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Thread: Tips for car rental savings?

  1. #1
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    Default Tips for car rental savings?

    Does anyone have any good tips on getting reduced car rental rates? Looking at a week in San Diego in May. Really bummed that Car2Go shut down their San Diego operations. So I'm forced to rent a car for the entire trip, PLUS pay $50+ a day for parking at the place we're staying.
    Typical searches come up with around $260 for 8 days.
    What seems strange is that if I rent for 4 days it's only $20-some bucks per day. If I do 8, then it jumps up to $30-some bucks per day.
    I would think a week's rental would be a bit of a savings over a smaller block.
    Any tips from the world travelers?
    Last edited by C_Dave45; 03-18-2017 at 12:16 PM.

  2. #2
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    Try rentalcars.com
    ...

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    Have you looked into Turo? (Waiting on a good opportunity to try myself too)

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    Originally posted by Maxx Mazda
    Try rentalcars.com
    Hmm...

    Rentalcars.com = Economy car Total Price: CAD368

    Turo: Interesting. I'm in favour of the private sector rental idea....just not much of a savings. Cheapest prices for a decent car is $20+ per day, but it's USD. So almost the same cost as what I found at Expedia. ($260 CAD all in) And expedia is easy pick up and drop off. Airport terminal.

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    From my experience, booking through Expedia has been the cheapest.
    Priceline can be good too but for convenience, peace of mind I book through Expedia.
    Pick the cheapest and pay upfront.

    I thought about trying Turo but sometimes there are hidden fees (cleaning, pick-up, drop off, etc) that it was actually cheaper going through Expedia.

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    Default Re: Tips for car rental savings?

    Originally posted by C_Dave45
    Typical searches come up with around $260 for 8 days.
    What seems strange is that if I rent for 4 days it's only $20-some bucks per day. If I do 8, then it jumps up to $30-some bucks per day.
    I would think a week's rental would be a bit of a savings over a smaller block.
    Any tips from the world travelers?
    Maybe you just need to inconvenience yourself and make 2 x 4 day rentals...

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    Just continue being your dickface self and profit.

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    Originally posted by FixedGear
    Just continue being your dickface self and profit.

    Originally posted by GTS Jeff
    You know those bored stay at home moms who's entire lives revolve around driving their kids to soccer, various cleaning accessories, and worrying about neighbourhood rapists? The kind of people that watch the View and go "uh huh..." Those unfulfilled people who try to fill the void in their empty lives by writing whiny letters to the editor complaining about shit that no one really cares about?

    Well imagine if instead of writing that letter to the editor, she just posts on a car forum for car enthusiasts. That's Kritafo.

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    If you have a Costco card try booking through Costcos website. Pretty good savings even when compared to Expedia etc.

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    Avis has prepaid rentals that have saved me substantially in the past.
    Quote Originally Posted by killramos View Post
    This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
    You realize you are talking to the guy who made his own furniture out of salad bowls right?

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    Default Re: Re: Tips for car rental savings?

    Originally posted by jwslam

    Maybe you just need to inconvenience yourself and make 2 x 4 day rentals...

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    Costco
    GO FLAMES GO!

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    Default Re: Re: Tips for car rental savings?

    Originally posted by jwslam

    Maybe you just need to inconvenience yourself and make 2 x 4 day rentals...
    Haha...never thought of that. Would that work?
    8-12th=$111 12-16th=$111 for a total of $222. The 8-16th= $266. Wonder if I'd have to drive in, sign the paper work, then get out of the vehicle, walk around it and get back in?



    Originally posted by ExtraSlow
    Avis has prepaid rentals that have saved me substantially in the past.
    Whoa: $525 for pre-paid!!
    click for larger version
    » Click image for larger version




    Originally posted by 403ep3
    Costco
    Never thought of them. I've never rented from them either, but their rate was $329

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    Maybe it's me, but $30/day in a California city actually seems pretty decent to me though I guess if there are dates they are doing $20/day there's no reason to try and save a couple bucks.

    My rate scale is

    $20/day = cheap
    $30/day = not bad
    $40+/day = start shopping around hard

    Anyways to get back on topic, have you tried calling the rental agency directly to see if you can get the $20/day rate for the entire duration of the trip? I've heard that works sometimes.

    Another way I've saved money is actually to play around with pickup/dropoff locations. I needed to get a car in San Jose one time and the rates at the airport were about ~$40/day at the time but the rates in some of the rental locations in the city dropped all the way down to $20/day. A $3 bus ride to get the car not from an airport rental agency saved me quite a bit of money.

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    Default Re: Re: Re: Tips for car rental savings?

    Originally posted by C_Dave45
    Haha...never thought of that. Would that work?
    8-12th=$111 12-16th=$111 for a total of $222. The 8-16th= $266. Wonder if I'd have to drive in, sign the paper work, then get out of the vehicle, walk around it and get back in?
    I'd pick up a different car on the basis of them inconveniencing you on the pricing.

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    Default Re: Re: Re: Tips for car rental savings?

    another question is is it worth the hassle of driving back to the airport to drop off the rental and picking another one up to save $50?
    if you're not that far from the SD airport and have the time, then go for it.


    Originally posted by C_Dave45

    Haha...never thought of that. Would that work?
    8-12th=$111 12-16th=$111 for a total of $222. The 8-16th= $266. Wonder if I'd have to drive in, sign the paper work, then get out of the vehicle, walk around it and get back in?

    Whoa: $525 for pre-paid!!
    click for larger version
    » Click image for larger version

    Never thought of them. I've never rented from them either, but their rate was $329

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    Default Re: Re: Re: Re: Tips for car rental savings?

    Originally posted by taemo
    another question is is it worth the hassle of driving back to the airport to drop off the rental and picking another one up to save $50?
    if you're not that far from the SD airport and have the time, then go for it.


    Yeah, to me personally it's not. I think I'll just take D'z advice and call them, see if they can match their own price of two 4-day rentals. Seems like more of a computer algorithm error than anything else. Two separate rentals, two sets of paperwork, inconveniencing both their desk staff as well as the customer....cheaper than one 8 day rental?

    I just thought that my very first search on Expedia came up with a price, and wanted to make sure I wasn't missing some secret tip on getting a great price.

    I really miss their Car2Go though. We used that last time we were there and it was the perfect solution. Needed to just get somewhere, but not the use of a car for all day? Pick one up and leave it there. When coming back home, just grab another one. It was ideal. Plus they were electric!!!

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    Dave,

    I rented with easycar.com for our trip coming up to Palm Springs. It's a european site, but they do rent in America. I have a mini van rented for a total of 208.77 euros = 352.42 CAD

    This price even beat Costco pricing. The only thing was, when I went to the website myself I got high costs. But when I used a link from a family member I got the cheaper rates. So if you want I can forward a link to you? just let me know.

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    ^Wow that's a great price for a mini van.
    Sure, pm me the link and I'll check it out.
    Thank you!!

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    As a side note to getting a better rate, make sure you don't pay for extra insurance or anything like that if your credit card covers you, as many do.

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