IAD Dulles Airport in VA - Economy - Budget

[Mulval]

Pick-up/Drop-off: Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD)

Rental Car Company: Budget Rent A Car System, Inc.

Car Class: Economy with unlimited mileage

Pick-Up Date: Wednesday, December 7, 2005

Drop-Off Date: Saturday, December 10, 2005

Offer Price: $23.00

Total Rental Days: 4

Subtotal: $92.00

Taxes & Fees: $28.66

Total Charges: $120.66

Bidding History:

Unsuccessful bidding on November 16, 2005 for Wednesday-Saturday, December 7-10

Economy $16

Compact $18

Mid-size $20

Standard $22

Full-size $24

Premium $25

Unsuccessful bidding on November 24, 2005 for Wednesday-Saturday, December 7-10

Economy $18

Compact $21

Mid-size $24

Standard $25

Full-size $26

Premium $27

Luxury $28

Minivan $26

SUV $27

Convertible $25

Successful bidding on December 1, 2005 for Wednesday-Saturday, December 7-10

Economy $20 -- Priceline offered me a free re-bid with the following message:

"Try Again Right Now

We searched hundreds of options to find your rental car, however we were not able to find a rental car company that would accept your price of $20 per day. If you are willing to raise your price, you can try the same request again right now.

Normally you are required to change additional items (car type, location, or dates) in order to try your request again, however we are able to extend this one-time opportunity to you because of the type of rental car and dates you requested. All you have to do to try again is raise your offer price. If you do not want to increase your price and would prefer to modify your request, click here."

Economy $23 -- and my offer was accepted.

Comparison:

The Orbitz Web site http://www.Orbitz.com showed prices starting at $36/day. The best deal I could get from the Budget Web site http://www.budget.com was the total of $200.20 for 4 days (about $41/day). The Enterprise Web site http://www.Enterprise.com offered the total of $148.39 for 4 days, but that included a corporate discount.

[Mulval]

Comment after the car rental was completed:

This time I ended up with an Economy-class car: a four-door 2005 Chevrolet Aveo with over 12,000 miles on it. It's a good subcompact car, with plenty of room for two adults and their luggage, and an engine powerful enough for easy highway driving. My fuel consumption was close to the EPA estimated: 23.2 miles per gallon.