I'll be traveling to New England this Autumn for a week to visit family and will have to rent a car. I've only rented a car once before and found it to be a wholly distasteful practice. The advertised $89 a day rate turned into about $250/day by the time the fees were added and the car got a flat due to an improperly patched tire, which they blamed on me and tried to charge me for.
What are they tips or tricks to renting a car? How do I now get overcharged? Does anyone in CT want to sell me a $500 runner for a week?
If you either pick up or drop off at an airport, train station, ship dock, etc the municipalities usually have large fees and special taxes to hit the tourists.
Take Enterprise for example. If you pick and drop off at the Enterprise office near the car dealerships, you don't get hit with the "tourist fees" and the local people don't complain about high taxes. At the Enterprise location at the airport even just one of either pick up or drop off will trigger these "tourist fees" and they can be $20 per day! Yes, the traveler is unhappy, but he doesn't live there and he doesn't vote anyone out of office so the municipality is happy to stick it to you.
Try booking a reservation at the "dealership area" Enterprise which you then take a cab/Uber to/from the airport. Even with the cab cost, there could be savings on your weekly rental.
What ever you do, do not just show up to the counter with no reservation. That is a good way to for them to "really stick it to you" on price. Try AAA discounts or any other association discounts you might have too.
Post-covid, car rental has become even more distasteful!
AClockworkGarage said:
I'll be traveling to New England this Autumn for a week to visit family and will have to rent a car. I've only rented a car once before and found it to be a wholly distasteful practice. The advertised $89 a day rate turned into about $250/day by the time the fees were added and the car got a flat due to an improperly patched tire, which they blamed on me and tried to charge me for.
What are they tips or tricks to renting a car? How do I now get overcharged? Does anyone in CT want to sell me a $500 runner for a week?
1. rent from a big reputable renter (Hertz, enterprise, and national are my favorite) that caters to corporate jet set types. Join their members club program and the rental experience will become much less painful. With Hertz (who i use) my contract is waiting for me in the car, so i get off the shuttle bus and based on a text message I know which car is mine, simply get in the car and present my drivers license & corporate contract to the gate attendant when i leave. When I go to return the vehicle, i get out and walk away from it and they email me the final statement.
2. find a discount code; if you work for a big company check if they have any discount codes that you can use as an employee, places like flyersclub usually have the complete lists posted so see if a company you have a relationship with is on the list. AAA and other buyers clubs also work. Costco also has a rental car program that will save you some money and be pretty transparent with the costs but they usually work with the budget carriers (budget, alamo, dollar, etc.)
Another suggestion, consider Turo/Hagerty Driveshare. It's crowd sourced car rentals (i.e. your renting somebody elses car) and Turo is usually widely available in most major cities.
Final tip, don't pre-pay for a rental way out in advance, book it but if the price is high (some travel sites will give you an average rental rate) it may go down as the date gets closer. I needed a rental car for a recent vacation and just before we departed I checked and the rental price had gone down by $75 a day, i simply cancelled and rebooked. If the price would have gone up, i would have kept my old reservation...
I've used Turo once before when I visited family in LA and found the experience pleasant overall (so if you have any questions, feel free to ask).
I have heard some wild horror stories, but I think that can be the case with any service, really.
Colin Wood said:
I've used Turo once before when I visited family in LA and found the experience pleasant overall (so if you have any questions, feel free to ask).
I have heard some wild horror stories, but I think that can be the case with any service, really.
Turo is like AirBnB and AirBnB had enough doozies that some states now have laws against some of the worst/grossest examples (cameras in bedrooms/bathrooms being the worst)
I'll second to not rent from the airport if you can avoid it. I just rented a car for my wife. Initially, she didn't need it until the morning of the 4th, returning on the 7th. But, the only counters open for the 4th was the airport. Ended up renting from Hertz up the street and picked it up Saturday and it was still cheaper than picking it up at the airport.
