Rental cars

Be sure you can take it out of state. I've run into that before when trying to rent a car. They were fine until I told them I was leaving the state. Then, it was no dice. I found another car to rent, so all was cool. But it doesn't hurt to ask before you leave.

 

Check to see if there's a mileage limit also (even on a weekly rate). Not good times if you drive 2,000 miles and then find out you have to pay per mile over 1,000 or something.

 

The web sites I've gone to have all (with the exception of Enterprise) given me the choice for a one-way rental so that shouldn't be an issue.

I think I've decided to get the rental car that Thursday because A.) I can buy a five-day unlimited bus pass in Vegas for $20 that will bring me right up to Thursday and B.) The week rates seem cheaper.

Now it's just a matter of finding which company I want to go through.

 

Bump up for fine print!

So, I was checking out some rental car places and found a great one-week long rate at Thifty. Got ready to book and, lo and behold, bam, $200 fee for dropping the car off in Cali.

Needless to say the wife-to-be was not too thrilled by this and we decided to hold off on the booking until we can figure something else out. Anyone have any advice on either A.) How to get out of the drop-off rate, B.) How to get the rate reduced or C.) Alternate ways to get to Cali from Vegas?

 

I could see the In-N-Out from my room in Vegas. Never have I wanted a rental car so badly.

 

A) Forget it. The vehicles are assigned for those locations. So either they have to get someone to "deadhead" it back to the location of origin or find someone who's going one-way to take it back. But usually, that doesn't entail any sort of serious discount. The only benefit could be if you reserved something small - econony or compact - wanted something bigger and it was, say, a mid- or full-sized sedan.

B) Look for a coupon or discount code. Many have rates, codes, coupons and other various discounts floating around. A site such as www.retailmenot.com is a good start.

Good luck.

 

So get this. Avis wanted to charge me $669 for an economy car for the full week (7/15-7/23), drop off fee included. I went through Hotwire, got a car for that time frame FROM AVIS for $269, drop off fee included.

Love saving $400! Woo!

 

I was doing a one-way rental in California a couple years ago - San Fran to San Diego - and first looked at picking up at the San Fran airport and dropping off at the San Diego airport. I forget what the quoted rate from Hertz and lots of other places was, but it was insane, mostly for the dropoff fee. But then through Orbitz or Travelocity I stumbled across a rate starting from a local Hertz location that was way more reasonable. So I picked up the car at Daly City and two days later dropped off at Lindbergh Field. With my AAA discount it came to about $75, which was definitely worth it for the drive down Highway 1.

So, if possible, see if a local/neighborhood location is possible rather than an airport.

 

Great advice. Those one-way rates can vary wildly from one location to another, even if it's only a couple miles apart.

CarRentals.com is a decent search engine for that. It seems to be very good at finding what neighborhood locations have the best rates.

 

I always rent through Hotwire. The biggest saving is the insurance - they sell you a certificate for the length of your rental that is often less than the single day rate charged by the rental agency.

 

I can't agree more. You will never have to pay for parking anywhere and you have mobility all over the town. Most people only stay on the strip and never drive out to Henderson or up by Red Rock.

I used to rent from Hertz but the rates got to be insane. I now use Dollar. Not the fanciest of cars but you can get rates for under $15. Join their version of the #1 club and you will spend five minutes tops getting your car. The longest wait will be at the gate as they check out your paperwork, but it beats waiting inside the terminal.