Finding Car Rental Deals
One sure way to save money this summer for your vacation is to find car rental deals. This can be as easy as looking at the top car rental agencies like Hertz, Avis, Budget, and Enterprise online and seeing if they offer any special Internet deals, but there are other sites available that do the work for you.
Though you may not know it, Priceline.com, Hotwire.com, and Expedia.com all offer ways to save you on your next car rental. While these companies are widely known for saving you on hotel and flight fees, many do not know that they also offer rental savings as well. Why do these companies save you money? Car rental agencies are constantly left with cars on the lot. When this happens the cars are making them absolutely no money. Priceline.com, Hotwire.com, and Expedia.com all work with the top rental agencies and offer you a deep discount and the car rental agencies some money rather than none. Here’s the breakdown:
o Priceline.com: Priceline.com offers ‘Name your own pricing’ even when it comes to getting a car rental deal. Basically what you do is bid a specific price you are willing to pay for a car rental and you either get it or you don’t. Using this method can save you up to 30 percent on all major car rental agencies and Priceline.com is an easy to use site that walks you through the process step by step.
o Hotwire.com: Hotwire.com has rental car deals for as low as $13.95 per day and offers a way for you to search for rental deals by city and by the time that you will need the car. A great feature with Hotwire.com is that you can register with them to be alerted when a deal that fits your budget is available so that you will be able to book that deal right away.
o Expedia.com: Expedias.com also gives you the ability to search for car rental deals by location and by time but this site offers something even better; price guarantee. If you should find a better rental deal online within 24 hours of booking your rental car with Expedia.com, they will refund you the difference, plus give you a $50 travel coupon.
As with many things in life, the further ahead you plan the better. More often than not, you can get a better car rental deal and do a little more comparative shopping if you book as far ahead as possible. If you wait until the last minute, you can still save by using one of these three websites. Both Hotwire.com and Expedia.com have a ‘last minute deals’ link that can be used to find rental deals that have just come up and Priceline.com offers a link that is called ‘Pricebreakers’ which features deals that are usually expiring in a couple of days. While the savings may not be as great as if you planned ahead, a buck saved is a buck saved.
With everyone tightening their belts this summer, don’t scrimp on the fun; instead use one of these online resources to help you find your next car rental deal. By doing so you save yourself time and more importantly money, which can then be used to spend on your vacation any way you want to.