degobahjunk70 Posted August 5, 2009 Report Share Posted August 5, 2009 anyone know why prices for rentals at Boston Logan soooo high for dates 8/26 to 8/30? I've never seen them this high. $60 and up! Should I wait & see if the prices come down or is that unlikely and they might go up? I was hoping to spend no more than $50 per day including taxes (which breaks down to no more than about $35/per day on the PRICELINE bidding screen.) Anyone familiar with the Boston Logan car rental market with advice? Thanks! Link to comment
hlm3 Posted August 6, 2009 Report Share Posted August 6, 2009 I am renting in BOS 8/22-8/24 and have noticed similar rates. HOTWIRE and PRICELINE were no help. For now, I have just decided to book a regular reservation through Enterprise using my Entertainment Book discount. Still came out to approx $130 for a compact for just two day...sky high rates for some reason. Link to comment
Colfax Posted August 7, 2009 Report Share Posted August 7, 2009 These days $60/day isn't unusual, especially if your rental term includes any weekdays, which yours does. I've seen plenty of $100+/day quotes for a Compact lately. Have you attempted any PRICELINE bidding yet? How high have you tried and for what car class?HOTWIRE has a Compact for $44.94/day but it's at an off-airport location. Link to comment
degobahjunk70 Posted August 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2009 Hi Colfax,Yes, I've tried PRICELINE bidding but haven't taken it above my comfort zone yet. The highest I've bid was $35/day for everything from a compact to a standard (which works out to a little over $200 for the 4 day rental). It seems like the taxes & fees are much higher on Priceline cars than ones that you would rent directly from a car rental company's website (maybe not...). Anyway, I've booked a standard car through Alamo for the time being at $60/day (for a total of $322 for 4 days!) & will continue to bid low on Priceline to see if there are any takers. I can always cancel the Alamo deal & bid up a bit the week before the trip to see if there's any saving to be had at the last minute. I just don't want to get stuck in an expensive Priceline rental and then have the prices drop at the last minute & be kicking myself!As far as the rental period & airport vs off-site, the airplane arrives at midnight so we need a rental company that will be open at that ridiculous hour. And yes I did come to realize that renting on Wednesday night prevents any weekend deals from being used in addition the fact that since it's only a 4 day rental you can't get any weekly deals either... Link to comment
Colfax Posted August 8, 2009 Report Share Posted August 8, 2009 As far as the rental period & airport vs off-site, the airplane arrives at midnight so we need a rental company that will be open at that ridiculous hour.Are you able to stay at a hotel with a free shuttle near Logan your first night? Then shuttle back to the airport and pick up a rental car on Thursday, when weekend rates are kicking into effect? Also, sometimes a five-day rental will have a lower overall cost than a four-day rental because 5, 6, or 7 days are all considered a weekly rate. You might try Priceline bids of $20 or so for five-day rentals, and if accepted just return the car a day early. There's no "early return" fee on PL and HW rentals. Link to comment
thereuare Posted August 8, 2009 Report Share Posted August 8, 2009 Are you able to stay at a hotel with a free shuttle near Logan your first night? Then shuttle back to the airport and pick up a rental car on Thursday, when weekend rates are kicking into effect?Using HOTWIRE has a guage for prices and following this technqiue, the price of an ecomony car drops to just $19/day (picking the car up after noon on Thursday)Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
SeaGail Posted August 17, 2009 Report Share Posted August 17, 2009 Suggestion for Boston: Think outside the box. In this instance, Priceline or Hotwire may not be your best bet if you are willing to rent from a downtown location (we're taking a cab or shuttle to the location). We are renting a car from the Cambridge Budget office in Le Meredien and returning it to the airport for the period beginning September 29, and ending on October 14 for a total of $449 (AARP discount). Just kept checking. Returning to the airport always jacked up the price enormously, but I just kept checking and when there was a time when we got this rate and I jumped on it.Just something to consider. Link to comment
degobahjunk70 Posted August 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2009 Are you able to stay at a hotel with a free shuttle near Logan your first night? Then shuttle back to the airport and pick up a rental car on Thursday, when weekend rates are kicking into effect? Also, sometimes a five-day rental will have a lower overall cost than a four-day rental because 5, 6, or 7 days are all considered a weekly rate. You might try Priceline bids of $20 or so for five-day rentals, and if accepted just return the car a day early. There's no "early return" fee on PL and HW rentals.Great tip on the early rental! My husband is actually the one traveling & he wants to drive directly to his Dad's, so as to miss the crazy Boston weekday rush hour traffic. So renting at the airport is the only option. I'll try the early return as a possibility. Thanks for all the great tips! Link to comment
degobahjunk70 Posted August 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2009 okay so here's where I am now on this... I canceled the $322.35 (includes all the taxes & fees) Alamo prepaid Standard size. And have booked 2 new reservations. One will be canceled after consulting with my husband. The first is booked directly with Dollar to be picked up just after midnight on Wednesday night/Thursday morning. It's a Midsize for $226.48 (includes all the taxes & fees). Not too bad for 4 days but definitely not what I was hoping for. The other..... get this! If my husband can wait to pick up the car at Logan 'til 9am on Thursday morning he can get a Midsize booked directly from Alamo (& NOT prepaid!) for $14/day!! So $103.62 (includes all the taxes & fees) for 4 days!!! the smaller cars were $10/day & the standard was $18/day! Great deal if you can get it! Link to comment
Colfax Posted August 19, 2009 Report Share Posted August 19, 2009 You answered your own question, degobahjunk70. You were able to get a better price by waiting. Much better! It doesn't always work out like that.Thanks for the update. Link to comment
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