BUF -- Economy 1 Day - Need Advice

[smandala]

Hi,

I plan on renting a car from Buffalo Airport and driving it to Niagara Falls, USA between May 21 and 22. PRICELINE is quoting me $55/day, but wondering what bidding strategy would you suggest for a lower rate? $24/day Economy and $27/day Compact bids were rejected. Already booked a back up from Enterprise for $54/day.

thanks

[Colfax]

Is this a one-way rental with dropoff at Niagra Falls or are you returning to Buffalo too?

Priceline won't let me submit Name Your Own Price bids for one-way rental between those cities.

[smandala]

No, this is not one-way rental. Pick up and drop off is same. I will be dropping it off at BUF next day morning.

[Colfax]

I look at Hotwire to see what I should bid on PRICELINE. Priceline usually beats HOTWIRE on car rentals.

Hotwire's Economy is $58.16, or $73.51 with tax/fees. But the offer is in gray, not red, which means it's a conventional purchase, not opaque. If you click through it turns out to be a conventional booking with Enterprise, where you've already booked for less than that.

The print being gray also means that none of Hotwire's six car rental partners has given HOTWIRE opaque inventory; or if they have the opaque inventory is at a higher rate than $58.16. (The "Big Five"'s Economy rates range from $73-92/day.)

Since Hotwire has nothing opaque for your dates Priceline may not either. All of Priceline's particiapting car rental partners work with Hotwire too.

Just in case PRICELINE has something that HOTWIRE doesn't I'd try something more aggressive than $24, like $35 or $40 for an Economy. Or since you've got time you can bid up in smaller increments every day.

Meanwhile hold on to your cancellable Enterprise reservation and check HOTWIRE every day for a price drop.

[GM Mike]

If you'd like a cheaper backup reservation, Alamo has a $43/day rate using contract ID 428448 (from the Wal-Mart road atlas, listed on mousesavers.com)...

[trentslori]

I realize this is none of my business...but most of the time, even when it looks very bleak, I've found that the closer to my trip, the better rental car deals can be had. So I wouldn't worry too much if I were you. Keep trying and I bet you'll get a deal! It might take getting down to a week or two before your trip, but that's often when they drop their prices.