Holy jeeze, car rental is expensive now. Anyone have any tips or tricks? We are trying to go through groups we are a part of and it seems the rates are slightly better. Anything I need to try? Not really interested in the turo thing right now. Maybe for a guys trip, but I will have the wife and young kids with me this time. Looking for a suv, not one of the micro ones, but don't need a suburban.

I've rented 3 cars in the last few months and didn't notice anything abnormal. Are you renting one way? I typically just get a normal-size car so could be your criteria is causing the high prices.

Try Hotwire and priceline.

I've had success using Wisecars a couple of times, but they might not be the best to use if you are looking for something a specific size. I'm not 100% sure how they do it, but you pay them directly and they shop around to find the best deal. They give you info on who the rental will be from and what type of car it is a few days before you get the vehicle The 2 times I used them, I paid about 25% less than if I had rented direclty from the rental company themselves. The cars were from Budget and Avis, if I remember correctly.

There have been times when I adjusted the pick-up and return times in either direction by a few hours and the price decreased by a decent amount. I don't have any rhyme or reason, but it is something that I do now when looking up rentals.

Depending on the details it may not be feasible, but many times renting from an off-airport location can be massively cheaper. Sometimes it stays cheaper even if you return to airport. So fly in, take uber or hotel bus to hotel, get car the next day.

Also, I have had good luck with Sixt rental car. They are very good about giving you the exact make / model of car you reserve. It may not be the cheapest, but it solves the Kia Soul = Full Size Luxury SUV game that AVIS, Hertz and others play.

Do you work for a company that has a preferred rental car company? We do and they have no issue with us using our corporate rate code to book for personal use. The base intermediate car rate is $40 and change a day with Avis.

If you have a Costco card go through the Costco website and check prices. Last fall we did that flying into Jackson Hole for a trip to Yellowstone.

Got a full size SUV rather than a medium SUV for 1/2 the price.

I swear up and down about autoslash.com.

It's an aggregator that also applies discounts (AAA, credit cards, costco, etc).

I don't know what a 'deal' is nowadays but I've always been happy with the rates I get.

High Functioning Moron said:

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There have been times when I adjusted the pick-up and return times in either direction by a few hours and the price decreased by a decent amount. I don't have any rhyme or reason, but it is something that I do now when looking up rentals.

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Rentals are by 24hr period.. you were probably taking off or adding an entire period by adjusting the PU/DO hours a bit.

It will still charge you if you go over the 24 hr period (with a grace period of I think an hour or so)

Just like airport parking.

Tried most of these. Ended up just going thru the budget website. Costco was the cheapest, but only by ten bucks and we are members of Sams, so wasn't the cheapest for us. Moral of the story, there aren't really any hacks, just bend over and take it.

akaggie05 said:

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Do you work for a company that has a preferred rental car company? We do and they have no issue with us using our corporate rate code to book for personal use. The base intermediate car rate is $40 and change a day with Avis.

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This. I save a ton of money on personal travel car rentals using our corporate avis code (they are ok with us using it for personal rentals). Also, if you are flying somewhere with a decent transit system, go somewhere away from the airport to rent, and the rentals are usually much cheaper.

In Boston, we were going to do the freedom trail the first morning after we flew in, and parking near there is insane at the hotels. So we took an uber to the hotel and then rented the car to drive to Maine after we finished walking the freedom trail. There is an Avis in Government Center Plaza that is an easy walk from the Government Center subway station that you could ride from the airport. The weekly rate renting there was nearly $200 cheaper for a med SUV than the rate at the airport. But be careful, the offsite locations often close earlier than the airport locations.

You can do the same thing riding the train from the Denver airport to downtown and renting there.

I've done Turo multiple times with my wife and kids in tow and it's easy as can be. Much better cars, way less money.

Many credit cards, especially the travel focused ones, have discount rates. Our Platinum Amex gets 40% off published Avis rates. Also, if you are part of a Frequent Flyer program they typically have partner rental car companies that extend a discount code.

