# Cost of rental cars lately??? EXPENSIVE!!



## lease1 (Jan 9, 2010)

Can someone explain why the cost of renting a car has gone through the roof? 3-4 months ago, I could rent a car for a week(mid size), for approx $150 -$200 for a week at most any major market (Maui and Las Vegas) . Now prices are up to $750 - $900 per week for the same car!! What has made these costs skyrocket? Does anyone have a reasonable solution? Thanks!

John


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## SherryS (Jan 9, 2010)

Hotwire and Priceline are confirming inexpensive rates right now for Hawaii.


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## dougp26364 (Jan 10, 2010)

lease1 said:


> Can someone explain why the cost of renting a car has gone through the roof? 3-4 months ago, I could rent a car for a week(mid size), for approx $150 -$200 for a week at most any major market (Maui and Las Vegas) . Now prices are up to $750 - $900 per week for the same car!! What has made these costs skyrocket? Does anyone have a reasonable solution? Thanks!
> 
> John




As explained to me by a Hertz guy when I returned a car. They're hanging onto the cars longer since they can't sell them and, since rentals are down, they're increasing the price in an attempt to maintain profits. Backward thinking if I've ever heard it. 

I've been more diligent about shopping prices and they usually drop at some point. Failing that I've found Hotwire and Priceline to be decent options.


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## Jimster (Jan 10, 2010)

*hotwire and priceline*

When it comes to rental cars, I almost always use Priceline and Hotwire.  Otherwise you pay too much.


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## Carolinian (Jan 10, 2010)

It varies in Europe.  Prices are up a lot in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, but only marginally in France, the UK, and Ireland.  

If you are going to southern Germany, you can fly into Geneva, whose airport straddles the line between France and Switzerland, and rent a car on the French side of the airport for a lot less than the Swiss side or what you would pay in Germany.  The German border is only a few kilometers away.

In addition, in winter, many contental European car rental outlets pop you for a big extra fee for winter tires.  In some countries, like Germany and Austria, you cannot avoid that.  In others, like France, you can, but the tires on the car they will give you will be totally impossible for snow if you don't pay extra for the winter tires.


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## Dottie (Jan 10, 2010)

I have been finding some better deals at some locations on the Thrifty sites.  They suggest their specials and that link seems to be ok.


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## Carolinian (Jan 10, 2010)

Jimster said:


> When it comes to rental cars, I almost always use Priceline and Hotwire.  Otherwise you pay too much.



If you are renting in Europe, I would suggest you also price www.economycarrentals.com

I just priced a rental in Austria for April and was quoted US$306 all-in by Economy Car Rentals, compared to US$419 for the best deal on Priceline.  Hotwire would not quote for Austria.  In the past I have never paid over $200 for a small car in Austria.

I also compared a couple of US-based firms I have used in the past.  Auto Europe's lowest price was $287.50 without several mandatory fees, so to get the all-in price to compare with the above, I calculated those and the total came to $367.25.  The beginning price at Europe by Car was $256, but the way their website worked, I was not able to get the all-in amount, but they clearly would have beaten Priceline, as well.

The snow tire scam adds about $40 to the cost of a weekly rental from the beginning of November until the end of April, meaning they collect about $800 a season for a set of snow tires, and the tires probably last at least 5 seasons. Quite a racket!


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## Jimster (Jan 10, 2010)

*priceline*

Just for curiosity- Are we talking about the name your own price on Hot Wire and Priceline?  I almost never take their quote.  Again, the quote is too high.


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## Kelsie (Jan 10, 2010)

We won't use Hotwire, because they charge your cc right away and if you have to cancel for whatever reason there aren't any reimbursements.

We chose to rent from Hertz in Ft. Lauderdale off site of the Airport there was a $250.00 difference in price by going to one of there rental offices off site.


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## dougp26364 (Jan 10, 2010)

Jimster said:


> Just for curiosity- Are we talking about the name your own price on Hot Wire and Priceline?  I almost never take their quote.  Again, the quote is too high.



