LAX Car rental question

[kevin347]

I am arriving at LAX on Aug 31st around 11:50 AM. I have a return flight on Sep 5th around 4:20 PM..So I will be picking up car around 12:30 PM and will be returning around 2:30 PM on 5th (so total rental time of 5 days and 2 hours).

couple of questions..hope they are not stupid questions..

1) Does rental company provide certain grace period so I can keep car for 2 extra hours without being charged for 1 full day? Do they charge you hourly for that? Or does it make more sense to book the car for 6 days without worrying about grace period?

2) I have booked an economy car for 6 days through alamo for $118 and Compact car through thrifty for $120. Is it possible to get a better deal if I bid through priceline? Should I start bidding now or should I wait?

3) If I reserved/bid the car for 6 days? Can I return it in 5 days and few hours? I am guessing I can since I have already paid for it, but just checking...

Thanks

[thereuare]

The grace period from most car rental companies, if at all, is up to 30 minutes.

When you pick up the car on the contract will be the extra charges (hourly, daily and weekly) should you return the car late, but typically the feel for 2 hours is just about the same for a full day. No problem (on an opaque booking) returning the car early, but I would just book with a return of ~8pm on Sept 5... returning the car early on a 'retail' rental (by more than a day or not on the correct calendar day) could result in re-pricing your rental (and even though returning early you could see the price go up).

I think you can probably get a better deal on PRICELINE, but is the $118 and $120 rates all-in (including fees and taxes) or is that the base rate only?

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases. (please click this PRICELINE link before replying)

Thanks.

[kevin347]

Thanks for your response. Yes 118/120$ charge is including taxes. I tried to book a new one with return day of 5th around 8 PM and I was able to book it with the same rate I got for a return of 6th.

Thanks

[thereuare]

(please click this PRICELINE link before replying)

[kevin347]

OK. I did that.

[thereuare]

I would try $8 for a compact, if that is rejected try $8 for an economy.

If the above is rejected wait 24 hours and retry $10/$10.

If the above is rejected wait 24 hours and retry $12/$12.

Any questions feel free to ask.

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

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[kevin347]

As I was about to start the bidding, i saw the regular rate for compact car with alamo was 110$ including tax. I tried booking it directly with alamo with costco coupon for 30$ off and it gave me a compact car for 72$ including taxes. Even if i start bidding at 8$ on priceline with taxes it's showing me total of 79$..It seems no point in bidding now..I tried bidding 5$ but it was denied.

TIA..

[thereuare]

Then it looks like you receive a pretty nice deal with the Costco coupon.

Thanks for closing this thread with your decision for this rental.

Have a good trip.