Author Topic: Cheapest way to rent a car?  (Read 3192 times)

slappy

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Cheapest way to rent a car?
« on: August 05, 2017, 06:07:38 AM »
We are going to be traveling to Austin over Halloween weekend and will need to rent a car. We have two kids and were thinking of renting a minivan so that we can transport our hosts instead of taking two cars everywhere. So far I've found it to be about $350, which doesn't seem too terrible. Any tips? The only Travel points I have are 7k southwest points, so that probably won't help much.

AmberTheCat

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Re: Cheapest way to rent a car?
« Reply #1 on: August 05, 2017, 08:44:15 AM »
we've rented mini-vans a few times; they are not cheap! we've rented through priceline (bidding) and costco- travel. (we are costco members). you'll have to determine if renting a van is worth as cars can be rented for much less! You might google the town and look for local rental companies; they might be less than national companies.

HipGnosis

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Re: Cheapest way to rent a car?
« Reply #2 on: August 05, 2017, 10:04:43 AM »
Car rental 
per Clark Howard;
 ‘17   rent thru Costco  (Sams?)  book ASAP  check online a few times for a rate decrease

AutoSlash(.com)  (‘17 MMM)  You can either make a reservation directly with them, or import one you've already made elsewhere. They automatically track for price drops, and automatically rebook (if the lower price is for the same company & car size) or send you an email with easy instructions for manual rebooking (if the lower price is with a different company and/or car size).   AutoSlash is not a rental car company themselves, they are a front-end booking agent/interface to all the major rental car brands.   I've just saved anywhere from $40 to $100 per rental

Also;  most major cities have some sort of 'rent-a-wreck'
« Last Edit: August 05, 2017, 10:06:58 AM by HipGnosis »

babysnowbyrd

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Re: Cheapest way to rent a car?
« Reply #3 on: August 05, 2017, 10:08:54 AM »
You can use Turo.com (used to be relay rides). It's like airbnb but for cars. Rates can be very reasonable. There's also a similar company called HyreCar
« Last Edit: August 08, 2017, 02:20:48 AM by babysnowbyrd »

Ocinfo

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Re: Cheapest way to rent a car?
« Reply #4 on: August 05, 2017, 10:14:55 AM »
I've had success recently with Priceline. They allow you to book without paying anything and then  rebook if the price goes down. I booked a full size car last Sunday through Wednesday for $81 in a major Midwest city via Enterprise. Price kept going down each day so I would rebook for lower price.


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HipGnosis

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Re: Cheapest way to rent a car?
« Reply #5 on: August 05, 2017, 10:19:38 AM »
You can use Turdo.com (used to be relay rides). It's like airbnb but for cars. Rates can be very reasonable. There's also a similar company called HyreCar
That should be: turo.com

Laserjet3051

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Re: Cheapest way to rent a car?
« Reply #6 on: August 05, 2017, 10:46:16 AM »
I recently rented a car through Costco travel which shaved off ~15% of the cost as compared to the same exact rental direct through the rental company. Also rejected their auto insurance, instead opting to use my auto insurance combined with car rental coverage from my credit card company. This INFURIATED the rental company, which devolved into a bitter dispute. Fuck 'em.

newton

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Re: Cheapest way to rent a car?
« Reply #7 on: August 05, 2017, 11:19:33 AM »
The MMM site gave me a great tip of using Autoslash.  I save a lot of money on a recent rental.  Would highly recommend it.  Start early!

Exprezchef

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Re: Cheapest way to rent a car?
« Reply #8 on: August 05, 2017, 11:26:44 AM »
I just looked at the Turo website and there are minivans for rent for the weekend you are looking for and they seem pretty reasonably priced. I have never used this service but a friend has in the past and it worked out pretty well for him. 

slappy

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Re: Cheapest way to rent a car?
« Reply #9 on: August 05, 2017, 12:29:21 PM »
I just looked at the Turo website and there are minivans for rent for the weekend you are looking for and they seem pretty reasonably priced. I have never used this service but a friend has in the past and it worked out pretty well for him.

I just checked and only saw two. One is very reasonably priced but had three comments of the owner cancelling last minute. :( I'll have to keep checking.