car rentals are outrageous!

[anne1125]

I usually book a rental around 10 mths out because they are cheaper. If prices come down I rebook.

I'm trying my typical stratagy now but the rates are soooo high.

We're going to Tampa next January. I guess I'll have to keep checking.

Even hotwire and priceline won't do $30 a day. This is nuts.

Anne

[lprstn]

Yeah, keep checking up until one week before. I had noticed the expenses.

[Talent312]

Winter is the high-season in Central+South Florida. Everything doubles.
Blame it on those pesky Canadians who do not respect our borders.

[Before anybody takes umbrage at this remark, please continue to read the rest of the thread. - Makai Guy, BBS Administrator]

[Sthack]

I noticed the same thing when I was booking a rental for my mother last month. I went to the link below and got a discount code that reduced the amount by $300!!! The site below is VERY good for travel tips in Florida. Dollar car rental usually have the best rate for Florida rentals.

http://www.mousesavers.com/

[UWSurfer]

Originally Posted by Sthack

I noticed the same thing when I was booking a rental for my mother last month. I went to the link below and got a discount code that reduced the amount by $300!!! The site below is VERY good for travel tips in Florida. Dollar car rental usually have the best rate for Florida rentals.

http://www.mousesavers.com/

Thank you for the reminder.

I had a reservation through Costco renting an minivan for $780 with Alamo for an eight day stay over spring break. I used the SW airlines corporate code SW2358 with the Dollar Rent-a-car site and got it down to just under $400. It may cost another $80 for an additional driver (not clear on this as there's a cryptic notation that may reference this), but even so that's a savings of $300 over what I did with Costco. I put in a second promotion code of AX10 which is supposed to save 10% if paid with an Amex card, but that's not referenced in the confirmation.

Thanks again!!!

[Carolinian]

European car rentals are high these days, too. Even Europe By Car and AutoEurope are much higher than in the past. I have had the best luck lately with www.economycarrentals.com although they are still much higher than what European car rentals went for in the old days.

[anne1125]

Well, I bit the bullet and did Priceline for $311 (total) for a full size in Tampa. Hope I don't regret this down the road.

Anne

[LisaRex]

Originally Posted by anne1125

Well, I bit the bullet and did Priceline for $311 (total) for a full size in Tampa. Hope I don't regret this down the road.

Anne

The great thing about car rentals is that you can cancel them without penalty. I'd be very hesitant to lock in a rate this far in advance because I almost always* find better deals the closer it gets to my travel dates. Note that the best deals can usually be found on the "Hot Deals" section of the car rental's website, but they aren't posted until 3 weeks or so prior to travel, so it's important to have a back-up reservation in case you've picked a "hot" week.

What I do is this: I'll book the best cancellable rate I can find as early as I can using whatever discount coupon I can get my hands on. Usually Costco or Entertainment discounts give me the best discounts, though there are times when my Emerald Club discount is the best. Then I keep pricing it out every 3 or 4 weeks. Last year my Hawaii midsize SUV rental started out at nearly $400. I ultimately got it down to $250.

Next time I'll do what my friend who traveled with us did. He booked a midsize car for $125/week. When he arrived, they asked him if he wanted to upgrade to a small SUV for an additional $6/day. He accepted it and got a slightly smaller car than we did for almost $100 less. This was high season (July) on Maui.

*There are exceptions. When I looked at car rentals for our romantic Phoenix trip, the cheapest rental by far was for a minivan. Now I didn't really want a minivan but I booked it anyway because it was half the price of the other rentals, including economy cars. I kept trying to find a better deal on a cute little convertible, but the prices kept going up. It ended up that we'd picked some Nascar weekend, and the prices never did break. So we were lucky we reserved the rate when we did, even though we were stuck with a stupid minivan.

[Twinkstarr]

Originally Posted by LisaRex

The great thing about car rentals is that you can cancel them without penalty. I'd be very hesitant to lock in a rate this far in advance because I almost always* find better deals the closer it gets to my travel dates. Note that the best deals can usually be found on the "Hot Deals" section of the car rental's website, but they aren't posted until 3 weeks or so prior to travel, so it's important to have a back-up reservation in case you've picked a "hot" week.

What I do is this: I'll book the best cancellable rate I can find as early as I can using whatever discount coupon I can get my hands on. Usually Costco or Entertainment discounts give me the best discounts, though there are times when my Emerald Club discount is the best. Then I keep pricing it out every 3 or 4 weeks. Last year my Hawaii midsize SUV rental started out at nearly $400. I ultimately got it down to $250.

Next time I'll do what my friend who traveled with us did. He booked a midsize car for $125/week. When he arrived, they asked him if he wanted to upgrade to a small SUV for an additional $6/day. He accepted it and got a slightly smaller car than we did for almost $100 less. This was high season (July) on Maui.

