Car rental…any hot tips?

[Trekkin and Birdin]

Trekkin’ and I are heading to the land of Project APE (outside Seattle) and many fun spots in between in a few weeks. He wants to rent a car instead of putting the miles on our own.

We’re in LaCrosse. Anyone have any hot tips on deals, rental companies and the like? It kind of appears that Alamo is our only choice over here.

I’m surprised with all my travels and wandering, I’ve never rented a car.

[kansas64]

Rates vary quite a bit, we have rented a car in Vegas for $8.75 per day and in Miami the same car was $60.00 per day..if you rent the longer the term the cheaper the “daily” rate will become (ie weekly), but the big one to watch out for is the added costs. After taxes and service fees that $8.75 per day car was almost $25.00 per day

[sweech]

I was just in Seattle over Memorial Day with a friend. I believe after looking at a bunch of websites she used priceline to get our car and we DID use Alamo (probably ’cause it was the cheapest). HAVE FUN! It’s beautiful there!

[furfool]

Don’t take out their insurance. You should be covered for rentals under your own policy. Call your agent and double check. Coverage through a rental company can be quite pricey. Also make sure to refill the gas that you use or the rental company will charge you for it. They tried charging me almost double per gallon than the station next door. Also make sure that you point out every little ding, dent, scratch, mar, faded spot, etc.,etc. on the vehicle. If they don’t catch it prior to renting and they find it when you return the vehicle, they will want to charge you for it.

Not trying to scare you or anything.

[Trekkin and Birdin]

No Eric, that’s the kind of stuff we need to know..

I don’t know why we can’t just beat up my car a bit more. Guess it has something to do with how much sooner it would need to be replaced or something. 🙄

[gkrone]

Rented from Alamo for Spring Break in Utah. Just reserved the basic for our needs but since they have the choose your own we ended up with a 4 wheel drive with XM satelite radio at no extra charge.

[sandlanders]

Rented a car only once many moons ago, but the insurance thing and fill the tank are right on. We once looked into renting for the long haul trips like you want to do, but we figured the rental would cost way more than using our own car. Those are good to do if a bunch of you need a vehicle like a van or something that you don’t have in your own vehicles.

If you rent for the long distance, check out the price for the large number of miles you will be doing and get the best deal there. I think at one time Alamo gave you like a couple hundred free miles per day of rental, but you’ll be packing on more than that.

[Cachelovskys]

Use an entertainment book for a coupon. Alamo offers: One free day if you rent for 5 days or more. It is worth it.

Or check out my new favorite site…www.retailmenot.com

They offer coupon codes for just about everything. NEVER, pay full price when renting a car.

[AuntieNae]

Sign up for their email deals ..
I have done very well with the Budget “Act Fast” rate deals .. the latest was GeoWoodstock .. saved another $35 off our rental only a few hours before we departed.

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