now what?

[valencia]

this has been very frustrating.

not only have i used up all my bidding options. and must wait three days.( which now i don't have). i can see that this is going to be one expensive driving vacation!

[thereuare]

City? Dates?

[valencia]

City? Dates?

goodness. you can see i am bit tired! philadelphia ( am willing to train downtown off site instead of phl)

either aug 8 til aug 14th.

or can break it up and do

aug 8 to aug. 10.

then aug 10 to aug 14.

after which i then need a larger car (mid to full, even larger, really) from the 14 til 26 or 27th or

aug. 14-sept. 3rd.

I could keep the SAME car the entire rental ( aug 8-sept. 3rd) BUT then it must be a larger one from the beginning.

After aug 14th i have four in car instead of only two.

[slruud]

Hotwire???

[valencia]

Hotwire???

i have tried accessing hotwire at least 30 times and gotten through about 3, all to no avail. no bargains. maybe august is always like this.

i have been lucky to only need a rental a few days here and there recently, but this trip is all car.. all rental. and wow.. i had not fathomed these prices.

i have now found some one month car rentals on Enterprise and am looking into upgrade coupons/codes or 20% off.

perhaps other places off site phl also have better deals. tedious work. looking into it.

[thereuare]

What is the best rate you've found thru our Car Rental Checker and thru HOTWIRE? (and for which set of dates)

If you end up booking thru Enterprise please use the links on this board, or in our support page, to begin your purchase.

[valencia]

aug 8-29 good price of $144 wk compact collecting downtown on front st, but they charge me for four weeks on statement!!! ( Enterprise).

then if i choose their intermediate car, it charges me only for the true three weeks.. making that one only $45 more for the three weeks!

i am confused...

other rates vary from $193-$197/week at budget/alamo (compact) aug 8-14

problem returning downtown on the 3rd september due to labor day. so that option is out.

will be speaking to an agent about month rental.. and also searching for alamo, budget and Enterprise coupons.

this is looking a bit more promising although it is not really the size i had wanted.. is should have asked for help before since i only had such a short time to do this. ( 3 day waiting period)

however, i was encouraged seeing some decent wins for the smaller cars.. and when i was so unsuccessful, i should have stopped and come back here., but didn't, and kept tredgng on, obviously way too low. what i don't understand is if i bid $22 on all sizes except economy.. why didn't i win a bid?

i have not even kept record of my bids at this point.. perhaps i still have an option or two ... hmmm

if i don't answer your replies it is because i leave tomorrow and will be travelling(flying) monday and tuesday .. so.. thanks for all your help..

i will go through your links when i do this ..

[thereuare]

Let us know the rate(s) for a monthly rentaly... then you can try to beat it thru HOTWIRE or priceline. I think you have enough time between now and the time that your rental commences to not panic, but do be diligent and try to get all your bids in by bidding every 3 days (ie- don't let the timespan lapse to 5 days)... although you're in a bit of a holding pattern now until you find out the montly rate.

[valencia]

have found $598 three weeks STANDARD SIZE including tax.. so.. can't see how it is going to be worth my while when i already bid near this.

also, kind of concerned of unknown amount of fees and taxes with priceline at this point.

seems it is too close to risk.

i believe this is with national.. 20% discount for neighborhood rental.

the month rental from Enterprise was worse than some online stuff.

wish i had an Entertainment Coupon right now very very good discounts..(25%) actually.. the best so far.

may be last time at computer for a day ro so. so don't be offeneded if i don't answer some great advice!

thanks..

[thereuare]

kind of concerned of unknown amount of fees and taxes with priceline at this point

You can always see the full amount you would be charged, including fees and taxes, on priceline's confirm page (where you doublecheck all the information). However, the savings on car rentals are usually not as great as the savings on hotels, and therefore can sometimes be beat by using various coupons in conjunction with a good rate.

[valencia]

update.

finally took the trolley from airport $2 ( hotel shuttle dropped us off) to downtown enterpirse site two blocks away, to save a LOT by using off site rentals. it is very EASY to get to the Phily downtown sites.. so it is not a bad idea.

avis will let you take car back to airport for no additonal fee, but entrprise willcharge us $40 if we decide to do that.

we shall see what we do.

used hilton honors card ( and they asked me over phone for my member's number) to get an intermediate car for the enitre time for $775 including tax, etc. aug 8- spetember 3rd.

i had previously bought a one year insurance policy i can use to be able to decine the additonal expensive necessary protection. ( we live overseas and our credit cards NOR auto insurance cover us).

so.. we are happy enough.

i worked on this until two hours before getting the car. tried priceline again undercutting a few bucks what i had been quoted by Enterprise, and it just didn't work.

thank you for all your patience and help.