*There are exceptions. When I looked at car rentals for our romantic Phoenix trip, the cheapest rental by far was for a minivan. Now I didn't really want a minivan but I booked it anyway because it was half the price of the other rentals, including economy cars. I kept trying to find a better deal on a cute little convertible, but the prices kept going up. It ended up that we'd picked some Nascar weekend, and the prices never did break. So we were lucky we reserved the rate when we did, even though we were stuck with a stupid minivan.

Yep rental prices are obnoxious in any town when the NASCAR circus shows up as are hotel rates.

Not only do they gouge the fans, but the race teams themselves don't get much of a break on hotel rooms or rental cars.

[falmouth3]

I rented a car in Olando in Nov. 2008. I was shocked at the price. Luckily I had locked in on the best price that I'd seen early in the search, but I kept looking for a better deal up until the last moment. No luck finding something better, though.

Sue

[Aaron Kristen]

Originally Posted by Talent312

Winter is the high-season in Central+South Florida. Everything doubles.
Blame it on those pesky Canadians who do not respect our borders.

Remember about those those pesky Canadians:
- they are bringing tons of money into your tanking economy
- they are in your country legitimately, with passports! Who would have thought!
- while you may think rates are high, Canadians down south are paying 25% MORE when you consider the exchange rate

[jesuis1837]

Originally Posted by Aaron Kristen

Remember about those those pesky Canadians:
- they are bringing tons of money into your tanking economy
- they are in your country legitimately, with passports! Who would have thought!
- while you may think rates are high, Canadians down south are paying 25% MORE when you consider the exchange rate

Was going to comment on that rude statement from Talent312 but you did it the same way i would have! However, still speechless about somebody whining because we're injecting lots $$$ in their economy during recession!

[DeniseM]

I don't think you should take Talent's comment literally - it appears to be a joke.

[dougp26364]

Originally Posted by anne1125

Well, I bit the bullet and did Priceline for $311 (total) for a full size in Tampa. Hope I don't regret this down the road.

Anne

You took a Priceline rental for a trip in January? Wow, you a LOT braver than me. I usually book the best rate I can find then start searching Hotwire and Priceline a couple of weeks before we travel.

We just picked up a Priceline rental at SNA. They had really cranked their rates up over the last few months and their lot was showing the effects. The lot was full of cars to rent and short on cars returning. That's probably why we picked up a mid-size for $149 total for the week. Now I'm wondering if I'd have held out a few more days, if we'd have saved a little bit more.

[hotspot]

I am going to hope that Talent's comments were made in jest, however as a person preparing to send 2 family members south of the border for March Break, it makes me wonder if my "pesky" dollars may be more appreciated elsewhere.

[california-bighorn]

Even without knowing Talent, I'm sure Talents comment about Canadians were actually made in jest and should be taken as a compliment to our Canadian friends since they do everything they are supposed to. Hope I don't get editted here, but the great majority of US citizens hardly even consider Canadians as "foreign" visitors, just as we feel completely at home in Canada. Talent indicates he(she) lives in Florida where "illegal" immigration is an issue. Every year when we travel to Puerto Vallarta, it seems half the people we meet with and talk to are Canadian and we have always found them to be the nicest, most friendly people.

[Twinkstarr]

Originally Posted by hotspot

I am going to hope that Talent's comments were made in jest, however as a person preparing to send 2 family members south of the border for March Break, it makes me wonder if my "pesky" dollars may be more appreciated elsewhere.

I took it as a joke, as he could have well brought up the number of retired Americans who head south for the winter as well. As someone from the I-75 corridor, we do appreciate the CA business at our local restaurants and hotels.

My Aunt lived in Sarasota for about 20yrs and talked about the increase in traffic(both on the roads and her favorite watering holes) during "snowbird" season. She has now moved on to that other hot bed of seasonal travel, AZ.

[Talent312]

Originally Posted by hotspot

I am going to hope that Talent's comments were made in jest...

Of course I was joking! I apologize for any offense.
I was channeling that "South Park" movie where we fought a war.
Some things seem funnier in my thoughts than they look on paper.

We love visitors from Canada. Indeed... from anywhere. A great many businesses here could not survive without you folks. Tourists pay so much of our taxes that we we don't need a state income tax! So...
COME ON DOWN.

[jesuis1837]

Thanks Talent for your clarification! I'll be coming with the whole family in your state in June for 2 weeks so i'll stop by to say hello!

[dougp26364]

I was speaking with a Hertz guy when I returned out car yesterday in California. I commented on the prices and what he said floored me. He told me rental's were down so, to maintain the same profits, they were increasing prices to increase the profit margins. I guess they figure that the fewer people still traveling either won't notice or won't mind paying rates 2 to 4 times what we were paying just a few months back.

I told him that I have one more reasonably priced rental booked. After that, if I can't get a deal directly, through Priceline or through Hotwire, I'll be using the altrenatives such as shuttle busses, public transportation and taxi's when appropriate.

Heck, maybe what the rental car compaines are doing is inadvertantly going to help the environment.