Get a minivan. It's the ultimate car rental hack. Usually priced the same as a standard sedan but has all the minivan features. You'll be rolling in nice Pacifica in style.

Echo lots of other ideas in here (off site rental - hard if you need a car seat to get there, and corporate codes)

Don't blame you on Turo. Rates look nice, but then none of them are actually at the airport and usually there is some extra $50 fee to have it delivered to the airport. That or you Uber to get to it, which defeats the purpose. Good idea in concept.

I typically have the most luck with Costco. If you have AAA or can find a corporate/group ID anywhere online, that could help. I use a group ID, and have never asked for proof of being in said group (even though I am). I imagine you can find group IDs very easily. Just search something like Realtor car rental discount or similar. There is an ethical aspect to this method, but I'll leave to you to wrestle with that. Good luck.

ChoppinDs40 said:

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Get a minivan. It's the ultimate car rental hack. Usually priced the same as a standard sedan but has all the minivan features. You'll be rolling in nice Pacifica in style.

Echo lots of other ideas in here (off site rental - hard if you need a car seat to get there, and corporate codes)

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Not always the case. I have found the minivans to typically be priced in the same range as the medium or large SUVs. Probably depends on the airport and the time of year.

txags92 said:

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ChoppinDs40 said:

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Get a minivan. It's the ultimate car rental hack. Usually priced the same as a standard sedan but has all the minivan features. You'll be rolling in nice Pacifica in style.

Echo lots of other ideas in here (off site rental - hard if you need a car seat to get there, and corporate codes)

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Not always the case. I have found the minivans to typically be priced in the same range as the medium or large SUVs. Probably depends on the airport and the time of year.

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yeah it varies... if you want a large SUV from DIA in the summer, they're going to price gouge the hell out of you.

yocod said:

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Don't blame you on Turo. Rates look nice, but then none of them are actually at the airport and usually there is some extra $50 fee to have it delivered to the airport. That or you Uber to get to it, which defeats the purpose. Good idea in concept.

I typically have the most luck with Costco. If you have AAA or can find a corporate/group ID anywhere online, that could help. I use a group ID, and have never asked for proof of being in said group (even though I am). I imagine you can find group IDs very easily. Just search something like Realtor car rental discount or similar. There is an ethical aspect to this method, but I'll leave to you to wrestle with that. Good luck.

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We just got back from Florida and tried to book via turo. Then every car had crazy fees, airport fee, airport parking fee, delivery fee. Some charged $30 a day for a car seat. Some had details saying to have the car detailed before drop off. Whole process just annoyed me. Fees added over $150(not including car seat) so did national instead. It was way cheaper, and as normal, we got a full size suv for the price of a car. Doubt I'll even take the time to look at Turo again.

Yeah my company's corporate rate which we can use for personal use and it allows no fee/penalty one way is a game changer.

TX04Aggie said:

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Yeah my company's corporate rate which we can use for personal use and it allows no fee/penalty one way is a game changer.

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fee for one way? I've never paid a fee or penalty for one way.. in fact, I feel I've gotten lower rates when I do one way. I've only ever used Budget, maybe other company do have a one way fee?

62strat said:

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TX04Aggie said:

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Yeah my company's corporate rate which we can use for personal use and it allows no fee/penalty one way is a game changer.

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fee for one way? I've never paid a fee or penalty for one way.. in fact, I feel I've gotten lower rates when I do one way. I've only ever used Budget, maybe other company do have a one way fee?

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Really depends on the timing and locations. If taking from a high demand area to a low demand area, fees are likely

htxag09 said:

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62strat said:

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TX04Aggie said:

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Yeah my company's corporate rate which we can use for personal use and it allows no fee/penalty one way is a game changer.

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fee for one way? I've never paid a fee or penalty for one way.. in fact, I feel I've gotten lower rates when I do one way. I've only ever used Budget, maybe other company do have a one way fee?

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Really depends on the timing and locations. If taking from a high demand area to a low demand area, fees are likely

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Every time I've explored the one-way option, it always $$$$$.

https://blog.autoslash.com/autoslash-s-cheap-one-way-car-rental-guide/