When I use Priceline, I always name my own price. The price I'll name will always be a few dollars less than whatever Hotwire is offering. Most times, Priceline will accept the bid.


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## dougp26364 (Jan 10, 2010)

Kelsie said:


> We won't use Hotwire, because they charge your cc right away and if you have to cancel for whatever reason there aren't any reimbursements.
> 
> We chose to rent from Hertz in Ft. Lauderdale off site of the Airport there was a $250.00 difference in price by going to one of there rental offices off site.



I'll hold a regular reservation until the last couple of weeks, then I'll start looking at Hotwire and placing bids on Priceline. While it's true they'll charge your CC right away, when it gets down to the last month chances are good we'll be making the trip.


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## Denise L (Jan 11, 2010)

I just won a bid on Priceline for Maui for April!  I bid $13/day for a full-size and it was accepted!

Original reservation made last year was: $544.11 Alamo (direct)
My revised reservation a couple of days ago was: $461.74 Alamo (direct)
My Priceline reservation tonight is: $276.06 Alamo (Priceline)

I have used Priceline a few times and have never looked at Hotwire. I suppose I should have compared prices there before bidding, but I thought it was going to reject my $13.


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## Jimster (Jan 11, 2010)

*priceline*

I seldom break $20 for a mid-size car.  I am usually successful- if not I inch it up a bit.


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## GetawaysRus (Jan 12, 2010)

On this subject:

You may want to look at item #11 ("Auto rental charges have skyrocketed in price...") in the Arthur Frommer travel blog for Jan 11, 1020:

http://www.frommers.com/blog/?plckC...&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest


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## Dottie (Jan 15, 2010)

I have just gotten a couple more good deals by checking thrifty every day.  Boston has had very high rates.  I just got a midsize for 10 days in early June for $279 total.  The weekly price on it was $108 plus all the other fees.  That was better than my off airport site at avis by about $50.  I also got 8 days in Haliburton, NS for $229.  When I first started looking a few months ago, the two comtined were about $1100.  It would be nice to see them drop more but I think that is unlucky.  I also try priceline just before a trip.  We got a mid-size in Tahoe for $450 for 3 weeks.  The best I could do otherwise was $450 but for a compact.  DH likes to know he will have cruise control.


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## wegottago (Jan 18, 2010)

*tips for using priceline for car rental,  also any promo codes*

Can you give some tips for how best to use priceline for bidding on a vehicle as I've never done it before.

We'll need some type of an SUV for our ski trip in Tahoe in 3 weeks.

Other than priceline are there any promo codes out there for rental cars.  We no longer have use of a corporate account...boo hoo!

Thank you!


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## LisaRex (Jan 18, 2010)

FatWallet has a comprehensive list of rental car public corporate codes (e.g. Walmart, Costco, AARP).


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## Bill4728 (Jan 18, 2010)

> from  frommers.com
> 11) Auto rental charges have skyrocketed in price, to become an overly burdensome expense of vacationing. Specialists estimate the rise in the average weekly cost of renting a compact car to have been no less than 50% last year -- with further increases expected. A reduction in the manufacture of cars for the car rental fleets is blamed -- but whatever the reason, the resulting daily charges are intolerable.
> 
> What we can do about it: More than ever, the smart traveler will patronize the off-airport locations of the "mom-and-pop" car rental agencies that charge far less for cars that really aren't substantially less battered or worn than the vehicles offered to you by the nationwide brands among the car rental firms. You often find spectacular values by using the website BreezeNet.com (www.bnm.com) to choose your car in a particular city; it singles out the lesser-known companies that often have unused and cheaper vehicles for the dates and places you desire.


I've always just used Hotwire till this past week when I thought they were just too high.
Then I did this:


> Posted By DougP26364
> When I use Priceline, I always name my own price. The price I'll name will always be a few dollars less than whatever Hotwire is offering. Most times, Priceline will accept the bid.


