Tips for renting a car - my prices just spiked

GoldmanTrust

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jun 4, 2017
hey guys,

We are planing a trip to Florida from Northern Europe in September. We travel a lot as a family and we like to have a car at our disposal when we go to the States.

I have been monitoring the prices on rental cars for our dates on the biggest sites. And the prices on all of them just skyrocketed (3x more than before).

The trip is late sept/early oct so it will probably go down (I will wait it out).

I'm just curious to know why this happens. Do you think the prices are tied to the number of rentals right now (high season - early June). Or is it anything else that is happening?

Do you guys have any tips - on how to rent a car without breaking the bank?
 
I agree with bumbershoot. Find a price you are ok with, make the reservation, then monitor the prices to see if they drop. Another option would be to find a rental agency where you do not have to prepay(not sure if this is different if you are traveling internationally, and must pre-pay). We use Enterprise and have cancelled and rebooked our reservation in August 3 times so far, with our full size car costing just a bit more than an intermediate sized car that we originally made a reservation for. Also, you may want to look at having the car for only a portion of your time in Disney. Depending on the number of days you actually plan to use the car, this may save you a bit as well.

Good luck!!!
 
We usually reserve a car then check weekly for price drops. If they do drop just make a new reservation at the lower price then cancel previous one. Most major rental agencies like Alamo, Dollar etc... do not require you to prepay.
 


Just keep checking and rebook when the price drops. They seem high now than a few years ago.
 
When I rented a car back for our trip on June 3 (8 days), the prices were through the roof when I booked 2 months before we left. Then they would jump all over the place as I checked daily, they stayed pretty high up until about 3 weeks before and I would re-book sporadically. The week before we left - I booked and re-booked that car daily, sometimes twice a day. The prices would drop every day up until about 36 hours before the rental period started. A car that I thought was going to cost me over $350 with taxes and fees at a decent rental company, wound up costing me a total of $160 from a top company.

The key is perseverance (and some free time).
 
Have you tried Holiday Autos Or Argus car rental

Quotes are given in € , You have a Pre Paid Voucher when you arrive in Orlando.

www.holidayautos.com

You select the type of car & they give you the choice of Rental Co.

.................

We use them all the time. for

Amsterdam ...... Dollar or Budget , Munich .... Sixt. . Berlin was Budget.

Toulouse ( France ) was Sixt.

........

Florida ...... usually Dollar, Vancouver was Budget.

.

We live in Ireland .. So I have learnt to drive ..... " On the Wrong Side " of the road

with Manual Gear Shift ( Europe ) & Auto gear in USA.
 


Have you tried Holiday Autos Or Argus car rental

Quotes are given in € , You have a Pre Paid Voucher when you arrive in Orlando.

www.holidayautos.com

You select the type of car & they give you the choice of Rental Co.

.................

We use them all the time. for

Amsterdam ...... Dollar or Budget , Munich .... Sixt. . Berlin was Budget.

Toulouse ( France ) was Sixt.

........

Florida ...... usually Dollar, Vancouver was Budget.

.

We live in Ireland .. So I have learnt to drive ..... " On the Wrong Side " of the road

with Manual Gear Shift ( Europe ) & Auto gear in USA.
We live in Canada and a lot of my family is in the UK and we prefer not to rent through a 3rd party.
Booking directly on the car rental company's website allows you to eliminate the middleman and their fees.
Also, if anything goes sideways, you will be dealing with the company that has the vehicle ...not the company that sold you a voucher. JMHO
 
I can tell you from experience that Hertz offers its lowest rates 24-48 hours before pick up. I saved about 60% on a recent rental that was originally $280. Kept cancelling and rebooking. Final price, secured 24 hours before pickup...$125.

Most agencies allow free cancellations up to the day of pickup. These super high rates take advantage of people who aren't wise to the way the pricing structure works.

Be persistent and NEVER prepay.
 
I can tell you from experience that Hertz offers its lowest rates 24-48 hours before pick up. I saved about 60% on a recent rental that was originally $280. Kept cancelling and rebooking. Final price, secured 24 hours before pickup...$125.

Most agencies allow free cancellations up to the day of pickup. These super high rates take advantage of people who aren't wise to the way the pricing structure works.

Be persistent and NEVER prepay.
We do the same thing and saved over $100 so far on our rental. Hoping it drops some more before August:).
 
Autoslash is very helpful as to monitoring rates

Subscribe to the Sept/Oct official rental car thread here for codes that are working.
 
I have been following the advice of booking and keep on tracking the prices as they move up and down.

It is actually a part of the day when I get to work, just a quick look at the prices of cars.

I actually locked into a pretty sweet deal on an SUV from Alamo. I joined the Alamo club and got something for it (a discount or an upgrade - can't remember). I have used Alamo every time coming to FLA and I have always been happy with the choice of cars and service. So ideally I would like to stay with them.

I had already secured a smaller car from advantage, but jumped on the Alamo thing (familiarity with Alamo and our group got bigger so we needed a bigger car).

The prices fluctuate extremely much.

It can go for 400 for a 2 week rental up to almost a 1000$ in a day. Crazy.

So for those who are in a similar position --> keep your eyes open after booking.
 

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