Looking for car at TPA

[pres001]

I have had success in the past bidding for cars in Tampa, TPA. So far I am up to $18.00 per day for a full size car. I need that much room as there will be 4 of us with lots of luggage.

I have had no problem bidding and getting mid size or compacts in the past. Does anyone know if it is harder to win a bid on a full size?

I will be traveling Feb 18th, so I still have some time. I don't think we are going at such a busy time, so I don't know what the problem is except that regular car rental rates have gone thru the roof in Florida. Priceline has saved me the last 3 times I needed a car at TPA, but I am getting a little concerned now.

I should have mentioned that when I submitted my losing bids I did link to PRICELINE thru this site and will continue to do so with future bids.

[thereuare]

Thanks for using our PRICELINE links for your bidding.

What is your return day for this rental?

[alambrose]

I have had success in the past bidding for cars in Tampa, TPA. So far I am up to $18.00 per day for a full size car. I need that much room as there will be 4 of us with lots of luggage.

I have had no problem bidding and getting mid size or compacts in the past. Does anyone know if it is harder to win a bid on a full size?

I will be traveling Feb 18th, so I still have some time. I don't think we are going at such a busy time, so I don't know what the problem is except that regular car rental rates have gone thru the roof in Florida. Priceline has saved me the last 3 times I needed a car at TPA, but I am getting a little concerned now.

I should have mentioned that when I submitted my losing bids I did link to PRICELINE thru this site and will continue to do so with future bids.

I have been trying for a few days now to get a rental in TPA for May 10th (monday) through May 18th (tuesday) through Priceline & Hotwire. I saw a post here where someone mentioned getting a mid-size for $12/day through Priceline (for February), but I did not get accepted at that bid. I've tried just about every class of vehicle from economy to full-size, minivan, suv, etc... with bids starting from $10/day, and then increasing up to as high as $15/day (for the minivan/suv).

Just got shot down again this morning with a $14/day bid for the midsize... all of this has been through Priceline. Howire is not showing any decent rates, lowest is around $19/day for a subcompact.

Just posting here to let others know what I am finding so far.

[pres001]

I found a website, www.discountfloridacarrental.com, which has much lower than published rates for my dates. Thru that website you get a reservation that you can cancel without penalty and you are not charged anything until you pick up your car.

I have a full size car reserved at $36. per day. I am not happy about that rate, but it is even lower than Hotwire rates, and as stated cancellable if I score a Priceline bid.

I am going to go back and try $20. again on Priceline.

[pres001]

Denied again at $20.00. I will start going up $2 a day and see what happens.

[thereuare]

I have a full size car reserved at $36. per day.

Is that "all-in" or before taxes and fees? What rental company is this rate thru? Are you comfortable with a 2nd/3rd tier rental company (like U-Save or Payless)

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[pres001]

Is that "all-in" or before taxes and fees? What rental company is this rate thru? Are you comfortable with a 2nd/3rd tier rental company (like U-Save or Payless)

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

The $36 rate is before taxes. I am not happy with it, but it is much lower than I have found elsewhere including Hotwire.

I was skeptical of the discount Florida car rental web site, but when I tried it they did not ask for a credit card or any info besides an e mail address. They send an e mail within 24 hours with an offer at a specific price and the name of the car rental company, in my case Budget. I then needed to send an e mail in response verifying I wanted the reservation. After that I got an e mail from Budget with a confirmation # the same as if I had rented direct from Budget. I still have not given a credit card #, so it's hardly a risk.

I tried the discount Florida web site again yesterday for my dates and got a reply at $48. this time.

Incidentally I am returning the car on Feb 22nd, a 4 day rental.

I am now going back to PRICELINE, linking thru this site and I am now up to $ 22.

[alambrose]

I have been continuing my bidding for a May 10th through May 18th rental for TPA. Up to now, I have been excluding economy and compact, although I could make do with these. There are 2 adults and 2 toddlers in car seats, so we do not need a lot of rear seat room, and we travel fairly light so we don't need a lot of cargo space. Still, for convenience I do prefer a minivan or at least a mid-size.

I have been bidding now for about a couple of weeks, hitting the mid-size, standard, full-size, minivan and SUV categories with bids ranging from $10/day to $16/day, with no success. I finally tried for a compact at around $14/day, and that was denied too.

Considering my trip isn't until May 10th, am I too early to be looking for a deal?

[pres001]

Prices may or may not change between now and May. I hate to bid that early because, of course, Priceline will charge your credit card as soon as your bid is successful. I like to wait for Priceline until I am closer to my travel date.

As a back up I reserve a car at the best rate I can find on a site where I can cancel without penalty and am not charged at the time of reservation. Then I just cancel the reservation if I succeed on Priceline.

As I indicated in my previous post I have a car reserved at $36 per day. I am not at all happy with that price, but for a 4 day rental I can live with it if PRICELINE does not come thru.

My latest unsuccessful PRICELINE bid is $23. I will try again today at $24.

[thereuare]

alambrose,

If you would like help with your own stay please start a NEW TOPIC.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

Thanks.

[pres001]

My $25. bid was just denied.

I am getting worried now. I might get stuck with my reservation of $36.

[thereuare]

Plenty of room between $25 and $36 (but watch the total amount of your PRICELINE bid to make sure you're remaining under your back-up reservation)

If you continue to be unsuccessful, it shows that your back-up is actually a pretty good rate :)

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

Keep us updated.

[alambrose]

You might do better directly from the company website, check out Rental Car Codes for current discount codes (some for up to 25% off) from most of the major car rental sites.

-al

[pres001]

Yeah, but on the company websites full size cars are going for $80 to $100 per day. 25% off that leaves me at $60. per day.

I bid again today on PRICELINE at $26. They said no, but they could get me a car for $34. At least they just did not flat out reject.

[thereuare]

I bid again today on PRICELINE...

Please use the requested PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your bidding... there is a link in my signature which goes directly to the Priceline Car Rental section of their site.

[pres001]

Well, I think I finally have a final, final decision.

I don't know if I thoroughly explained my situation on previous posts. I am flying into Tampa alone tomorrow and 3 people are flying in on Sunday to meet me. Then we leave on a cruise Monday.

So, I looked at Hotwire today and compact car rates came down to $13 per day. Full size are still high $49 or so.

What I decided to do was rent a compact car for the first 3 days I will be there alone then rent a full size for just the last day that I will be with 3 others.

I went direct to Alamo's site and got the final total of $106.62 all charges included. I even googled and found a 15% off coupon for Alamo on some website, which is included in my $106.62.

This compares to $180 plus that I had with Budget for a full size for the entire 4 days.

I also know from past experience that Alamo will shuttle us free from the rental car drop off to the cruise port, which will save another $25. taxi charge.

With all those factors considered I am going to pass on PRICELINE and just go with the known quantity that I have.

[thereuare]

Thanks for closing this thread.