How does one get a good car rental rate?

[epiphony]

I've heard stories about people renting compacts and economy cars for $30-$35 a day, all taxes and fees included (LDW insurance covered with gold card). So why is it that when I try to book it for a week in August, I'm getting quoted rates of $50/day (without taxes and fees included), and this is using a discount code.

Also, why is that expedia.ca, travelocity.ca and the company's websites will all quote different prices (and none of them cheap). Is there a secret tip that I'm missing out on regarding how to get these good rates? Is it because weekday rates are considerably higher (business clients?)?

Finally, is it best to book online, through the central booking place, or the particular location where I'm looking to rent from?

[CoffeeAddict]

Getting a car rental rate is like getting a good plane ticket... sometimes you just gotta be there at the right time. That said, you should be able to get $30 a day without breaking a sweat! Check Acrossenger's threads in the hot deals forums for Hertz and Avis.

The other thing is on weekends the cars are a lot cheaper.
Weekdays they seem to gouge you because I think typically those days are for people on business.

What are your travel dates and what kinda car do you need specifically? Maybe we can help you out?

Also, if you can rent from an airport that's ideal. Then you can use priceline.com or hotwire.com to book a rental. With hotwire, it's a reservation only with payment done AFTER rental so it's a good way to book a car without paying up front. With priceline it's paid up at time of reservation but you can probably get it cheaper. Anywhere from $12-$15 a day is reasonable with priceline

EDIT: If it's the long weekend week you're trying to book you might be SOL. A last resort might be www.wheelsabroad.com but rencently they changed their rental policy to ONLY INLCUDE LDW. Which is pretty crappy but if you had to pay the LDW anyway if you don't have a CC that covers insurance you can find good deals there. They use Thrifty in Canada

[sunnybono]

Getting a car rental rate is like getting a good plane ticket... sometimes you just gotta be there at the right time. That said, you should be able to get $30 a day without breaking a sweat! Check Acrossenger's threads in the hot deals forums for Hertz and Avis.

The other thing is on weekends the cars are a lot cheaper.
Weekdays they seem to gouge you because I think typically those days are for people on business.

What are your travel dates and what kinda car do you need specifically? Maybe we can help you out?

Also, if you can rent from an airport that's ideal. Then you can use priceline.com or hotwire.com to book a rental. With hotwire, it's a reservation only with payment done AFTER rental so it's a good way to book a car without paying up front. With priceline it's paid up at time of reservation but you can probably get it cheaper. Anywhere from $12-$15 a day is reasonable with priceline

EDIT: If it's the long weekend week you're trying to book you might be SOL. A last resort might be www.wheelsabroad.com but rencently they changed their rental policy to ONLY INLCUDE LDW. Which is pretty crappy but if you had to pay the LDW anyway if you don't have a CC that covers insurance you can find good deals there. They use Thrifty in Canada

Not sure it Priceline dot com will work for Canadian Rentals, but it worked out great for me in the US. I booked an SUV (Trailblazer or Grand Cherokee) out of Houston International Airport for 10 days @ $20/day. With Taxes it came out to $330USD or $365 CAD. I didn't go with what priceline had to offer, I went through their PICK YOUR PRICE program. Once I picked my price of $20, the system told me that I had a better chance at booking if I changed it to $22 and an even better chance at $23. I stuck to $20 and the deal was accepted by National Tilden!!!!

sk

[CoffeeAddict]

Not sure it Priceline dot com will work for Canadian Rentals, but it worked out great for me in the US. I booked an SUV (Trailblazer or Grand Cherokee) out of Houston International Airport for 10 days @ $20/day. With Taxes it came out to $330USD or $365 CAD. I didn't go with what priceline had to offer, I went through their PICK YOUR PRICE program. Once I picked my price of $20, the system told me that I had a better chance at booking if I changed it to $22 and an even better chance at $23. I stuck to $20 and the deal was accepted by National Tilden!!!!

sk

priceline, at least the last time I checked, had rentals at YYZ but I'm not 100% on ottawa. Priceline will also accept Canadian bids just in case that was what you were referring to.

[grumps]

If you don't mind renting from the airport, I'd try Hotwire. In the GTA usually 30 dollars a day on the weekend all in is standard for a small car.

[pfbmgd]

I`m looking to rent a SUV or a min van for Sept 6 to 11.I need at least 2500km as I`m driving to the states.Leaving from Mississauga.