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## Luanne (Jan 18, 2010)

I just tried checking Hotwire for Tampa.  I already have a reservation through Avis using a corporate discount, but always like to see if I can do better. The price Hotwire was quoting for a mid-size was around $65/day!    I'll stick with my current reservation.


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## KauaiMark (Jan 18, 2010)

*Me too!*



Denise L said:


> I just won a bid on Priceline for Maui for April!  I bid $13/day for a full-size and it was accepted!...I suppose I should have compared prices there before bidding, but I thought it was going to reject my $13.



Using Denise's bid I just booked a full size car for 8 1/2 days with a bid of $13/day for Kauai, HI the last week of May.

Total plus taxes = $182.87

(Maybe I should have tried a bid of $10??)


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## Denise L (Jan 18, 2010)

KauaiMark said:


> Using Denise's bid I just booked a full size car for 8 1/2 days with a bid of $13/day for Kauai, HI the last week of May.
> 
> Total plus taxes = $182.87
> 
> (Maybe I should have tried a bid of $10??)



Well, I was thinking the same thing...maybe $11/day  , but originally I was going to bid $15/day, so I thought $13/day was pretty low at the time.  I am happy, though, we saved a lot of money and now that part of our vacation planning is all done.  It's still a lot less than we paid last year for the same amount of days at the same time of year!


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## timeos2 (Jan 18, 2010)

*It isn't over until you get the bill*

My most recent rental, in Orlando, was 4 days for $147 - 36.75/day. Yet the bottom line cost was $197.93. Why? Taxes, fees, miscellaneous charges and more all added to whatever you may pay as "base" cost. 25% more than my "rate". It is not good but unavoidable. That's the way it is and you have to find out, prior to the turn in day, what exactly you will pay. My notes say I had an estimate of $198 so it falls within my acceptable number. Still far higher than prior years and it must be watched very carefully.   It can be a trade off (airport pickup vs bus ride/offsite pickup) so weigh the cost vs the time.  In my case I took the convenience at about $40 ($20 each way) vs the dollars. In others I may opt to spend the extra hour to 2 for the $40-$70 savings.


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## zazz (Jan 18, 2010)

I rented for $18/day in Vegas over the New Year and just got back from a four-day rental in Philly which was $17/day.  Neither ended up being a Hotwire or Priceline although I have used dougp26364's strategy frequently.

The only place I have seen really expensive rentals lately was in Providence where weekday rates were $50/day.


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## Carolinian (Jan 19, 2010)

timeos2 said:


> My most recent rental, in Orlando, was 4 days for $147 - 36.75/day. Yet the bottom line cost was $197.93. Why? Taxes, fees, miscellaneous charges and more all added to whatever you may pay as "base" cost. 25% more than my "rate". It is not good but unavoidable. That's the way it is and you have to find out, prior to the turn in day, what exactly you will pay. My notes say I had an estimate of $198 so it falls within my acceptable number. Still far higher than prior years and it must be watched very carefully.   It can be a trade off (airport pickup vs bus ride/offsite pickup) so weigh the cost vs the time.  In my case I took the convenience at about $40 ($20 each way) vs the dollars. In others I may opt to spend the extra hour to 2 for the $40-$70 savings.



I think we are going to see more of these junk fees added to car rentals.  It looking at some of the rental sites for Austria for comparision, I found some rentals there had junk fees that added up to almost as much as the rental fee itself.

They are following what the airlines are doing, with their so-called ''fuel surcharges''.  The ''snow tire'' surcharge scam in several European countries is one example.  

And this is going to make the bidding sites even more of a crap shoot.


