Car rental: pre-book or just arrive?

[thetimeshareguy]

I'm planning a two-week trip to the US Midwest in May. I plan to begin and end my trip in Dallas, TX.

It's been a long time since I just showed up somewhere, got in a rental car and enjoyed a road trip, where I just explore with no concrete plans.

My question is, is it cheaper to pre-book a car (e.g., economy or next up) or should I just "show up" at the airport and look for rental. And IF it's the latter, is it cheaper to pick up a car at the airport or somewhere in town?

Appreciate any tips on this topic.

 

[dioxide45]

Are you kidding? You want to book as far in advance as possible for the lowest rate you can find. Then keep checking and when you find a lower rate, you book it and cancel the old one. The "pros" do this with great efficiency, sometimes dropping their initial rate by half if not more by the time they travel. I think showing up and renting at the counter is probably a bad plan.

 

[thetimeshareguy]

Thanks, that sounds like good advice.

 

[dioxide45]

Thanks, that sounds like good advice.

If you have a Costco membership, using Costco travel seems to be one of the best ways to book rental cars. Using the rebook/cancel trick there is very easy.

 

[Luanne]

What they said.

On a recent trip to San Francisco we just needed a rental car for one day. By booking ahead through Costco we paid $35 for the car. If I'd waited until we got there the same car, for the same day, was over $100.

Also, depending on the size of the city, many car rental companies are cutting back on the size of their fleets. It's not unusual to go somewhere and find the pickings to be pretty slim, even if you have a reservation.

 

[BM243923]

I booked by car rental for Fort Lauderdale through Costco 9 months prior. A week later I checked the rate and it had tripled. I check checking and the price slowly came down but still more than I had booked 9 months out. Two days before I was leaving, the rate dropped by $65.00 and I cancelled original booking and booked the lower rate.

The secret is to book and keep checking for a lower rate.

 

[Luanne]

I booked by car rental for Fort Lauderdale through Costco 9 months prior. A week later I checked the rate and it had tripled. I check checking and the price slowly came down but still more than I had booked 9 months out. Two days before I was leaving, the rate dropped by $65.00 and I cancelled original booking and booked the lower rate.

The secret is to book and keep checking for a lower rate.

And right now I'm sitting with a reservation (through Costco again) for two weeks on Maui with a minivan for $493. Currently the rates are around $1200. So glad I grabbed that price when I saw it.

 

[Jimster]

costco

I am a costco member and use their auto service sometimes but I find autoslash.com is generally better. I have recommended it before and have heard people say that they find a cheaper rate somewhere else. The point of autoslash is that it is irrelevant! When you book through autoslash, even if the initial rate is higher, they check everyday and email you when they find a better deal. Besides it doesn't hurt to make an autoslash booking and also book at a lower price at that time OR make another reservation elsewhere and enter it into autoslash and they will only contact you when or if they find a cheaper price- that's a no brainer. It saves you a ton of work! In my recent stay to TPA the cheapest price I could find including (Costco) was about $450. Autoslash came in at $315, but even if they hadn't I would have booked through them but kept the lowest rate. The one thing I really like about Costco is that there is no charge for an extra driver=sometimes that is a tipping point. Admittedly, you might get a cheaper rate through Priceline BUT then you get no points, and potentially no service. It is not worth the hassle. Also i am an elite with most car rental program so these are benefits i want to preserve.

 

[dioxide45]

I had looked at AutoSlash before as what they do is really what we do, cancel and rebook. AutoSlash made money from the commissions paid to them by the car rental companies. I had read though that all but one of their car rental agencies pulled out. So there were not as many rental company options with them. The Enterprise group was never included because the didn't like how AutoSlash was working the system. I suppose they expect most customers to book and never bother to check again. So AutoSlash would be cutting in to their bottom line.

 

[Luanne]

I am a costco member and use their auto service sometimes but I find autoslash.com is generally better. I have recommended it before and have heard people say that they find a cheaper rate somewhere else. The point of autoslash is that it is irrelevant! When you book through autoslash, even if the initial rate is higher, they check everyday and email you when they find a better deal.

I signed up with autoslash for this upcoming Maui trip. Other than the initial email welcoming me and asking a bit about what I was looking for, after I gave them the information on my current reservation I haven't heard anything from them. Guess they haven't found a better rate yet.

 

[DeniseM]

That's kind of like showing up at the airport and buying your ticket before you flight - risky!

