Rental Car Companies

I'm only riding in that if the horse's name is Rusty and Kramer's at the reigns.

 

you may want to know which way the wind is blowing then.

 

I've had good luck using Priceline. They only use Hertz, Avis, Budget and two other big companies (can't remember which ones -- National and Alamo, maybe?), so there's no chance of getting stuck with Joe's Rent-a-Car. As long as your plans are firm (you have to prepay and it's non-refundable), you can do really well.

 

Rate I got from Alamo was cheaper than Costco/Budget

 

These are about $300 now. I think you pay about $75 for one every time you rent a car.



If you travel, it will be the best $300 you ever spend.

 

I'm told it doesn't take a Weatherman to know which way the wind blows.

 

It's worth taking a look at Hotwire as well. I've had good success getting reasonable prices through there on rental cars.

 

Please, don't use Advantage.

They screwed me pretty good a few weeks back in Phoenix. I missed hitting the return time by less than 10 minutes, and they charged me for a full day's rental and insurance. When the guy talked me into the car he was very loose about when it had to be back.

Boycott, revolt! (And do what Fly says. There are always better deals online than if you try to rent at the counter)

 

Most recent rental, a one-way drive to move the youngest Editude home for the summer, was with Enterprise because they didn't charge a huge fee to drop the van off at a different spot.

 

Anybody else used that Enterprise promotion? I just plugged it in and came up with an outstanding rate, too.

Don't want to reserve it yet if they're going to give me a lot of NPPL bullshit at the counter, though ...

 

Priceline and Hotwire are both far more useful when it comes to rental cars than with air travel, because you're still in full control of your schedule. You pick up and drop off the car when you want, and you can get good deals from either as long as it's at an airport of even moderate size and as long as your plans are firm.

If their prices seem steep (Hotwire quotes prices before you buy) or aren't much different from what the rental companies have on their own Web sites, it probably means the market is tight and there's a high demand for that place and time.

 

Leather has the best philosophical approach.

Other suggestion: If you like a particular company, google "Avis (or whomever) car rental codes"
and see what turns up.