Some thoughts/tips/common sense on car rental after my back-to-back experience with several car rental companies since my mom’s arrival:
1. Avis can be cheap if you deal with independent Avis agents (outside of airports) during peak periods (i.e. Grand Prix week).
2. Car rental companies take turns to hand out deals; one week it could be Enterprise, the next week it might be Dollar… etc. Economically speaking, they are avoiding competing head-on with each other by taking turns to share customers. The only exception, I noticed, is Hertz… which almost never gives out deals. But then again, most of their clients are corporate customers who are less sensitive to price than average consumers.
3. Booking a cheap deal one or two hours apart often makes a difference: I saw a deal for weekly rate of $102 for a midsize car on Enterprise; but hours later, the deal was gone and the price went up to $200+. The same can apply when you make reservation before or after midnight.
4. You don’t necessarily get a better deal if you reserve way ahead of time; I have checked for deals for 2 weeks, 1 week and just days (sometimes hours) in advance with varying results.
5. Experiment with selecting different locations and see the prices change. Some locations, even under the same company, are more expensive than others. Prices can vary for as much as 50% on exact the same size cars, dates… etc.
6. Experiment with selecting different hours to pick up the car; in my experience so far, before 2PM seems to be cheaper than after.
7. Different dates, of course, will see difference in prices — sometimes huge differences. Just common sense.
8. After checking in at the rental counter, most companies either tell you where your car is or just hand you the keys. But Enterprise uses a tactic akin to car sales (which I hate). You go meet a rental agent at the lot where he will hand you a bottle of water and tries to sucker you in to upgrading to a better car for more $$. Only upgrade if you know it’s a better deal (i.e. check beforehand online, such as Expedia where they usually tell you how much each car class costs). Also, with the Enterprise agent on the lot, upgrade rates are ALWAYS negotiable.
9. Hotwire, Expedia, Travelocity… etc. — They are almost all the same, rate, availability and everything else.
10. Avis and Dollar do not have imports (specifically, Japanese) while Enterprise always has imports as an option for upgrade (or if you really bargain, sometimes they’ll upgrade while keeping the price the same!). Hertz also keeps a nice fleet of imports for rental.
11. The only Japanese import that’s not available for rental (as far as I know) is Honda. Toyota, Mitsubishi, Nissan and Mazda can be rented from most companies.
12. Some rental companies will take Costco and/or Sam’s Club membership for a small discount. But you have to ask because it’s never advertised. Some credit cards offer exclusive deals for discounts with certain rental companies. “Sometimes” it’s worth it to check for deals. But most of the time, Expedia’s deals are better.
13. Renting through Costco is NOT cheaper than Expedia (though logic may say otherwise).
14. Most companies offer spouse as a FREE add-on driver.
15. Extending the same car for another fixed period (another 3 days, another week… etc.) usually means you get to keep the car at the same rate but not always. Sometimes it could be cheaper to go through the reservation process again to get an even cheaper rate (either from the same company or a different one (per #2).
16. Weekly rates are sometimes cheaper than if you rented the car for just 3-4 days. So if you need a car for just 3 or 4 days, check for the weekly rate anyway.
My humble experience for the past 2 weeks.
