Need the cheapest car rental at Tampa airport or nearby

[elevensecondv6]

I need the cheapest car rental at Tampa airport or nearby.Will need it for 3 weeks.What's the best strategy I should try??

Thanks in advance.

[Blueskies]

Have you tried the car rental checker?

What kind of car is it you need/want?

when are you going?

[thereuare]

Please:

1) follow-up your previous car rental thread with whatever you ultimately did for that rental

2) provide the dates of the rental above

3) use the car rental checker to determine and let us know your best rates for this current rental

4) what is the rate thru HOTWIRE

[elevensecondv6]

1. Will follow up on previous post.

2.Picking up Oct.14 and returning Nov.4

3.Best rate I found on Car Rental Checker:Hotwire:Economy car

Tampa (TPA)

Sat, 10/14/06

Pick up:

Sat, 11/04/06

Drop off:

21

No. of days:

$21.95

Price per day:

$460.95

Subtotal:

$138.09

Taxes/Fees:

$599.04

Total Price:

4.Best rate on Hotwire was Thrifty at $645.00 total.

[szymon]

budget.com

pick-up: any off airport location in Tampa (see which one is closest to airport)

drop-off: Tampa airport

BCD: U072405 (American Airlines)

Total price: $407.47

Szymon

[elevensecondv6]

Szymon:

I tried the closest off airport location and it says they are closed when my pickup time would be.

Also where do I get the BCD code???

Thanks Kevin

[szymon]

The AA 25th anniversary promotion BCD is located here.

If it was me, I'd split up the rental in order to be able to pick up off site and save $$ on fees. Not sure if the price outweighs the convenience for you.

Szymon

[elevensecondv6]

Do you have to be an American Airlines AAdvantage member to get the discount???

[elevensecondv6]

Priceline reply.

We're sorry, but your offer price of $17.00 per day for a Economy Car was not accepted. Your credit card has not been charged.

[PooDonkey]

Just a suggestion, but I think the reason Priceline rejected your bid was probably for one of two reasons.

1. It is too far away for any rental car company to have an accurate inventory this far in advance. Maybe make a regular reservation as a backup and then continue to bid as the time draws near.

2. Your rental period is too long. It might increase your chances to break up the rental period into three distinct periods and try your bid again. I know this is more of a pain, but if you're saving several hundred dollars, it would be worth it.

One other thing, I would think you should be able to get an economy car cheaper than $17/day. I realize it's almost impossible to predict, but I have seen people able to get the following rates at TPA.

compact: $13/day

midsize: $15/day

fullsize: $18/day

[elevensecondv6]

Poo:

Thanks for the reply.I will try your suggestions and see if they will work.Wish me luck. :)

[szymon]

Membership in AAdvantage is free, so doesn't hurt to join if you want to use that code.

Szymon

[elevensecondv6]

Thanks Szymon:

I will look into that.

[elevensecondv6]

Szymon:

Signed up for AAdvantage and when I tried to use the code they gave me for a rental car it says it's not recognized.

[elevensecondv6]

Tried again today and here's Priceline's response:

We're sorry, but your offer price of $16.00 per day for a Economy Car was not accepted.

[szymon]

$16 per day comes out to $460 with taxes/fees.

If you go to Budget.com and use BCD U072405 you can get an economy or a compact for $460 with taxes/fees.

Szymon

[elevensecondv6]

syzmon:

Thanks so much for your help.I used the BCD code you gave me and I reserved an economy car for $407.47 for a total of 21 days.

Will I have to show some kind of proof of where I got the BCD code when I pick the car up,and if so where can I tell them I got it??

Thanks Kevin