navon Posted January 21, 2012 Report Share Posted January 21, 2012 Hello,We've been trying to bid on a minivan for a couple of weeks now. Pickup at MCO on 2/12 and drop off at FLL on 2/23, 11 days.I've been trying in increments of $1 every 25hr with no luck. Started at $25 and im at $36 now. Still rejected.Best rate i found was @hertz, $44/day which after taxes and all the fees is about $670 for the 11 days.Any advise?Much appriciated,Nav. Link to comment
thereuare Posted January 21, 2012 Report Share Posted January 21, 2012 Although Florida doesn't typically charge drop-off fees, different pick-up/drop-off locations does make it harder for the rental companies to manage their fleets (and often the rate includes what they believe it will cost them internally to return the car to the 'home' location)... i suspect the different locations is hurting you for this bid, but more importantly many public schools are on vacation during this time frame, so it becomes an issue of supply/demand (and there are far more compact/economy cars than there are minivans). Not only are you picking-up/dropping-off at different locations, but it's a busy time for rental companies, and therefore they may not be willing to deeply discount during this time frame.Assuming the Hertz rate is refundable, i'd book that to protect yourself from rates moving even higher, and then continue your bidding by $1/day as you have been.Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.Keep us updated on your progress and let us know if we can be of further help along the way. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
navon Posted January 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2012 Thanks for this information!I thought schools are out in march for march break... :(Any idea if there is a point or a chance to bid lower at one point? Or should i continue the up trend?Nav. Link to comment
thereuare Posted January 21, 2012 Report Share Posted January 21, 2012 College Spring Breaks begin at the end of February... but there is President's Week for many public elementary, middle and high schools.You can never tell if/when rates will be lowered for any given time period, but since this is a 'specialty' vehicle, and a one-way rental, i think you're goal should be to do better than you could otherwise get thru conventional booking channels, rather than hold-out for the absolute cheapest deal (which may cause you to miss out on any deal that might be available now, but not later).Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
chen Posted January 23, 2012 Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 I use HOTWIRE as a guidepost for my PRICELINE car rental bidding. If you see a drop in rates on hotwire then pricline will also drop. As a rule of thumb, I always bid several under hotwire's lowest daily rate. Your dates are showing about $50 a day on HOTWIRE for a one way minivan rental. I suspect that you will not hit on PRICELINE for under $44. Note that the full size SUV is half price for those dates. Can you consider getting a smaller vehicle? Link to comment
navon Posted January 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 Thanks for your help. Last march i got the same route for $43/day.What do you mean by "Note that the full size SUV is half price for those dates"?Last time i got a dual screen dvd system, 2nd and 3rd raw. With 3 kids its a huge bonus. The full size suv would most likely not have that option. Link to comment
chen Posted January 24, 2012 Report Share Posted January 24, 2012 I meant half as much as the minivan. I've got 3 kids too and I can appreciate the benefits of a minivan. Link to comment
navon Posted January 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2012 The half price is for a standard suv, grand cherokee etc., not full size tahoe etc.No way i can leave 3 kids in 3 car seats on one bench... :) Link to comment
navon Posted January 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2012 OK, so here is the latest...Tried $38 on pricline tonight with no luck!Tried the HOTWIRE link, got a $37/day on a minivan but made a mistake with the drop off date. Instead of 11 days i specified 12 due to am/pm bs...When i tried to change to 11 days got $44/day wtf... i said!Tried again and got $35/day for 12 days!!! all together came to ~$603 for 12 days with alamo!Any advise how i can get the town and country with dvds?Thanks for your help!Nav Link to comment
thereuare Posted January 25, 2012 Report Share Posted January 25, 2012 Congratulations on your success!I don't know if Avis' inventory typically has cars with DVD installed (or if they'll want an additional car for such vehicles). The vehicle assigned will be based upon what is available at this car class at the time you check-in, so best you can do is make your preferences known when you pick-up the vehicle.Glad to see you were ultimately successful and scored a great deal for this one-way rental.Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.Have a great trip. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
navon Posted January 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2012 So I promissed I would not go back and check again, but couldnt resist.hotwire has the same deal today for $26/day...ouch Link to comment
chen Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 It's now $15.95 a day! The deals keep getting better and better. I wish I had held out a little more too Link to comment
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