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As the summer car rental season begins, prices are expected to rise in early June to late August, these rates spike, said Neil Abrams, president of Abrams Consulting Group, which follows the car rental industry Last July, for example the average rate for a weekly airport rental of a compact car booked seven days in advance was 369 62, or 56 percent more than the 73 236 charged in March, according to the index data some Abrams Travel tips to reduce costs.
Let go of name brands Look beyond Avis, Hertz and other major national chains to independent agencies like Payless and Fox Rent a Car Due to lower operating costs, their cars, which are found on websites like and cost generally 15 to 30 percent less than traditional agencies rents another company with an unknown, at least to most Americans, is the German Sixt which began to open branches in the southern United States, including Atlanta, Miami and Orlando, Florida to stimulate brand recognition, the company, whose fleet includes BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen, offering significant discounts such as a Mercedes C-class costs 38 81 per day in late May in Orlando Sixt location of the airport, according to a recent research by comparison, the lowest rate offered by Hertz for the same dates was 50 57 per day for Kia R io, or similar car.
Dig virtual discount Look for discounts and coupons on sites such as and, or type the name of a leasing company and codes into Google to see what this car rental companies offer coupons for members Loyalty programs and other organizations they partner with, including AAA, Costco and BJ's, to check these sites if you are a member but do not stop there most major car rental companies allow you combine coupons with a promotional code for example, a full size Hertz car on the weekend of Memorial Day in Washington Dulles airport was 71 255 in a recent search in the code plug for large discount 62455 United Airlines and travelers promotional coupon code Hertz, 168210, is priced at 160 02.
Rate track through this site, which continually checks the lower rates and coupons until the date of your trip can be used in one of two ways you can follow the price of a rental booked elsewhere or you can book directly by AutoSlash, currently working with Payless, Sixt, Fox and EZ Rent-A-Car, and the site will apply the discounts it finds.
The disadvantage of the second option is limited inventory Major companies donated t like the idea that AutoSlash capitalizes on the fact that consumers can usually change or cancel car reservations at any time without penalty Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, and Hertz and Advantage, recently pulled its inventory from the site, as my colleague Ron Lieber recently reported the company, which owns National and Alamo, won t let AutoSlash list is its cars.
Avoid places airport outside the airport are generally cheaper as airports, which tend to tack on fees that can increase the price by 30 percent or more, for example, a compact Hertz rental in Boston Logan International Airport on the fourth of July weekend was recently ranked 49 to 50 per day, or 219 a week with taxes on a unit of Hotwire taking the subway to the Arlington stop and walk a few blocks to the local Hertz lot, a traveler could reduce costs 98 to 39 per day, or 65 146 with taxes for the week.
Reserve the car for longer than you need This may seem cons-intuitive, but tacking an extra day in this weekly rentals or even add a few hours to extend a weekend with no intention of returning the car that can late lowers your rating the strategy takes advantage of the lower prices for leisure travelers who are more likely to travel on weekends, said Marty Paz, a Las Vegas telecommunications manager who became something a bloodhound car rental prices since it began renting cars to pad eagerly Up flyer last year, he rented more than 100 vehicles, the accumulation of a quarter million miles .
M. Paz said that you are essentially tricking the system into thinking that you book a rental two-day weekend, which typically has a lower base rate, in order to return to the top of the car, example, the price for a rental Alamo intermediate size car at the Las Vegas International airport at noon Thursday, June 7 at noon on Friday, was recently listed on the website for Alamo 35 95 or basic rate 27 27 11 41 more in taxes and fees, but by extending the return time to 2 am, two hours after the weekend rates official start in dropping the base rate 18 to 15 per day Although the estimated overall cost shows October 1, 12 additional extra in hourly fee, you can always return the car at noon and get the lowest rate, said M. Paz, who said, Oops, you got there early.
Negotiate Even after you have booked the best rate possible, it may be worth swinging by the rental counter to see if you can finagle your way into a better car you do ask, you do not get said Mr. Abrams, the rental car visiting the success of this strategy may depend on all type and the number of cars on the lot to the mood of the clerk, he said, but some companies are happy to put you in a more or less popular , vehicle cost compact if it is in their interest.
I often have to minivans for volunteer activities I do with teens said Marty Paz, car rental rates hacker, who noticed browsing the parking lot there is often a glut of mini -fourgonnettes to a place he often rents the weekend often, I booked an economy car for a Friday and just courtesy If SA van, I'll take what I do not mind, and for the price of economic car, I get the minivan a larger vehicle, of course, will require more fuel.
Prepay Take a page from hotels, car rental companies offer discounts of up to 20 percent for travelers willing to prepay In a recent hire search weekly to Boston Logan International Airport in mid-June, for example Hertz was offering economy cars to 173 a week pay rates now pay rate later was about 30 more blocking compromise in a cancellation penalty at low rates from 10 the budget 50 if canceled within 24 hours Hertz and don t forget and offer significant discounts to travelers willing to be locked into a preset price before finding the car hire company.
The column of practice last Sunday travelers pay less for car rental, evil has the relationship between Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Hertz and Advantage, in a section on a site that checks prices and coupons lower Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group is a holding company that owns dollar Rent A Car and Thrifty Car Rental; it does not have Hertz and Advantage.
A version of this article appears in print May 20, 2012, on the New York publishing TR3 page with the title Pay less for car hire today Subscribe order paper reprints.
7 Tips to save on car hire New York Times, advice, leasing, cars, york.