I used Priceline to rent because their insurance is cheaper. Priceline said the location closed at 1:00, but I looked up the address at 11:45 and found out they actually closed at 12 (the rental was for pick up at 1). Had to hump it to get there on time. When we got there, the office was packed and we ended up not actually getting in the car until 12:30 or so. Lots of disgrunteled people, but our pickup was seamless and the car was clean.
I'd recommend taking pics of the whole car when picking it up and noting any imperfections. Just to cover yourself on it. I'll also second renting from the bigger chains vs the smaller ones as they seem less likely to nickle and dime you or find "issues" when you drop it off.
All that said, like every business these days, rental companies are struggling with coming back after the pandemic. Make sure to reserve and (if you can) pre-pay in advance. That should almost guarantee they'll have a car for you.
-Rob
In reply to ClearWaterMS :
I do this with Enterprise. Early last month I booked a car 1 week in advance, picked the "surprise me" option where they just give you whatever sedan at one of their lower rates. I got off my flight and went to the rental car garage to get my car and guess what, they didn't have any of that class available so I was upgraded at no cost. That's happened twice. Usually, I just get in the car that was selected for me and show my drivers license at the gate. Always sign up for whatever membership program they use.
In my experience Airport rentals generally have way more options and better pricing.
+1 to use a large corporate place. I walk to a row of cars after getting off the plane, grab one, and get on my way. No waiting in the line bullE36 M3. That alone makes the experience 100x better.
Look to see if your employer has a corporate rate and if there is a code that they extend to their employees. Most don't advertise it a lot. Mine takes it to $31.50 a day plus fees for national.
The last car I rented was from Silvercar. All online and I didn't have to talk to anyone. Only downside was my head hitting the A pillar every time I got in the car.
Depending on how much driving you plan to do while there there's also the Uhaul truck option for 19.95 daily.
yupididit said:
In reply to ClearWaterMS :
I do this with Enterprise. Early last month I booked a car 1 week in advance, picked the "surprise me" option where they just give you whatever sedan at one of their lower rates.
Two months ago I arrived at the Houston airport at 11:00pm on a Sunday night and lost the gamble.
I had every Texas brodozer riding my Nissan Versa butt for three days.
IMO, TURO is the best answer. I have rented nearly 30 vehicles through the app over the past 4 years. It is much more convenient, low stress and the options are incredible. Everything from Porsches to Teslas to Kias. Through TURO, I have been able to drive most of my dream cars without the hassle of ownership. Knocking them off, one by one.
On Friday I am renting an Alfa Giulia Quadrifoglio for the weekend.
So much fun.
Cant wait!
Datsun310Guy said:
yupididit said:
In reply to ClearWaterMS :
I do this with Enterprise. Early last month I booked a car 1 week in advance, picked the "surprise me" option where they just give you whatever sedan at one of their lower rates.
Two months ago I arrived at the Houston airport at 11:00pm on a Sunday night and lost the gamble.
I had every Texas brodozer riding my Nissan Versa butt for three days.
Happens when I drive my Expedition through Houston as well. Feel rather small on those roads and not nearly as aggressive or dumb. I hate driving there.
I have had a few really great experiences with Turo, including a convertible Mini 6spd turbo in CO Springs, and a Subaru with AT tires in Moab, but once a Miata with corded tires that I didn't see until I was 100 miles from pickup in Vegas (refunded to prevent a bad review). Look it over well before you drive off! Also, you can be screwed if the rental falls through so use only reputable hosts.
I haven't rented a car in years until last week. I rented a Buick Lucern (cheapest car I could find) through Turo. and it served my purposes well. Saved significant $ compared to renting from Avis or whoever at the airport.
Turo gets my vote. Had. Good experience renting a Lexus in Florida last year.
FWIW, Hertz specifically is going through some pretty serious proceedings right now over the fact that it regularly lies and accuses renters of not returning their cars despite there being verifiable proof of return.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hertz-customers-allege-false-arrests-lawsuit/
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/judge-rules-hertz-theft-complaints-against-customers-public/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2022/03/31/hertz-arrests-senate-warren-blumenthal-investigation-rental-car/7233969001/
I think they're all crooks in one way or another but this is beyond the typical pain at the rental counter, so now Hertz has me a bit spooked.
