Holy Cow!!! [Car rental rate doubled!]

[irish]

back in july or august i made my car reservation for my trip to west palm in MARCH. booked with enterprise. today i looked at the site to see if the prices had dropped any and to my surprise THE PRICE MORE THAN DOUBLED!!! what the heck is going on? is it because it's SUNDAY and more people may be visiting the site than usual? WOW!! i'm glad i already have my reservation

 

[lprstn]

That happens sometimes with car rentals, like with anything else travel, drop your cookies on your computer before you re-search next time and see if that makes a difference in your price.

 

[LisaRex]

I get the best price using coporate discounts such as Costco. See FatWallet for a plethora of codes. If you're traveling spring break, then prices will be higher because of simple supply and demand. You might also try searching for different vehicles. When I traveled to Phoenix last year, the price for a mini van was more than $150 cheaper than an intermediate car, much to the chagrin of my husband who envisioned an arrest-me-red convertible.

If you're a gambler, you can also try booking the cheapest car you can find and then waiting to be asked to upgrade at the counter. That can really work in your favor, but it's not guaranteed.

 

[Dori]

I usually book through Costco's website. I find Alamo tends to be cheaper than the others. Plus, when using Costco's code, there is no charge for an extra driver.

I often find late Friday or Saturday night has cheaper prices. I may book and cancel 5 or 6 times before our trips.

Dori

 

[urple2]

back in july or august i made my car reservation for my trip to west palm in MARCH. booked with enterprise. today i looked at the site to see if the prices had dropped any and to my surprise THE PRICE MORE THAN DOUBLED!!! what the heck is going on? is it because it's SUNDAY and more people may be visiting the site than usual? WOW!! i'm glad i already have my reservation

Yes, I saw the same thing. I booked with enterprise thru AARP in the summer for Jan. and now they want like 387.00 for a full size car.

 

[tlsbooks]

I have a minivan booked for 11 days in Oct. in Orlando and I have also been checking frequently to see if I could get a better rate.

This weekend, using the very same code and coupon number, the fee was $350 more than my (yea) confirmed reservation.

 

[falmouth3]

I keep checking hotwire for prices for an upcoming trip. They are fluctuating all over the map for the economy or compact cars that I am looking at. The problem with hotwire is that you can't reserve, you must book it at the time so I'm letting it ride. Priceline prices are much higher than hotwire right now.

 

[Bill4728]

The price I'm looking for in SoCal for Nov is very good. ($185/week for full size car) So I'm not sure I'd agree that prices are way up.

 

[pranas]

Car rental prices are not that bad in my area either.

 

[hajjah]

How does $500.00 sound for an economy car during Xmas in Orlando??? This is outrageous. I've been checking for months and the prices are getting higher. What happened to the bargains? I tried using Costco today and their rates are also $500 using the coupon for an economy. Larger cars are cheaper, I guess due to the price of gas.

 

[london]

Holy Cow

back in july or august i made my car reservation for my trip to west palm in MARCH. booked with enterprise. today i looked at the site to see if the prices had dropped any and to my surprise THE PRICE MORE THAN DOUBLED!!! what the heck is going on? is it because it's SUNDAY and more people may be visiting the site than usual? WOW!! i'm glad i already have my reservation

Glad you got a great car rental rate...

Wasn't it Phil Rizzuto who alway used the phrase "Holy Cow"

 

[snowlady]

same issue

I booked about a month ago with Alamo for a 12 day trip to Orlando in Feb. I used the entertainment book code and coupon and got an 8 passenger minivan for just over $600. including taxes and fees. I check every week in hopes of finding a better deal and I am seeing prices with all major rental companies at more than double what I reserved at.

 

[x3 skier]

One reason is the car manufacturers are not giving the rental companies such good deals any more. This leads to downsizing the fleet and thus reduced availability and logically higher prices.

Cheers

 

[rickandcindy23]

How does $500.00 sound for an economy car during Xmas in Orlando??? This is outrageous. I've been checking for months and the prices are getting higher. What happened to the bargains? I tried using Costco today and their rates are also $500 using the coupon for an economy. Larger cars are cheaper, I guess due to the price of gas.

Alamo in Orlando made a huge purchase of full-size 2008 Impalas, and they are NICE. The car got great MPG for the two weeks. We drove to Ft. Lauderdale and got 28 MPG. Around town, about 22 MPG. We rented it for $179 for 15 days, including taxes and fees.

We had a VW beetle convertible two years ago that only got 20 MPG. Go figure! Also, a Dodge Neon gets about the same as the Impala. I don't get that, either.

 

[senorak]

I have been looking for a rental for 5 days over winter break (between xmas and new year's) in West Palm Beach. Most rates were over $500 So when I found one for $230, I booked it. (National, executive aisle). Will continue to keep looking...but at least I have a reservation at a decent price.

Deb

 

[JamminJoe]

I always use Priceline (name your own price). I start well before my trip so if my offer is declined I can try again 3-days later. I have never paid more than $17.00 per day + fees/taxes for a full size 1-week rental.

