evbo

Thanks, yellowdog. I promise to try to avoid hitting bridges on I5.

I am devoted to this site because of your helpfulness despite occasional users' ineptness. (using my own as an example! :D) After considering your advice, I booked with "Nova Car Hire" based in Ireland. I have used them often for car rentals in Europe and the USA over the last 20 years. Usually their prices and terms undercut all other transparent car rental providers by significant amounts. Better to go with the devil you know than the devil you don't (PL), imo. Sometimes, anyway..... Here are the details -- NOT a PL or HW win. Good info as an alternative car rental source, nonetheless. Car rental period: Aug. 22, 2013 - September 2, 2013 (11 days) Pick/drop off SEA Car: Alamo - Aveo 4 dr, unlimited mileage, CDW included. Return with gas tank empty. Total cost $326.37 Under normal circumstances, I would not be excited about this booking, but due to my time-frame and city-wide events, I am satisfied. Thanks again for your input. Please advise if I need to change anything about this post. Best, EKM evbo

Hi Thereuare - Thanks! That is such valuable information regarding the conference! Also, conventions/conferences are a factor which I routinely forget to include in my rental research....I now remember Bumbershoot is happening around that timeframe. That certainly will not lower demand in any rental markets... Your suggestion is helpful. I could possibly return the car on Aug. 30.....not sure I want to be without a car for the remainder of the time in Seattle. Although we are avid public transit users, we love the ease of being able to explore nooks and crannies with a car, especially in bad weather or after dark. Do you suppose it'd be beneficial costwise to bid for this rental in 2 separate parts?? i.e., Part 1 from Aug. 22 to Aug. 30...then Part 2 from Aug. 30 to Sept. 2nd? Best, EKM aka evbo

I have been asked to "close" this thread despite indicating last year that I accepted the answers provided to my question. As it turns out, there was no bidding history, etc. to share. We traveled there another way. Once again, thanks for the help!

I have started planning travel to the Seattle Washington area for Aug. 22 - Sept. 2, 2013. I do this trip every year, for 20 years now. Maybe it's because I'm older now and more anxious to nail down my travel details asap, but I've started bidding for rental cars picked up from SEA. I'm alarmed at the responses coming back to me from PL as to what it may cost to book an economy, compact or midsize car.... I realize their comparative prices are whack and to be generally ignored, but they seem to be $20-30 per day higher than last year. This is scaring me because I have usually gotten a really good deal through PL (and even HW) for a rental car when I've been in Seattle. And money is tight this year. So...am I too far away from my actual rental date to be bidding now? Am I being Henny Penny here? I'd appreciate your insights and advice. Thanks, EKM

Maybe I began hallucinating when I was researching airfare vendors: it was late and I had been on many websites...the nonrefundable natures of PL & HW opaque fares frighten me -- as does the general cost of airfares these days! Anyway, I cannot reconstruct what I thought I saw, so please let me apologize and let's close this. Lesson learned - when I restart my search in earnest, I will take the necessary notes to be able to ask a coherent Q. I will be using the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on BB's website. Thanks for trying to help me!

Neither could I.....so the questions remain - Is multiple airfare bid processed simultaneously (in one transaction) with a single car rental special offer by PL - has anyone had experience with this?

Newbie confusion - please help! If there is info already posted about this, my searches did not locate it & I apologize in advance. I am considering PL bidding (also looking at Hotwire's offerings) for 3 adult round trip airfares (all of us traveling together) from PHL to SEA in late August 2012. We will need one rental car from SEA for the ~10 day trip. (No hotel is needed) My question - If I elect to bid for 3 airfares + car rental, will PL automatically assume that I am only bidding for one car (and NOT 3 cars, to equal the # of travelers)? Or would I bid for one airfare with rental car and then bid again separately for the 2 additional airfares we need? Ideally, the three of us would like to be on the same flight..... Also, does anyone have relevant experience/advice about this scenario in terms of whether the car rental bid should ever be bundled with an airfare bid OR whether the car rental should be bid on separately, apart from airfare, to result in the lowest cost? Thanks for any help!