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How do you find your car rentals?

Quilter

Quilter

Tug Review Crew: Rookie
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2005
Messages
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Location
Plymouth, MI
I don't often rent a car.

I've used Costco, Auto Europe, Avis directly.

Recently I rented a car while reserving flights on Southwest.

My question is based mainly on trying to find ways to get the most out of my rental. Like miles from a favored airline and good rate.

Does anyone have a great formula they use for their car rentals?

Thanks
 
I have found that airmiles from car rentals is usually not a great perk. Most rental companies tack on a fee in order to earn the miles and thus it wipes out any actual benefit.
 
We book cars thru sites that don't charge in advance then go to Autoslash and put the same information in. They usually find a much cheaper price and will cancel the original if I want. Perk is the savings and free service.
 
I usually start as early as possible with finding the lowest rate for my needs, and use it after the fact to compare rates from other rental companies, switching out reservations as I go. Air miles for me aren't a big thing, because I don't accrue enough of them to make much difference when I need to use them. As mentioned, most companies tack on a fee to earn them, which offsets anything earned. Price is a much bigger factor for me. The rest is a toss up.

My next rental is this coming weekend, when I'm renting an intermediate car as a two-week, one-way from Denver to Phoenix. My out-the-door price is $344 for the 14-day period, including all taxes, free mileage, and an extra driver. I just checked, and today's rate for the same car is over $2600. Ouch!! That sort of savings completely offsets anything I've ever found in a perk from an agency.

Dave
 
After poor experiences with other companies, I've stuck with National, which lets me choose what I want from the lot at most airports. So I can get an SUV for the cost of an intermediate car. Plus their service is great. With a couple of discount codes I got from FlyerTalk, I rarely see a cheaper price if I bother to check other places, including autoslash and Costco. And I accumulate free days.

The fee for miles or hotel points from car rentals is more than buying the same number outright.
 
AutoSlash Dot Com.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
 
I usually check Costo and then also double check the prices on a few agency websites. The thing I like about Costco is that part of the agreement includes a second driver, which isn't always allowed when you book from the agencies directly.
 
Auto Slash and Car Rentals.com. I also check the car rental companies' websites.
 
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Hotwire. If you don't care which car rental company you work with (and they're always one of the majors), the rates are usually excellent and I've often been given nearly new cars. I also advocate starting early, well before your actual trip.
 
I start at www.carrentalsavers.com and find the lowest price. Then I book directly with the car rental company. I then frequently recheck pricing as the trip nears and rebook the rental if prices go down.
 
I confess I am not one of those who shops around for the best price. I stick with one company (Avis in this case) having joined their preferred program. The advantage is that I don't have to stop and wait in line at a reception desk. The car rental will be posted on a board and I just walk straight to the car and drive away. Maybe not the lowest rate, but saves time and frustration.
 
"Roger" said:
I confess I am not one of those who shops around for the best price. I stick with one company (Avis in this case) having joined their preferred program. The advantage is that I don't have to stop and wait in line at a reception desk. The car rental will be posted on a board and I just walk straight to the car and drive away. Maybe not the lowest rate, but saves time and frustration.
Click to expand...
I've joined several rental car programs just for this reason. So then, when I find the lowest price, usually through Costco, I can select that and still get the benefit of being a member.
 
I second and third the following: COSTCO -------> make reservation with your favorite company (Avis, National etc...) then ------> Autoslash (they'll automatically monitor and offer lower rates if available.)

The great thing about using Costco/Autoslash is that YOU choose the company, size etc.... You can use any valid discount codes to start the reservation and you get to keep using your membership (Avis etc...) including priority or VIP 'fast' programs. It's a win win.
 
We usually rent through the SW site. I book early and keep checking, often cancelling and rebooking as many as 5 or 6 times. We have used Costco in the past, but we let our membership lapse when all the kids moved out, and I didn't need to shop in such large quantities.
Happy hunting!

Dori
 
taterhed said:
I second and third the following: COSTCO -------> make reservation with your favorite company (Avis, National etc...) then ------> Autoslash (they'll automatically monitor and offer lower rates if available.)

The great thing about using Costco/Autoslash is that YOU choose the company, size etc.... You can use any valid discount codes to start the reservation and you get to keep using your membership (Avis etc...) including priority or VIP 'fast' programs. It's a win win.
Click to expand...