 

[akp]

Agree with posters above. I generally find the best rates at Costco Travel. As soon as my plans are firm, I book through them. Then I check rates periodically and rebook if they drop.

In the last week or two, I check booking through Chase Ultimate Rewards (Paying with cash, not points). They often have better deals even than Costco but since they're non-refundable, I only book them at the last minute.

I tried Auto Slash a few years ago but I kept finding better rates on my own. Are they better now?

 

[SMHarman]

I was picking up a pre-booked car in Cancun MX last month.
By pre booked. I mean booked at 11pm for a 8am pick up.
Long story short. Those walking up were paying 3x my pre-book rate. Those 9 hours of pre planning paid off. And I got a mid size to suv upgrade. But I am some fancy avis level due to my United clib card.

 

[isisdave]

And definitely try to book your pickup at an off-airport office. This avoids the airport franchise fee.

 

[amanda14]

I'm sure all the rental companies offer this also but you can even pay less by pre booking and they will give you an even better rate if you pay now. I have done this several times with great success and if the price drops lower than what I originally paid, they honor the lower rate.

 

[WinniWoman]

I know Newark is not Dallas, but a few years ago when we got back to Newark airport from Scotland, our car service was no where to be found (turns out the original driver had a death in the family and contracted out another driver from another company who was stuck in bad traffic on the way to pick us up at the airport).

We didn't know what had happened, so after waiting for quite awhile, we proceeded to try to get a rental car to drive ourselves home. Well, can you believe on a Saturday afternoon- not one single rental car was available from ANY car rental company!?!

I definitely wouldn't take a chance and would book ahead of time for sure!

 

[Talent312]

I'm sure all the rental companies offer this also but you can even pay less by pre booking and they will give you an even better rate if you pay now...

If you pre-pay for a car or hotel room, you need to be darn sure that you're going to be there come hell or high water. Otherwise, typically, if your travel plans change, you're out the $$ (except for travel-insurance).

I know a guy (no, not me) who prepaid for a one-week car rental -- great deal -- until the trip was cancelled (w/o insurance).
.

 

[Luanne]

If you pre-pay for a car or hotel room, you need to be sure that you're going to be there come hell or high water. Otherwise, typically, if your travel plans change, you're out the $$ ('cept for travel-insurance).

.

This is exactly why I don't pre-book with anything that requires pre-payment any more.

 

[WinniWoman]

I am pretty sure on Car.com you do not prepay. I have never prepaid for a rental car-booked it-yes. Prepaid- no.

 

[Timeshare Von]

And definitely try to book your pickup at an off-airport office. This avoids the airport franchise fee.

You really need to do the math, however. If the cost of a cab to wherever you are picking up the car, and then back to the airport when you return it, offsets the rental savings, why bother?

Actually there are too many thing that can go wrong with that extra link in the return process. I generally pick up at the airport for that reason.

 

[WinniWoman]

You really need to do the math, however. If the cost of a cab to wherever you are picking up the car, and then back to the airport when you return it, offsets the rental savings, why bother?

Actually there are too many thing that can go wrong with that extra link in the return process. I generally pick up at the airport for that reason.

I like picking up at the airport as well. The off-site places are cheaper, but some are in not so nice areas, and just not as easy to do business with. Plus, the hassle of getting to and from them. Who needs it after all the other stuff you have to go through with flying and so forth?- exhausting!

 

[bogey21]

I haven't rented a car in about 10 years so more than likely the rules have changed. But what I use to do is make the lowest cost reservation I could find. Then after arriving at the airport I would check and see if there was a lower rate available with one of the other car rental companies. Back then there was no financial hit to being a no show on the first reservation.

George

 

[Timeshare Von]

I haven't rented a car in about 10 years so more than likely the rules have changed. But what I use to do is make the lowest cost reservation I could find. Then after arriving at the airport I would check and see if there was a lower rate available with one of the other car rental companies. Back then there was no financial hit to being a no show on the first reservation.

George

In doing so, this actually drives up the price of rentals as the company's anticipated inventory is depleted by reservations. I strongly advise against using such a tactic in renting a car.

 

[bogey21]

In doing so, this actually drives up the price of rentals as the company's anticipated inventory is depleted by reservations. I strongly advise against using such a tactic in renting a car.

You are right of course. Back when I did this I was younger, non thinking and irresponsible. But yes, I did it many times.

George