LAX Los Angeles Fullsize Hertz

[tigers]

As noted in the title, my pickup is July 9th at LAX, and I will return the vehicle in 8 days (7/17). I haven't rented at LAX since 2009, when my bid of $21/day for a week was accepted for a full size car.

I just finished bidding on a full size, standard size , and compact SUV with Priceline (via the link found at Better Bidding) with no luck. I bid $25 for the full size, $30 for the standard, and $35 for the compact SUV. I don't know if it means anything, but the (negative) response on the $35 bid took twice as long as the other bids.

Priceline touts (on the web site) winning bids of $21/day for both the full size car and the compact SUV, when bidding is placed 5-7 days before pickup. Are those prices only for weekend bookings, or should prices in that range be available at some point for a weekly rental, too? [Most locations drop prices on the weekends and raise them for business travelers during the weekdays].

When I was bidding, Priceline implied that a bid in the $50-60 range was likely to be accepted. Well, yeah, since Hotwire will rent a full size car for $44/day for the same time period, and $15/day when I checked on an early June pickup also for 8 days!.

Put another way, an I just bidding too far ahead of my trip? Do the rental companies wait to see what the inventory looks like closer to the rental before accepting a lower price? Other than a huge special event in L.A. I don't know about, I'm guessing that Priceline is like Hotwire. Put in dates 45 days in advance and expect a high price. Put in dates ten days from now and the price goes from $44 to $15.

I seem to recall advice (maybe on this site, or maybe from elsewhere-I can't remember) to make a regular reservation with a reputable car rental company first (one that the customer can cancel without any penalty of fee) as early as possible. Then, when it gets to within a couple of weeks before traveling, go to Priceline and bid. If they have unsold inventory, that's when they will accept a lower price.

Does that advice make sense to people? Or should I expect that I will have to bid over $35 for the vehicles mentioned at LAX in 2011, no matter if I'm bidding 6 weeks out or 6 days out?

Thanks for any advice. My inclination is to stay off Priceline for the car until the end of June. Of course, there's no harm in bidding $20 for my full size every day for a month, too, except for the time and effort involved.

Naturally, any rebidding will be done using the link found on Better Bidding. :) I will follow up if/when I have anything to report.

[thereuare]

Just like hotels, rates for car rentals are date specific and the rental agencies will adjust rates based upon how many cars they have left to sell in relation to how much time is left to sell them. At any given point in time they know how many reservations they should have on the books given the amount of time before the pick-up date... if 2 months before a given date they feel they should have 60% of their fleet reserved and they currently only have 40%, then they will lower prices to attract more customers/reservations... if they instead have 80% of their fleet booked they will raise prices in hopes of maximizing their revenue since they are 'ahead of target' at the moment. Of course each day that goes by they get reservations and cancellations, and the number of days until pick-up changes, so rates are constantly being adjusted.

The rates PRICELINE is quoting are for dates other then your own so not very meaningful in relation to a rental for your particular dates. What is the best rate you're able to find thru conventional booking channels? (you can try our Car Rental Checker)

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

[tigers]

I waited until it was closer to the time of the rental and it paid off. I got a full size car from Hertz for $21/day plus taxes/fees. Of course I used the link to PRICELINE from this site. Thanks for your advice, thereuare.

I had a reservation made directly with one of the major car rental companies that I made in May- $50/day including all taxes & fees.

Betterbidding is the best!!!

Should I post my winning bid elsewhere on this site?

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success!

Glad to see you scored a nice deal on this rental and a significant savings vs. your back-up reservation.

No need to re-post the win elsewhere, we've edited the topic title of this thread to reflect your win and you're all set :)

Thank you for sharing your win and using the PRICELINE links on the board to begin your bidding.

Enjoy your stay.