Cheap(er) car rental?

[Hello Kitty]

Is there any way not to get worked over when renting a car? My mom and I are going on vacation and need to rent one - don't remember what she did last year, but it was wicked expensive.

Also, I'm 24 - if my mom is the primary driver, can I borrow the car?

Has anyone done it on Hotwire?

[SingleWhiteFemale]

You can be the driver if your mother rents the car. However, you must be on the contract as an added driver (my insurance company, though, told me that they didn't care if I was on the paper or not, if I was driving it and had an accident that was my fault they'd cover my butt). At the rental places I've been to, they require your drivers license so they can make a photocopy, when you pick up the car. However, if you're going to Avis/the like, and are under 25, they will not add you as a driver regardless of the age of the person renting the car. They do not rent to or let anyone drive their cars under the age of 25. Enterprise if your best bet if you want to drive the car, as they now rent to anyone over 18 (must be 20 or 21 to rent an SUV/larger though).

The smaller the car, the cheaper the rental. I've rented through Enterprise, and have found them to be the least expensive. I know they do have coupons, and are "preferred" with some insurance companies--even if I was not in an accident and just needed a rental, if I had a copy of my policy card I would recieved a preferred discount. AAA has a deal with one of the rental companies (Hertz I believe) so you get a discount there. Also, my Disney VISA card has it's perferred company (Alamo or National) and I can get a special rate (I think it was $199/week for a SUV/minivan, which is really good!).

Oh, and make sure of all dents/dings in the car before you sign off on the car! They can try to rake you through the coals on that one. My local Enterprise though, is great, and has 2 employees that are just fun and really laxed about it. A minor ding, they could care less. Oh, and don't buy the additional rental insurance if your current car insurance company will cover the damage, or the credit card you're using has additional built in protection.

Enjoy your vacation! :)

[bookworm]

Check your company's corporate rate--we are allowed to use ours for personal rentals as well, and it gets you around the under-25 rule. (Of course, it may mean your mom couldn't drive the car.)

[Hello Kitty]

SWF, thanks for the crash course in car rental (okay, I couldn't resist :p)

Bookworm - good idea, I will look in to that. I will compare the costs of adding me as a driver to our weekly corporate rate.

Thanks!

[strwbrygirl]

If you're a member of anything (alumni association, etc) check to see if they have discounted rates with any car rental places. You may also want to think about doing Priceline or Hotwire if that might work for you.

[Sabrina]

However, if you're going to Avis/the like, and are under 25, they will not add you as a driver regardless of the age of the person renting the car. They do not rent to or let anyone drive their cars under the age of 25.

Most of the major car rental company will let someone aged 21-24 rent and drive their cars, however you will have to pay a fee of up to $25/day. I rented from both National and Budget when I was 24 without any issues (other than the added fee, which is highway robbery in my opinion ;)). These companies will allow you to be an added driver on your mother's rental, but you will be subject to the afformentioned "underage driver" fees.

[laura]

Bumping this up for info about Hotwire - anything good/bad? Renting through Hotwire will save me about half price on my rental, which is exorbitant b/c we are renting from an airport location. However, I've never rented from a 'discount' site before, so I just want to make sure before I pay up front that there isn't anything I'm overlooking! Hotwire says they only rent from Hertz, Avis or I think Budget and I checked the 'options' for suggested cars in my level w/ all those brands. Outside of that, any advice or feedback?

TIA!

[Adaya]

I just recently rented from Hotwire...twice. No problems. The first time we got a care from Hertz and the second time from Avis. Everything went very smoothly. The next time I rent a car, I'd go through Hotwire again if I can save so much money.

[laura]

Great, thanks!

[Linz]

I am having some car rental difficulties and was wondering if anyone could give me some insight. My DH and I are taking a 10 day trip in May to visit his family. The first 5 days we will be going to St. Louis to see his mom's side of the family and then the next 5 days we will be going to Indiana to see his dad's side of the family and for his sister's high school graduation.

We will be flying into St. Louis on Friday, May 18th staying 5 days there then driving to Indiana (near Indianapolis, about a 5 hour drive) then staying there for the last 5 days of our trip, leaving on Memorial Day and flying out of Indianapolis. We want to rent the car in St. Louis and then drop it off in Indianapolis, which I have seen you can do with some companies for an extra fee, of course. We are also under 25. I have been looking at different companies and getting quotes of $800 or $900. We are already spending $950on our plane tickets to be able to fly into St. Louis and out of Indianapolis.

Does anyone know of any deals right now or any tips on how to save a little extra money?

*Side note: the in laws wonder why we never visit, it costs nearly $2,000 just to go out there for 10 days! :rolleyes: :eek:

[Little Angel '77]

I looked, and researched and researched.

I found the best deals to be at places OUTSIDE the airports.
I also found Enterprise to give the best rates. I saved 150.00 going thought them vs. Hertz.
If you have AAA, they give discounts, but honestly, I found the discounts to be small (a free car when you get 6 days.. get the 7 day free)

Try to minimize when you "might" need a car.
I am heading to florida for a week. I know I won't need one the day we land. Friend is picking us up. Then we will go get the rental car the next day....and use it for 4 days, and then return it because we will be back with friend.

Maybe rent ONLY when you NEED a car. Enterprise will pick you up and drop you off, so if you don't need it everyday... just call when you need it.


Here is what hotwire gave me..
Mid-size car
Tampa (TPA)
Counter and car are in the airport
Wed, 04/04/07
Pick-up
9:00AM
details:
Mon, 04/09/07
Drop-off
7:00PM
details:
6
Rental days:
$52.95
Daily rate:
$317.70
Subtotal:
Tax recovery
$72.73
charges and fees:

$390.43

***************
This is what Enterprise gave me
Dodge Charger, Nissan Maxima or similar
260.95 USD (Daily 5 Days @ 52.19)

1.75 USD (VEHICLE LICENSE FEE RECOVERY)

10.10 USD (2.02/DAY SURCHARGE/TIRE FEE)

272.80 USD (Subtotal)

19.10 USD (SALES TAX)

Total charges 291.90 USD


That's 100.00 difference for the same dates.
Differece. One is at the airport... one is off site in Tampa.

[HeatherFL]

I am not sure if this website really works or not, but I've heard good things:

Rentalcarmomma.com (http://www.rentalcarmomma.com/)

[ruledbymercury]

I've had luck using Priceline. We reserved a rental car through them last August when in Boston for a wedding. We ended up with Avis and they gave us a Mercury Grand Marquis. When we got to the rental counter after arriving in Boston, we were offered a free upgrade to an SUV, but declined because I don't like SUVs. Our total for the three days with fees was less than $100, so it was a GREAT deal. Not sure how it would work with you changing cities, but I just thought I'd offer up the suggestion and share my great experience with them.

ETA: I also use www.biddingfortravel.com in conjunction with Priceline. If you read the threads that pertain to what you are going to bid on, you can get a better idea of the best prices to bid so you can lowball Priceline and get the best deal. Scroll down towards the bottom to get to the rental car boards.

[DelSol]

When I went to Vegas, I used Dollar Car Rental for the first time, and I got a Chrysler Pacifica for pretty cheap, I think it was under $200 for the week and I checked out every other car company and no one could beat it.