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A guide to getting the lowest car rental prices


LoneStar
By LoneStar,
in

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Somebody messaged me asking how to save money on a Hawaiian car rental. Here's what I wrote, which I think is a pretty good guide to getting any domestic car rental at the best price.

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Car rentals are somewhat of a crapshoot. As all the majors offer pretty much the same cars, I usually go with whoever is cheaper. And that changes with every rental -- even if I'm returning to the same location. Just because National was cheapest in Kona last March does not mean they will be cheaper next April.

Here is my tried-and-true method for getting the best rate. As soon as your plans are fairly firm (like you've got your airline tickets), start comparison shopping on Orbitz. Re-check every week or two (as often as you remember), as the rates will fluctuate. Take the best rate you can find and try to apply a discount code (check car rental forums on flyertalk.com) and/or a coupon (like from the Entertainment Book). Hold the best deal you can find (I go to the car rental company's individual website to book), as there is generally no penalty for booking and cancelling.

Continue this process until you get within 6 to 8 weeks, when you should also start consulting smartertravel.com's car rental page for their compilation of discounts from the individual car rental websites (you can check the individual sites yourself, too, if you feel like being extra thorough). These web-site-only rates are typically only applicable for pickups in the next few weeks, which is why you don't need to begin this process earlier (you usually can't use a coupon/discount code with these rates, but it can't hurt to try).

If you still haven't picked up a bargain, price your itinerary on hotwire, and if the rates are significantly lower than your book-direct price, you can then make a firm bid on priceline, perhaps for $5/day less (keep in mind however that, if you're successful, you'll be stuck with your priceline reservation). For the vast majority of rentals, priceline and hotwire will NOT be cheaper than a booked direct rate using a discount code and/or coupon -- but there are exceptions to every travel rule. Remember that you can only bid once a week on priceline for each car category. Finally, in the last few days, consult Orbitz and smartertravel (and/or the individual websites) to see if any better "last minute" rates are offered at your destination.

If you book a lot of car rentals (like I do), you tend to modify this strategy, doing more searches when you're stuck with a high rate, and doing much less searching when you've already found an exceptional price.

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