premium, but what if it was enough for Full size.  So, you can try same price again, or increase price.  If you increase price, you may have overpaid.  Maybe they price points were $15 for full size and $22 for premium and you just re-bid $21 for Full Size.
> 
> You see my point.  For cars, it is more complex.  For Hotels, you usually get a true "free" re-bid without risk of overpaying.



But I always bid low, very, very low.


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## chester1122 (Jul 9, 2010)

A few weeks ago I got a full size car for the big island for 10 days for November 2010 with Hertz for $17 dollars per day.  Saved $130 from National rental reservation.  Very nice!


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## lmkucala (Jul 10, 2010)

I'm curious if I need an SUV in October in Kauai how much would be reasonable to expect to bid (and get it for) on Priceline? 

Also do most SUV's have 4-wheel drive that you can use on the trails or do you need to actually get a jeep for that?


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## wa.mama (Jul 11, 2010)

currently driving a $9/day intermediate on Kauai.  It's our best bid to date.


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## LisaH (Jul 11, 2010)

wa.mama said:


> currently driving a $9/day intermediate on Kauai.  It's our best bid to date.



When did you bid to get this price?


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## cgeidl (Jul 11, 2010)

*ABout 30 Priceline bids*

Most recent was for $14 per day for 21 days in Jan/Feb on Oahu for a compact car but actually amost $20 per day after 50 % fees and taxes.Picking up and returning to the airport. I use Orbitz and hotwire to get market rate then deduct 20 % and bid that amount on Priceline, I often get the first bid even though they give y0u " That's too low- bid more routine."
Yes ,I probably could get a car for less if bdding several times but to me it is not worth the time and hasssle of comparison coupon code shopping. $400 for three weeks seems like a fair price to me. We often get larger cars upon arrival at no or cost. One time they were pushy and wanted quite a bit ore for an upgrade and we refused. When we went to get the car we found it was the upgrade at no additional cost as they were out of our size.


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## lbertera (Jul 11, 2010)

*Hotwire Better Prices*

We will be in Hawaii for three weeks in September.  I have been bidding priceline but ended up with hotwire for renting my cars.  I paid 12.95 a day for Maui and the Hawaii and 15.95 a day for Kauai.  The cars will be from Hertz.


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## Bee (Aug 14, 2010)

I got a mid size car in september through Priceline, for $9.00 per day in Maui. I reserved it about two weeks ago. This was on my the first try.


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## cgeidl (Aug 15, 2010)

*First bid usually gets car.*

I try Orbitz and Hotwire for the size of car and dates needed.
I then bid 20% less on Priceline and usually get the car the first bid. That's good enough for me even though I may have paid more than those bidding on various car types  and trying for days. Not worth the savings. I save in other ways to make up for the overpayment.
With the new airport charges in Oahu I am considering picking up and turning in downtown Honolulu in the future. I usually go three weeks Oahu then another island. May look at just renting from Monday noon until Friday noon each week and see what the prices are as I sually don't need to drive every day but golf two or three days around the island and use the car for that purpose.


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## GregGH (Aug 15, 2010)

Hi

surprised that no one has mentioned these links

http://biddingfortravel.yuku.com/

http://www.betterbidding.com/

The bidding for travel is an odd site -- I could not believe I was BANNED from this site - until I read some threads on .. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/index.php?   and was pleased to know that I was not the only one .... still have NO IDEA what caused my banning

Greg


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## Kauai Kid (Aug 15, 2010)

I'd ask in the future that everyone include their rental price/day and then also include the rental price plus taxes+fees.  On my January rental the taxes and fees are over 50% of the base price.

B4 long they will wise up and start charging extra for air in the tires, oil in the engine, and Prestone in the radiator.  They'll eventually learn from the airlines.  $5 per seal belt and if you need an extension that's another $55 tubby!!:hysterical: 

Mahalo,

Sterling


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## DeniseM (Aug 15, 2010)

GregGH said:


> Hi
> 
> surprised that no one has mentioned these links
> 
> ...



Greg - have you rechecked with the site lately?  I also was banned, but had not posted there for months at the time.  I checked several weeks later and was no longer banned, so I think it was a glitch.


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## GregGH (Aug 16, 2010)

Hi Denise

Yes - I should have mentioned that - I could log in as a different IP address ( from work, eg ) and set a new user name

Hope they have their problems sorted out --as it makes sense to share bidding wins

I felt much better with others also being banned ...big smile

Greg


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