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## K2Quick (Jan 19, 2010)

It only cost us $139 (including all taxes and junk fees) for eight days in Maui booking directly with Alamo using Costco discount code and coupon.  I'm generally a big fan of booking with Priceline.  However, note that Priceline adds on their own opaque booking fee that it blends in with the rental car company's fee.  For example, if I bid $11/day on Priceline for an 8-day stay, my total comes to $149 - $10 more than what I paid by booking directly with the car company and retaining cancellation and change flexibility.


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## pointsjunkie (Jan 19, 2010)

I have been getting very good rates with Hotwire. go on their site and put in the places you want info for and they will e-mail you a copy of days before and the price is so much lower than everyone else.

book with the cheapest car rental company ahead so you know you have a car and then cancel it when you book with hotwire.


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## LisaRex (Jan 19, 2010)

K2Quick said:


> It only cost us $139 (including all taxes and junk fees) for eight days in Maui booking directly with Alamo using Costco discount code and coupon.



Plus with Costco, you get one free additional driver, which can save considerably if you plan to switch drivers.


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## Ken555 (Jan 20, 2010)

SherryS said:


> Hotwire and Priceline are confirming inexpensive rates right now for Hawaii.



Just booked a mid-size via Priceline for Maui at $13/day+taxes for next week with Alamo. Saved ~$60 compared to the best Costco price for the same car.


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## Ken555 (Jan 20, 2010)

KauaiMark said:


> (Maybe I should have tried a bid of $10??)



I've learned that on Priceline for hotel and car (I don't buy flights from them so don't know if it's true there or not) I enter a price and click continue. If the next page (or alert on the same page) doesn't say I'm underbidding, I go back to the previous page and enter a lower bid, and repeat. When I've found the number the system thinks is too low I enter $1-2 higher and proceed with the confirmation. This way I know I've got a higher likelihood of getting the reservation. 

For instance, I just booked the mid-size at $13/day in Maui. I had tried $10 and it told me that was too low, so I entered $13 and got it. You can take a chance at the $10 rate, etc - but you'll probably only get the car 10-20% of the time, if that, while I'd guess a 70-80% if it doesn't warn you you're bidding too low.


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## flexonguy (Jan 21, 2010)

Boy, Orlando over Easter Weekend $65 - $70 per day + tax.  I have never seen anything like it.   HMM $80-$100 per day taxi budget.  Let me think


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## Happytravels (Jan 21, 2010)

*car rentals*

OK I have check several site and never used Priceline or Hotwire.  We have a reservation off airport site for one week and 20 hours in zip code 77084 March 19-27, 2010. 

Can you find something cheaper then $171.34 before taxes and all in is $219.31
I have been checking regularly and haven't found anything cheaper.

I have also talked with a guy who works for the XXX rentals company.........you are right they are keeping their cars longer and decreasing their fleets.........so they have less cars to rent.


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## Ken555 (Jan 21, 2010)

Happytravels said:


> OK I have check several site and never used Priceline or Hotwire.  We have a reservation off airport site for one week and 20 hours in zip code 77084 March 19-27, 2010.
> 
> Can you find something cheaper then $171.34 before taxes



171.34 / 8 = 21.38

Go to priceline and submit a bid of less than 21.38 (15?) and you might get it. It's not that difficult...


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## bobby (Jan 22, 2010)

When I looked at quotes for the smallest car last week at Dulles airport (VA/DC), the cheapest was $99 a day. I was used to paying about $20-25. I got Priceline at $39. I didn't have the time to start really low and bid up gradually.


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## pwrshift (Jan 23, 2010)

I just checked Alamo, Budget, Enterprise, and Hertz for Phoenix this April for 9 days and was quoted $367 from the first three (all the same!) but when you add in all their stupid fees, taxes, etc. it adds up to $547. Sounds like price fixing to me. Except for Hertz ... they were $638. All for Chev Impala or Ford Taurus. 

Wonder if we have Priceline in Canada?

Brian


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## Ken555 (Jan 23, 2010)

pwrshift said:


> Wonder if we have Priceline in Canada?



Priceline offers car rentals in Canada.