I always thought renting from National was a pretty smooth experience though they tend to be a little more expensive.
ProDarwin said:
In my experience Airport rentals generally have way more options and better pricing.
+1 to use a large corporate place. I walk to a row of cars after getting off the plane, grab one, and get on my way. No waiting in the line bullE36 M3. That alone makes the experience 100x better.
Yep. I rent a somewhat decent amount, maybe 6-7x per year over the past 20 years. 99.5% of that has been from flying, so I always rent at the airport. I've always found the experience to be decent as long as I'm part of the "preferred" membership. It's always free to sign up, so I do. Skip the line, grab a car and go. I was just in a rental last weekend. It was a Hyundai Venue, which is a miserable turd, but who cares? It got me where I needed to go and all was well. I don't buy the "extras" they sell.
car39
Dork
7/6/22 10:21 a.m.
If you do pre-pay the rental, review your receipt afterwards. I was downgraded a couple of classes on the car I rented, so Budget made their paperwork easier by adding a miscellaneous charge to balance out what I paid. I took to social media, and phone calls, got my money back and 3 days free on the next rental. Buyer beware.
My biggest hurdle has been needing to rent a car to drive to another city. It has happened where every major rental agency denied my request to rent a car to drive from Charlotte to Knoxville.
In reply to AClockworkGarage :
Sign up for any of the rewards/membership plans and use AAA or call your credit cards to see if they offer any rental coverage etc. I luckily used an American express for an international trip. My rental was hit, while parked, by a garbage truck. And that particular card I had at the time covered all the insurance costs so cost me nothing for the destroyed passenger side of the rental.
I traveled a lot for work before the pandemic and now again it is starting back up.
I don't think car rental activity sucks that much nowadays. The early part of my career when every, EVERY, single rental made all your clothes stink of cigarette smoke. THAT SUCKED! Then for a period of a few years I remember, even with the AVIS corporate membership card the cars were sometimes just plain dirty. Since around 2008 or so things got much better in my travels. I got to liking Hertz for the locations I traveled to because of their quality of cars and usually I was picking up and dropping off super fast. Once got an upgrade to a Camry but it had a wobbly rear wheel. If someone didn't drive over 60 they wouldn't feel it. Michigan speed limits are often 70 so I felt it. Getting a replacement was a bit tedious as they literally had no more functional cars and I had to drive to another location but, not a major snafu.
Unfortunately, I must say that when I have used budget and dollar they always dealt with me as if they assumed I am going to steal the car. Even when using a corporate code and membership. I got stuck with Budget again our of Atlanta in May and they had to have me sign extra paperwork (It was a half sheet of printed information) stating that I was provided with the penalties for "missing" parts of the interior and then wouldn't give me a receipt until after they inspected the car and I had to call the day after returning to get it.
YoursTruly said:
My biggest hurdle has been needing to rent a car to drive to another city. It has happened where every major rental agency denied my request to rent a car to drive from Charlotte to Knoxville.
This is noticeably harder post pandemic. There are a few trips I take where I go to multiple facilities and some are just not connected by commercial fights. So I drive the few hours in between. It means I fly into one airport and back home from a different airport. Those one ways were pricy but available before 2020. Now they just refuse to allow it. I have had to talk to my supervisor and manager about maybe having to add a day to drive all the way back to the original airport. Or stop driving between those facilities. I guess it is for cost to shuttle cars after holidays but during non holiday periods I am surprised it is prohibited.
Wow, I'm taken aback (but not surprised, really) by your all's horror stories. I've rented multiple cars, in multiple countries, and multiple states and never had an issue either with the quality of the vehicle or customer "service" tactics. I'll count myself lucky and knock on wood.
Use National. Sign up for Emerald Isle. You make your res online, arrive at the car rental place, you pick the car you want, you hop in, keys are in it, you drive through the toll plaza, give the attendant your license, and a minute later you're on your way.
I've been using National exclusively for years. Zero problems, ever. They just work.
