- This topic has 3 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 5 years ago by
.
-
Posts
-
So I started checking out Rentalcars.com after seeing Paul Spains post on here (somewhere, I can’t find it and ran out of patience). To be honest I never knew it existed and had been using vroomvroom or booking via Accor’s for Europcar (they have benefits like free weekend vouchers etc).
Anyway, I have realised you have to check both as on any given day one site is better than the other, and it flip flops as to who is providing the better deal. A couple of other things came to my attention recently.
Rentalcars.com also are advertising some less main stream options in Oz like ACE, Alpha, Bargain. I may try them out as I have a budget to stick to.
I’ve also noticed (ok, I forgot to book the rental cars on 2 occasions – oops!), and once sat on the apps figuring out who was cheapest after arriving and another time recently sat in the lounge on the app pre flight figuring out who was cheapest. On those 2 occasions prices were WAY cheaper than the weeks leading up! Anyone else notice a similar pattern??
I figure rental cars work differently from airlines. A plane seat is flying out regardless of whether or not someone is sitting in the seat. Paying or upgrading etc are options. But rental cars are different. Prices seem to go up, but on the day at least, if no one has rented them then those cars aren’t ‘working’ and earning the company money so the price seems to drop! Back down to something that works for my work budget.
Right now I’m noticing prices are $55/day for my work dates which is way more than I want to pay. I may take the risk and monitor prices but book later where I expect prices to drop. Even on the day. It’s a totally short trip so, sort of not too fussed. I’ll check out a few other websites like airlines, hotels etc to see if things are a bit cheaper there, but if not I’m tempted to experiment and see what happens on the day.
I suppose I should check if it’s school holidays or something else is on for my dates. I’m guessing most people are more organised! And probably don’t forget what they’ve booked and run into the same issue. But if anyone else has noticed similar patterns, would love to hear.
Rental car pricing seems to be an incredibly difficult thing to understand.
I had a friend ring me the other week because he was looking at vehicles at LAX and it was cheaper to book a car on the Avis NZ site for LAX which included full CDW and liability insurance than it was to book it on the US site excluding all insurance!
I think there’s definitely a difference between regional and main airports. Captive audience etc. Just like airfares.
Just tried booking a car and 2 car categories were suddenly sold out on rentalcars.com while I sped through inserting details. I think I booked via vroom vroom after that. Bit peeved paying more.
I read somewhere the US had insurance as part of their own regular car insurance that also covered rental cars? Something like that. So I guess that makes sense their offer is without insurance. Not sure about the pricing from NZ though! But yeah pays to check prices from departing and arriving ends for lots of things.
I read somewhere the US had insurance as part of their own regular car insurance that also covered rental cars?
Probably right here on TravelTalk, with Steve’s beginners guide to rental car insurance 🙂
Most of my rental bookings these days are with Hertz using my works CDP code. Always seems to come out cheaper than the deal sites or any of the specials that they have directly. It also drops the excess to something like $1800, which if I am out of Australia my credit card insurances covers ($2000 by default, but I can pay to up it by $2000 increments)
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.