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## Carolinian (Jan 23, 2010)

pwrshift said:


> I just checked Alamo, Budget, Enterprise, and Hertz for Phoenix this April for 9 days and was quoted $367 from the first three (all the same!) but when you add in all their stupid fees, taxes, etc. it adds up to $547. Sounds like price fixing to me. Except for Hertz ... they were $638. All for Chev Impala or Ford Taurus.
> 
> Wonder if we have Priceline in Canada?
> 
> Brian



Car rental companies are learning the junk fee scam from airlines.

I was recently pricing airfares from Europe to the US, and ran across some fares at British Airways where the taxes and fees were almost five times the amount of the fare!  And this was not even a flight originiating in the UK where the massive ''save the planet'' air ticket tax would have applied.


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## zazz (Jan 23, 2010)

pwrshift said:


> I just checked Alamo, Budget, Enterprise, and Hertz for Phoenix this April for 9 days and was quoted $367 from the first three (all the same!) but when you add in all their stupid fees, taxes, etc. it adds up to $547. Sounds like price fixing to me. Except for Hertz ... they were $638. All for Chev Impala or Ford Taurus.
> 
> Wonder if we have Priceline in Canada?
> 
> Brian



Give me a break.  Price fixing?  Most of that crap isn't even the car company's fault.  

Car companies have always recouped the airport concession charge.

Now airports are building new car rental centers, they charge the car company a nice fat fee to build it that gets passed along.  

Cities LOVE raising car rental taxes.  Why?  Because the people who pay them most of the time don't live in your city and therefore can't vote on the tax.  Did you know that if you rent a car at Philadelphia's airport, your taxes are helping to pay off the bonds to build my football and baseball stadiums?  I'll thnk about all of you at the next Phillies game.

Admittedly the $1 Hertz energy surcharge is a BS fee.  But since lots of rental car contracts have fixed prices in them, I think surcharges are the way they get around that to charge the fee to big customers.


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## Carolinian (Jan 23, 2010)

You haven't met the ''winter tire fee'' in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, yet, obviously.

Until the last year or two, when I rented in winter in those countries, my rental cars somehow always came equipped with decent tires for driving in snow at no extra fee.  I went through several severe snow storms with them with no problem.

Now you will pay a mandatory fee of about $80/week for those tires.  If you try to get around it by renting over the French border, there is no mandatory fee for winter tires, but if you don't pay the optional fee and it snows, you are stuck with tires that are useless in snow and guaranteed to get you stuck.





zazz said:


> Give me a break.  Price fixing?  Most of that crap isn't even the car company's fault.
> 
> Car companies have always recouped the airport concession charge.
> 
> ...


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## happybaby (Jan 23, 2010)

zazz said:


> I rented for $18/day in Vegas over the New Year and just got back from a four-day rental in Philly which was $17/day.  Neither ended up being a Hotwire or Priceline although I have used dougp26364's strategy frequently.
> 
> The only place I have seen really expensive rentals lately was in Providence where weekday rates were $50/day.



How and where did you get a rate for $18/day in Vegas.  I'm planning on renting for 1 day in February thru the congiere at Wyndham for about 70.00 for the day.  Geez, we rented a SUV for 8 days at MCO for 190.00 2 years ago.


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## SherryS (Jan 23, 2010)

Keep watching Hotwire!  Their rates are constantly changing (many times even in one day).  Many have found awesome rates there lately.


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## zazz (Jan 23, 2010)

happybaby said:


> How and where did you get a rate for $18/day in Vegas.  I'm planning on renting for 1 day in February thru the congiere at Wyndham for about 70.00 for the day.  Geez, we rented a SUV for 8 days at MCO for 190.00 2 years ago.



I made a reservation nine months earlier from Dollar at about $23 a day.  I just kept checking the rates.  I did a search on Hotwire and set it as one of my trips.  Then Hotwire sent me a weekly update.  They don't necessarily have the best rates, but they can show me whether the trend is up or down.  About two weeks before the trip, $18 a day came up from Enterprise.


