Is now too far ahead to bid for car rental in August?

[evbo]

I have started planning travel to the Seattle Washington area for Aug. 22 - Sept. 2, 2013. I do this trip every year, for 20 years now.

Maybe it's because I'm older now and more anxious to nail down my travel details asap, but I've started bidding for rental cars picked up from SEA. I'm alarmed at the responses coming back to me from PL as to what it may cost to book an economy, compact or midsize car....

I realize their comparative prices are whack and to be generally ignored, but they seem to be $20-30 per day higher than last year. This is scaring me because I have usually gotten a really good deal through PL (and even HW) for a rental car when I've been in Seattle. And money is tight this year.

So...am I too far away from my actual rental date to be bidding now? Am I being Henny Penny here?

I'd appreciate your insights and advice.

Thanks,

EKM

[yellowdog]

Please provide a follow-up for your prior Priceline Airfare thread (post in that thread what you decided for that stay), then reply to this thread and we'll be happy to look into the above. Please follow-up your threads with whatever you end up doing, even if you chose to book direct, cancel your trip, etc.

Yellowdog.

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

[thereuare]

After following-up your other thread remember to reply here so that this thread goes back in the queue to get reviewed.

For your rental above, i do think it's early, but will also preface that you may not see a rate drop for these dates since there is a 24K person conference taking place from 8/30-9/2, which may keep rates high for the entire date range.

Using our Car Rental Checker what is the best rate you're able to find for these dates?

Do you need a vehicle for the complete trip or could you possibly return the car early before the large conference gets to town?

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

[evbo]

Hi Thereuare - Thanks! That is such valuable information regarding the conference! Also, conventions/conferences are a factor which I routinely forget to include in my rental research....I now remember Bumbershoot is happening around that timeframe. That certainly will not lower demand in any rental markets...

Your suggestion is helpful. I could possibly return the car on Aug. 30.....not sure I want to be without a car for the remainder of the time in Seattle. Although we are avid public transit users, we love the ease of being able to explore nooks and crannies with a car, especially in bad weather or after dark.

Do you suppose it'd be beneficial costwise to bid for this rental in 2 separate parts??

i.e., Part 1 from Aug. 22 to Aug. 30...then Part 2 from Aug. 30 to Sept. 2nd?

Best,

EKM

aka evbo

[thereuare]

Logic would suggest that you would want to return the car a day before the conference begins since that is when demand would begin to pick-up, but I had looked at a subset of your dates and rates were still high even if returning the car on the 29th. However, as i also noted above, rates are still high for the entire month of August, so there may be a rate drop in the weeks ahead for the subset of your dates (and possibly not when searching for the complete rental period as a result of the conference).

I would book a refundable back-up reservation now (use our Car Rental Checker) to protect yourself from rates moving even higher from here, and then continue to observe rates for the full stay as well as for the sub-set of your stay.

Few other thoughts to keep in mind:

Parking in Seattle is not that cheap, depending how often you drive the car while in the city it may be better to rent the car for individual days as you need it, returning the car each nite, which would save on parking. As well, when you rent from a city location you avoid a hefty tax that you do encounter when renting from the airport, which is a little more savings. Lastly, a few years back i rented a car directly from a downtown location (it was a 30+ day rental so couldn't use PRICELINE / HOTWIRE) and as is the case in many large cities, they need help in getting cars dropped off in the city back to the airport, so they allowed me to return the car to the airport at no additional charge (it was NOT treated as a one-way rental) so this could also work to your benefit. HOWEVER, if i recall correctly since i dropped the vehicle off at the airport my receipt reflected the higher airport rental tax.

Hope that helps, and as i know i may have rambled a bit, feel free to ask any questions or for further clarification on the above.

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

[evbo]

I am devoted to this site because of your helpfulness despite occasional users' ineptness. (using my own as an example! :D)

After considering your advice, I booked with "Nova Car Hire" based in Ireland. I have used them often for car rentals in Europe and the USA over the last 20 years. Usually their prices and terms undercut all other transparent car rental providers by significant amounts. Better to go with the devil you know than the devil you don't (PL), imo. Sometimes, anyway.....

Here are the details -- NOT a PL or HW win. Good info as an alternative car rental source, nonetheless.

Car rental period: Aug. 22, 2013 - September 2, 2013 (11 days)

Pick/drop off SEA

Car: Alamo - Aveo 4 dr, unlimited mileage, CDW included. Return with gas tank empty.

Total cost $326.37

Under normal circumstances, I would not be excited about this booking, but due to my time-frame and city-wide events, I am satisfied.

Thanks again for your input. Please advise if I need to change anything about this post.

Best,

EKM

evbo

[yellowdog]

Thanx for the follow-up and closing this thread.

If your rate is refundable you can also check PRICELINE and HOTWIRE for a better deal as you get closer to your dates.

We wish you a nice trip.

Drive safe!

Yellowdog.

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

[evbo]

Thanks, yellowdog. I promise to try to avoid hitting bridges on I5.