[DaWongsta]

For anyone who's booked using Priceline.com before, how can you tell if the company will allow 1) crossing into the US from Canada, and 2) unlimited kms
if you name your own price (since they don't let you choose your company)?

Thanks

[almostfreeman]

For anyone who's booked using Priceline.com before, how can you tell if the company will allow 1) crossing into the US from Canada, and 2) unlimited kms
if you name your own price (since they don't let you choose your company)?

Thanks

read the terms and conditions before bidding .. i got unlimited km's but I'm not sure that is Priceline's policy on every rental from every location.

[canabiz]

I've heard stories about people renting compacts and economy cars for $30-$35 a day, all taxes and fees included (LDW insurance covered with gold card). So why is it that when I try to book it for a week in August, I'm getting quoted rates of $50/day (without taxes and fees included), and this is using a discount code.

Also, why is that expedia.ca, travelocity.ca and the company's websites will all quote different prices (and none of them cheap). Is there a secret tip that I'm missing out on regarding how to get these good rates? Is it because weekday rates are considerably higher (business clients?)?

Finally, is it best to book online, through the central booking place, or the particular location where I'm looking to rent from?

I am from Ottawa and I just booked a medium-sized car (Something along the line of Sebring or Corolla) with Hertz for $32/day and I didn't even use the coupons posted in the Hot Deals section (didn't see them until after I made the reservation)

Unlimited mileage and good part is I gotta pick it up and drop it off at the location closest to my house, beat driving all the way to the airport (a good 30 minutes for me since I am in the West End)

This is for a regular weekend in August. You should be able to get something similar. I have never rented from Hertz before so I am anxious to find out if they live up to the reputation that is posted on this forum)

Cheers!

[DaWongsta]

read the terms and conditions before bidding .. i got unlimited km's but I'm not sure that is Priceline's policy on every rental from every location.

I already read it through. It doesn't mention anything about this. Can anyone who has won a bid, please comment on whether you were allowed to drive across the border? Thanks

[Bincent]

I went to Seattle over the weekend and had got my car rental from Priceline. When I was at the check-in counter, the agent asked if I'd be going to Canada. It wasn't really an issue for them, but they would have just given me a car with Canadian plates instead if I was going to cross the border (apparently, it's more an issue with crossing the border with a car that you don't own with US plates). They just wanted to know - there wasn't any additional costs either.

[Talamasca]

Check out Hot Deals for a good rate. I rented a car last October for a great price from Avis because of some special codes I found on that forum.

[canabiz]

I just booked a car rental via PriceLine and will cancel the reservations I made with Hertz earlier tomorrow

It was my first time trying out the car rental feature on PriceLine and I put in $20/day and clicked Submit, it came back with a match and I will be picking up a mid-size car with unlimited mileage from Avis Airport location!

Total price for 2 days (pick-up 9:00 a.m. and return 6:00 p.m.) with taxes and fees come to $63.19 USD which is almost half what I got from Hertz early on.

I guess we"ll see if there's any catch, fingers crossed!

[boyoflondon]

I've found that booking about a week to 10 days before, you get the best deals. Keep this in mind ... If you need the car starting Friday till about mid next week, always book friday to tuesday as you will get the cheap rates. If you put in wednesday instead of Tuesday, you'll get the normal rates. I just went to NYC with and booked a car with Discount online. Sat-Tues for example, I was getting a $20.99 for a mid-sized while it would jump back to reg ($35.99) if I selected a wednesday return date. I still returned it wednesday morning and was charged $30.99 rate for the extra date instead of their regular rate.

If you need a car for a week, call the company directly as they might be able to give you a good rate. ALWAYS get a quote online and directly with the company's 1-800 number. NEVER call the branch directly.

For weekend rates, Discount and Enterprise are the way to go. I personally wouldnt look at other companies as they are a rip off.

PS. I worked for Discount last year so I know the insides and outs :)

[shahn2]

I defnitely recommend Hotwire for this.
Avis was quoting $90/day from Halifax airport and would switch to $600/week when I was trying to book for 5 days. Add taxes on top and it was an OUCH!
I ended up getting a mid-size from Avis, booked @ Hotwire for $32USD/day or $160USD for 5 days! Unlimited mileage... worked out NICELY!

[redjl]

If you are a Costco member. Go to www.costco.com. Click on travel and use the coupons/discount codes there. Also keep an eye on the specific car rental websites for their last minute deals. I usually find Alamo (booked from the Costco.com website) or Thrifty (right from their website) is the cheapest for my US rentals.