Are all pretty much the same price, is any one better than the other? Picking it up and dropping it off at RDU

11/21/2011 1:49:38 PM

I have always found enterprise to be the cheapest.

11/21/2011 1:57:29 PM

and i have always found national to be the least shitty. emerald club rules.

11/21/2011 2:03:32 PM

better turn 25 before you go

11/21/2011 2:16:59 PM

I'm 26, so no worries there.

11/21/2011 2:18:17 PM

book online thru carrentals/hotwire etc and look for coupons. I had good experience with enterprise. Check if military gives you any kind of discounts.

11/21/2011 2:20:05 PM

Quote :

"better turn 25 before you go"

I rented a car plenty of times prior to turning 25, costs more but they still let you.

11/21/2011 2:30:01 PM

1) Join National Emerald Club
2) Book economy car for cheapest rate
3) Get free upgrade to better vehicle at rental counter
4)...
5) Profit!

11/21/2011 2:38:41 PM

How does one obtain the best deal on a car rental? I'm looking to book a car for a week, and Expedia etc are all saying ~$400. How can I get it for cheaper?

5/22/2013 10:37:24 AM

I know Alamo does military discounts, and it's pretty damn good. My buddy is in the AF Reserves and he got a huge discount when we went to Philly last year. Plus they were out of economy cars so we got upgraded to a midsize for free.

5/22/2013 10:42:59 AM

Book the smallest size you would be comfortable in. Maybe try for mid-day, as we usually had less cars in the middle of the day. Busy times were early AM and late PM. I was not at an airport branch though, so that shit might be different. If you are on time they have to give you whatever they have. If they have something bigger, they might try to get you to pay for an upgrade, but usually they can only pull that shit if they have your size on the lot. If they try and get you in a smaller car than you reserved, make sure you know what cars are in your class you booked and what is under, so you can say "Hey, I booked an FCAR (full-size car like Grand Prix), but this is a damn SCAR (standard-sized like G6)" or whatever and you can get a discounted rate too. If you don't mention it though, they likely will not either.

5/22/2013 10:47:59 AM

Regardless of company, I have great luck asking for and receiving free upgrades.

I book the cheapest car possible.

get to the counter, and ask for a free upgrade. I usually get bumped to a mid-size for no additional cost-- this probably works 60% of the time. If it's a city where rental car demand is higher, it doesn't tend to work.

the last trip we took(orlando), i booked the economy, asked for a free upgrade, and they offered me a brand new avalon for $15 total (5 day rental) instead of the hyundai accent i would have gotten. sold.

probably the best one i got was when I booked a mid-size sedan for a ski-trip for me and 4 dudes. We didn't want to spend the extra $30/day for an SUV . they were out of roof racks, and there was a little back and forth, but they ultimately put us in a Suburban for no extra charge.

[Edited on May 22, 2013 at 10:50 AM. Reason : .]

5/22/2013 10:48:22 AM

i rented a ford focus with unlimited mileage for 4 days for just shy of $100 after taxes and fees...picked up at the san francisco airport and dropped off at the san jose airport

rented from budget using a code i found on slickdeals

5/22/2013 11:33:06 AM

From my experience, Hertz had the newest fleet, doesn't allow a lot of miles to accumulate on their cars, and has really good service. Enterprise, on the other hand, has almost always had older cars, not clean, higher miles, but really cheap. So, if you want cheap, Alamo and Enterprise are pretty cheap.

5/22/2013 1:03:04 PM

budget gets you in and out the fastest and is the least pushy with respect to sellin insurance. It also has less fees associated with renting and crap

5/22/2013 1:12:58 PM

There are two different deals going on now for weekly car rentals. Check them out, both are for $100 range for a week
http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/92812/avis-rent-a-car-avis-suv-rentals-rentals-from-169-per-week-or-from
http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/92444/budget-rent-a-car-budget-car-rental-compact-car-from-89-per-week-or-15-per-weekend-day-suv-rental-from-109-per-week-or-22-per-weekend-day



Also, if you have a chase or citi credit card, you can rent through the rewards website (and pay for it using cash if you dont have reward points). Alot of times those are the best prices. Check out this blog post.
http://millionmilesecrets.com/2013/01/23/ultimate-rewards-travel/

[Edited on May 22, 2013 at 1:15 PM. Reason : links]

5/22/2013 1:15:17 PM

^ That's the kind of info I was looking for. Thanks. The budget deal works out to half of the Expedia site rates

5/22/2013 2:40:14 PM

[Edited on May 22, 2013 at 2:46 PM. Reason : dp]

5/22/2013 2:45:58 PM

I have always had the best luck if you want cheap car rentals using hotwire.com. They don't tell you who you are renting through until you pay, but I use it to score big discounts flying into ACY.

5/22/2013 3:19:16 PM

Any idea on a good place to rent a van?

I'm Krallum and I approved this message.

5/22/2013 3:48:51 PM

glad to be able to help out. I tend to be really good at finding good rates on car rentals, especially searching through slickdeals.

Cutting the price in half is pretty significant though

5/22/2013 4:16:17 PM

Actually more than half... Expedia was quoting $400 for a 5.5 days in Denver for economy. I got a small SUV (Ford Escape) from Budget for $200. Economy would have been ~$170 OTD.

5/22/2013 4:48:17 PM