I have booked 2 of my 3 rentals directly through Autoslash. They ask what programs you belong to and I checked the boxes for AAA and Costco.

How do you go about doing what you propose above? I mean how do you go to Costco and then switch to Autoslash?

Thank you again for all the advice.
 
Quilter said:
How do you go about doing what you propose above? I mean how do you go to Costco and then switch to Autoslash?
Click to expand...
What I've done is get a quote from Costco, then go into Autoslash and enter the information about that quote to see if they can get the car at a better price.

With Autoslash you can either have them look for the best price upfront (and when they find it they'll continue to monitor THAT quote to see if something cheaper comes up) OR you can have them track an existing rental. Just click the tab on their home page, either "Get a Quote" or "Track a Rental".
 
WalnutBaron said:
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Hotwire. If you don't care which car rental company you work with (and they're always one of the majors), the rates are usually excellent and I've often been given nearly new cars. I also advocate starting early, well before your actual trip.
Click to expand...
Last time I went with Hotwire for car rental, I got Hertz. At the Orlando airport's Hertz counter, the line of people waiting went all the way through the double-back maze & all the way out into the airport walkway area. It was 90+ minutes before I got my turn. The Hertz delay made me miss a timeshare meeting that was a main reason for being in town. (I got to the next day's follow-up meeting OK, but still . . . )

As a result of that experience, I am not only soured on Hertz, I am also shunning all pay-ahead car rental reservations. If I had not paid in advance via Hotwire that time, I could have ducked the overcrowded Hertz counter & gone with any of the several competing companies where there were no lines at the counters.

Live & learn.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
 
I currently have a rental for an intermediate SUV on Maui for March, 2018. It's with Alamo through Costco. Due to this discussion I decided to put in a request with Autoslash as well. They came back with quotes, through Priceline. The quotes were less, and the least expensive was with Hertz. I couldn't find any information anywhere stating if that quote included an additional driver so I set up a chat with Priceline. They informed me that I wouldn't find out if an additional driver was included until I picked up the car! I had been burned by Priceline in the past and decided I did not want Autoslash to provide me with additional quotes from Priceline. Bottom line is I was informed by Autoslash that ALL car rental companies charge for an additional driver. Excuse me, but through Costco they do not. I have an upcoming rental with Hertz through Autoslash this Fall, but it's only for 3 days so if they pull the charge for the additional driver crap we'll just have dh do the driving during that time.
 
Quilter said:
Both of my rentals have gone down in price since I booked with autoslash
Click to expand...
Well, that's what you hope will happen.

Do you need a second driver? As I found out it appears that most autoslash rentals don't cover that. The only way it might is if you indicated you have a Costco membership and they are able to use that when finding the lowest price.
 
Luanne said:
Well, that's what you hope will happen.

Do you need a second driver? As I found out it appears that most autoslash rentals don't cover that. The only way it might is if you indicated you have a Costco membership and they are able to use that when finding the lowest price.
Click to expand...
I don't think the rate would necessarily include a second driver unless the lower rate that they found was with the Costco code. However, they probably aren't likely to try hard to find you alower rate with Costco, they get their income from the car rental companies. They want to find the best rate where they can get the comission. They likely wouldn't earn that with the Costco codes that include the additional driver.
 
dioxide45 said:
I don't think the rate would necessarily include a second driver unless the lower rate that they found was with the Costco code. However, they probably aren't likely to try hard to find you alower rate with Costco, they get their income from the car rental companies. They want to find the best rate where they can get the comission. They likely wouldn't earn that with the Costco codes that include the additional driver.
Click to expand...
When I was communicating with someone from autoslash he did find a Costco rate, but it wasn't their cheapest. The cheaper ones did not include the second driver.
 
Luanne said:
Well, that's what you hope will happen.

Do you need a second driver? As I found out it appears that most autoslash rentals don't cover that. The only way it might is if you indicated you have a Costco membership and they are able to use that when finding the lowest price.
Click to expand...

With those 2 reservations it would be nice but not absolutely necessary. One is with Hertz and we are both Gold. I'll do a chat with autoslash and ask what my options are. The other with Thrifty.

Yesterday I used autoslash for a rental in Italy. It came back through priceline with Hertz and less than Auto Europe which is where I usually book my Europe cars.

I still have another reservation to make one way from NYC in August (to bring home the little doggie mentioned in another thread).
 
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