 

[irish]

ya know... i would really like to try priceline but i'm just to afraid. i like to know who i'm dealing with(rental company) before i punk my money down.

 

[Bill4728]

ya know... i would really like to try priceline but i'm just to afraid. i like to know who i'm dealing with(rental company) before i punk my money down.

I've had some concern with Priceline too BUT never with rental cars. You get to choose the time and place of your pickup. so the only thing priceline picks is the company. And IMHO they are all the same. So Priceline or Hotwire gets my rental car business. ( I see what the Hotwire price is, then bid a little lower on Priceline. If they reject the bid, I book with Hotwire)

 

[x3 skier]

I've had some concern with Priceline too BUT never with rental cars. You get to choose the time and place of your pickup. so the only thing priceline picks is the company. And IMHO they are all the same. So Priceline or Hotwire gets my rental car business. ( I see what the Hotwire price is, then bid a little lower on Priceline. If they reject the bid, I book with Hotwire)

I use Priceline as well. Last time it was Hertz. If they are at the Airport, all of them are the same. They do have a lot of restrictions like no second driver, etc.

Cheers

 

[Jennie]

Make sure to check rates at nearby airports, if that could be an option.

I book a car for 4 weeks in February each year. I usually pick it up and drop it off at the Ft. Lauderdale Airport. Back in April, 2008, I made a reservation for the 2009 dates I need. I've learned from past experience to book very early.

I do not book the airline tickets until around this time of the year. We usually take JetBlue and they do not release the February fares until around September. Recently when I checked the airfares, I saw better prices flying into West Palm Beach but returning from Ft. Lauderdale. My first thought was that picking up the car at Palm Beach and returning it to FLL would be higher. Wrong. When I priced it out, it was $70. a week less for the same car I had booked back in April. But the price of my original itinerary (in and out of FLL) remained the same. I was checking from a different computer at a friend's home, and did not enter any identifying info, so there was no way that they knew I already had the higher-priced reservation.

When I looked carefully at the price breakout, the base fare was identical but the taxes and surcharges were much higher at the Ft. Lauderdale Airport.

Also, in past years, hubby and I would often times book the car for pick-up at the Ft. L. Airport but with a drop-off at an off-airport location on Sunrise Blvd.. There was a dramatic difference in pricing (much lower). We would not want to go through the hassle of getting to the Sunrise location on the arrival date due to possible airline delays, schlepping luggage, etc... But on the day we were going home, we'd drive to the airport together, do curbside check-in, and then one of us would remain at the airport while the other would drive the car back to Sunrise (less than a 10 minute ride) and then take the public bus or a cab back. We can't do that these days because we now take our 92 year old mother with us.

But for those of you who travel light ( and motherless )and don't mind a little inconvenience, try checking out the price of renting the car from near-by off-airport locations such as some high end hotels, or timeshare resorts, or neighborhood locations of the major car rental companies. Most of the car rental web sites will have a drop-down menu showing these locations if you enter the city name but leave the airport code box blank.

 

[Jennie]

Make sure to check rates at nearby airports, if that could be an option.

I book a car for 4 weeks in February each year. I usually pick it up and drop it off at the Ft. Lauderdale Airport. Back in April, 2008, I made a reservation for the 2009 dates I need. I've learned from past experience to book very early.

I do not book the airline tickets until around this time of the year. We usually take JetBlue and they do not release the February fares until around September. Recently when I checked the airfares, I saw better prices flying into West Palm Beach but returning from Ft. Lauderdale. My first thought was that picking up the car at Palm Beach and returning it to FLL would be higher. Wrong. When I priced it out, it was $70. a week less for the same car I had booked back in April. But the price of my original itinerary (in and out of FLL) remained the same. I was checking from a different computer at a friend's home, and did not enter any identifying info, so there was no way that they knew I already had the higher-priced reservation.

When I looked carefully at the price breakout, the base fare was identical but the taxes and surcharges were much higher at the Ft. Lauderdale Airport.

Also, in past years, hubby and I would often times book the car for pick-up at the Ft. L. Airport but with a drop-off at an off-airport location on Sunrise Blvd.. There was a dramatic difference in pricing (much lower). We would not want to go through the hassle of getting to the Sunrise location on the arrival date due to possible airline delays, schlepping luggage, etc... But on the day we were going home, we'd drive to the airport together, do curbside check-in, and then one of us would remain at the airport while the other would drive the car back to Sunrise (less than a 10 minute ride) and then take the public bus or a cab back. We can't do that these days because we now take our 92 year old mother with us.

But for those of you who travel light ( and motherless )and don't mind a little inconvenience, try checking out the price of renting the car from near-by off-airport locations such as some high end hotels, or timeshare resorts, or neighborhood locations of the major car rental companies. Most of the car rental web sites will have a drop-down menu showing these locations if you enter the city name but leave the airport code box blank.