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## Dottie (Feb 13, 2010)

wegottago said:


> Can you give some tips for how best to use priceline for bidding on a vehicle as I've never done it before.
> 
> We'll need some type of an SUV for our ski trip in Tahoe in 3 weeks.
> 
> ...




Just returned from Tahoe and my best deal was Priceline.  We paid $456 for 3 weeks with an intermediate with Hertz.  We bought chains on our first day out and did end up using them.  I don't know how much a SUV would cost.

Hope your trip is as nice as ours was.  Fabulous snow.  Wonderful skiing


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## donnaval (Feb 14, 2010)

We too have been stunned at the increases in car rental prices.  Our annual winter trip to Florida was a shocker.  If this keeps up, we'll probably drive next time and spend an extra week or so.  

With Priceline, our last couple of trips we found that we were actually able to get a little bigger car for less money--for example, on our last reservation, my bid of $13/day for a compact was declined but when I rebid $13/day for midsize, it was accepted.  Another time, I bid $9/day for a one-day rental here in Pittsburgh and got rejected on a compact with an instant "counter offer" of $14/day, but I rebid $10 on a FULL size and it was accepted!  I don't particularly like driving big cars so do prefer the smaller ones, but I'll take whatever is least expensive.


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## Superchief (Feb 14, 2010)

I suggest checking off airport locations, since they do not usually carry the additional fees. For example, I rented a car in Phoenix and picked it up at the JW Desert Ridge and returned it to the airport and saved about $150. Airport locations are often a lot more expensive to recoup all of their fees.


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## bzzybee13 (Feb 18, 2010)

When I fly with Southwest, I reserve my rental car right during the airline ticket reservation process on the web site.  I got a week long Enterprise minivan rental in Vegas this summer for $268 which included taxes!!  All other sites I have checked for those dates (even the Enterprise site) are $100 more.


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## Carolinian (Feb 19, 2010)

Superchief said:


> I suggest checking off airport locations, since they do not usually carry the additional fees. For example, I rented a car in Phoenix and picked it up at the JW Desert Ridge and returned it to the airport and saved about $150. Airport locations are often a lot more expensive to recoup all of their fees.



That is true many places but do not assume it always is.  For London, for example, the same airport fees are charged throughout the London area, where you pick up at an airport location or not.

One other problem I often find with off-airport locations is that they have much shorter working hours, particularly on weekends.  I have had trips where I arrived by train and went to the airport to pick up my rental car, because the city locations were closed at my arrival time.


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## donnaval (Feb 20, 2010)

I have not had luck booking the rental cars through Southwest.  On two occasions when we landed at the airport, it seemed just about everyone on the plane had booked through Southwest so the check-in lines for the cars was extremely long--and they ran out of cars!  The first time, they were saying "maybe two hours".  We waited around for 30 minutes with absolutely no movement in the line, and then I pulled out my laptop and booked on Alamo (the Southwest deal was through Budget), walked over to the empty Alamo counter and got a car in two minutes, for just a tiny bit more than the Budter deal had been.  The second time, as soon as I saw the line and the exasperated look on the customers' faces, I immediately pulled out the laptop and booked another car.  I will never book a car through Southwest again.


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## #1 Cowboys Fan (Feb 20, 2010)

This is just a reminder to check often---right up until on the last day!!!

I had been seeing a rate of $440+ for Sanford Florida---friends were leaving yesterday (Friday).

When I checked Friday morning, Alamo had 'last minute specials'---it was $281.

I promptly called my friend, who re-booked then flew to Florida to claim his new rental.

Pat


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## hefleycatz (Feb 20, 2010)

I just booked through SW (rapid reward member) with Alamo for 6 days picking up in Orlando and dropping off at Palm Beach Int.  total cost with unlimited mileage $202.  Compared to what I had been seeing elsewhere this was a steal.


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