Maui Car Rental- New to Priceline- help!

[molliez]

I'm new to Priceline, but I figure for a rental car it's a good idea to try to use it. We are traveling to Hawaii in late July/early August. What's the best way to select your pick-up/drop off time? I don't want to be charged for extra time. And, is the car guaranteed to be ready when we get there?

Any other advice on bidding is appreciated! Am I bidding too early? I don't want to be stuck without a car! Also, we will both be under 25, but there are no fees for this, correct?

Thanks!

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

We are traveling to Hawaii in late July/early August. What's the best way to select your pick-up/drop off time? I don't want to be charged for extra time. And, is the car guaranteed to be ready when we get there?

What are the actual dates of your stay and what is your arrival/depature times?

Also, we will both be under 25, but there are no fees for this, correct?

The under 25 year old fee is not waived, but should be included in your offer price. From PRICELINE:

Rental companies charge renters under the age of 25 Young Renter Fees. These fees typically start at $20 per day and can be as much as $50 per day for high cost locations or more desirable car types. For example, a rental car that normally costs $30 per day could cost an underage driver at least $50 per day.

With priceline.com, you should include these additional fees in your offer price. If your request is accepted, you will not be charged any additional Young Renter Fees at the rental counter.

What is your expected budget (per day before taxes and fees) for this rental period?

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[molliez]

What are the actual dates of your stay and what is your arrival/depature times?

We are arriving at 10:30pm on Tuesday, July 26 and flying out at 6:30pm on Wednesday, Aug.4 THANK YOU!!

The under 25 year old fee is not waived, but should be included in your offer price. From PRICELINE:

What is your expected budget (per day before taxes and fees) for this rental period?

I've seen prices now for about $330/week. So, definitely lower than this. What do you recommend?

[thereuare]

What is the daily rate (before fees and taxes) on the $330/week rate? Does this include an underage drive fee?

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[molliez]

I've read it's better to go for a Compact car than an economy car. So, I just went onto Priceline and found the Weekly Rate is $220 and an extra day is $24.55. The average daily cost is $28.00. Taxes and fees equal $101, bringing the total to $347. The charges included are: customer facility charge, concession recovery fee, rental motor vehicle, vehical registration fee, sales tax. I don't know if any of these means underage driving fee?

THANK YOU!!!

[thereuare]

Are these rates from the 'retail' side of PRICELINE? If so, they don't include the underage fee (when booking direct it would be an additional fee paid at the counter)

[molliez]

Yes they must be from the retail side, I never placed a bid, I just searched on PRICELINE. So, does Priceline guarantee to have cars ready at the times you request? And, I should bid about 30% below the price quoted on the retail side? I need some tips, strategies, basic rules. In the Priceline bidding part, will it ask for our ages and then include that in the final fees?

Thanks.

[thereuare]

If your bid is accepted the rental agency will have your reservation just as they would have any other reservation booked by a third party booking agency (Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity, Hotels.com, etc)

As per my post above:

Also, we will both be under 25, but there are no fees for this, correct?

The under 25 year old fee is not waived, but should be included in your offer price. From PRICELINE:

Rental companies charge renters under the age of 25 Young Renter Fees. These fees typically start at $20 per day and can be as much as $50 per day for high cost locations or more desirable car types. For example, a rental car that normally costs $30 per day could cost an underage driver at least $50 per day.

With priceline.com, you should include these additional fees in your offer price. If your request is accepted, you will not be charged any additional Young Renter Fees at the rental counter.

Based upon the rates you quoted above, I would start at $15/day, but then you need to add the young driver fee to your bid, and unfortunately this is the part that is really unknown since all companies have different fees. I would assume $15/day young driver fee (and keep in mind that some companies will charge for an additional driver as well, so depending upon which company accepts your bid, only one of you may be eligible to drive the car)... $15/day rental + $15/day young drive fee = $30 Given you have some time and the underage fee is so unknown i'd start at $25 and then increase $2-$3 every 24 hours until you got a price that was beyond your budget OR so close to a direct reservation that it no longer pays to lock this in so far in advance.

I'd also first check Costco, AAA, and if you're eligible (USAA) which may have deals with car rental companies to waive the underage fee for their members. For a one week rental it would be cheaper to join Costco, AAA, etc for a year in order to avoid the under 25 years old fee.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.