I've long been a fan of car rentals through Costco. It takes some tenacity to really get the best deals, checking regularly and booking better rates as you find them.
To that end I have a four day trip to Austin next week & have been working Costco for the past 3 months. Originally we booked the four days for $220 for a "standard car", which I always felt was high but know to just keep checking. It dropped to a low of $178 a month ago (which I booked) and then got as high as $330 as recently as last week.
Today it's $174 which I booked.
THEN by accident when I entered an incorrect date, I found it to be much cheaper if I broke the timeline up into two rental periods. So for the same four day period I found if I booked first a 24 hour (1 day) rental, bring the car back and immediately pickup a second rental for the next three days, I could get the entire four day period for $92. That's an $82 savings over a continuous four day period. Now some will ask if it's worth it to have to go back and turn the car in again, and for some it's not worth it.
For me though, I'm willing to spend an hour of my time to save the $$ and have booked all the rentals (4 day, 1 day and 3 day). With Costco you can cancel without penalty and I will hold these through the weekend until I see what happens with the rates. It's possible it might get cheaper...although I'd be surprised. I'm told the 3 day period falls under weekend "special" rates.
Assuming this is the booking I keep, I'll present the scenario to the counter and see if they'll let me keep it the full four days at that price without coming back.
To that end I have a four day trip to Austin next week & have been working Costco for the past 3 months. Originally we booked the four days for $220 for a "standard car", which I always felt was high but know to just keep checking. It dropped to a low of $178 a month ago (which I booked) and then got as high as $330 as recently as last week.
Today it's $174 which I booked.
THEN by accident when I entered an incorrect date, I found it to be much cheaper if I broke the timeline up into two rental periods. So for the same four day period I found if I booked first a 24 hour (1 day) rental, bring the car back and immediately pickup a second rental for the next three days, I could get the entire four day period for $92. That's an $82 savings over a continuous four day period. Now some will ask if it's worth it to have to go back and turn the car in again, and for some it's not worth it.
For me though, I'm willing to spend an hour of my time to save the $$ and have booked all the rentals (4 day, 1 day and 3 day). With Costco you can cancel without penalty and I will hold these through the weekend until I see what happens with the rates. It's possible it might get cheaper...although I'd be surprised. I'm told the 3 day period falls under weekend "special" rates.
Assuming this is the booking I keep, I'll present the scenario to the counter and see if they'll let me keep it the full four days at that price without coming back.