Rental car what would you do question ???

[StressCadet Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close StressCadet]

Looking to see what others would do in this situation.

I need a short term rental. 3 days 5 hours to be exact. Moving daughter to college. Will fly part way and drive the remainder. Yay Southwest and free bags. With 3 of us, we can take up to 6 bags free.

I first rented a Full Size on Costco for about 125.00. Good enough deal. I then realized that if we actually need to bring all those bags than I need a Van or SUV. So, I also have an SUV booked for 258.00. Steep for 3 days. My question is this:

We always get hit up for an upgrade. We always say no, no, no. BUT, in this circumstance, I'd be ready and willing to upgrade. So, would you keep the lesser priced reservation and chance it and hope for a reasonably priced upgrade? Or just stick with the solid SUV reservation? I check nearly every day and while the other levels of cars change often (I've never seen the Full size go back down to 125) the SUV stays solid at that same price.

What would you do?

[chriskre Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close chriskre]

Keep checking.
I had an SUV reserved for the Berkshires for $600 for the week from Costco.
I kept checking and checking and a few weeks before the price dropped to $400 for the same size SUV with the same company Alamo.
I just wouldn't book a non-refundable until closer to the date.

[mdurette Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mdurette]

Personally....I would never take my chances at the counter. I have never been offered an upgrade for Free...there is always a cost. It very well could be that you get to the counter and the cost to upgrade could be higher than the $258 quote you have now.

But yes...keep checking.

[mpizza Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mpizza]

I am a belt and suspenders person - I would reserve an SUV or VAN (more luggage space?) now. Keep checking and run a last minute day-of Priceline request.

Very exciting! Much luck to your DD in school!

Maria

[Icc5 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Icc5]

Try Autoslash.com
You put in what you have and they look for better savings. Lowered my last car rental to where I pay less then halve.

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

Yes to all of the suggestions. Book a reservation for what you want and don't count on getting an upgrade. When we've been offered an upgrade it's usually at an additional cost. Keep checking. And also try autoslash.

[StressCadet Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close StressCadet]

To be clear...I wasn't expecting the upgrade to be free. I expect to pay but even if they say 20 dollars more a day (they usually offer for less) I'd still come out way ahead as the full size reservation is so cheap. BUT, I'm much like mpizza, not much of a risk taker. I'll probably try last minute priceline if nothing else comes up.

I was looking around at Autoslash and when I put in my info it only brings up one company. Is that right? Why wouldn't it pull all of them? Costco gives me 4 choices and Hotwire several as well. Is it a contract thing with Autoslash?

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

I've only used autoslash once so far. I gave them the information about a rental I currently had (through Costco). So they researched THAT company and got me a better price. I didn't know, or at least didn't try, just using them to search outright.

And you are doing exactly what I did when I took younger dd to college in Vancouver, BC a few years back. Flew into Seattle on SW, rented a car and drive from there. I was going to drive back to Seattle, but decided to change my ticket and flew home on United. It cost me a bit more, but it was worth it not to make that drive alone.

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

To be clear...I wasn't expecting the upgrade to be free. I expect to pay but even if they say 20 dollars more a day (they usually offer for less) I'd still come out way ahead as the full size reservation is so cheap. BUT, I'm much like mpizza, not much of a risk taker. I'll probably try last minute priceline if nothing else comes up.

I was looking around at Autoslash and when I put in my info it only brings up one company. Is that right? Why wouldn't it pull all of them? Costco gives me 4 choices and Hotwire several as well. Is it a contract thing with Autoslash?

I just went into Autoslash and tried the option of having them show me the lowest prices. I got an email with quotes from five companies. And then when I clicked the link of the one with the lowest price I got a chart showing ALL options for multiple car rental companies and car sizes.

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

What is interesting is it looks like with Autoslash there is a fee for an additional driver. I didn't notice that when we rented in San Diego, but then again my dh did all of the driving there. It could also be that in CA they don't charge the fee (I saw that somewhere in the Autoslash info). So, if you do decide to use Autoslash, and you're going to have more than one driver, just check to see if there will be a fee. What I was seeing was $13/day.

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

I would book both and keep checking. We've often had upgrades offered at the counter, and the last time we went to Florida, we kind of assumed that we would be offered one--but they ended up giving us a Kia Soul, which is okay for four people but has NO trunk space, and they told us it was a small SUV.

Will you have three people or more?

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

I am a belt and suspenders person - I would reserve an SUV or VAN (more luggage space?) now. Keep checking and run a last minute day-of Priceline request.

Very exciting! Much luck to your DD in school!

Maria

Yes to all of the suggestions. Book a reservation for what you want and don't count on getting an upgrade. When we've been offered an upgrade it's usually at an additional cost. Keep checking. And also try autoslash.

I agree. SUVs and Vans are not always available at the counter, and the upgrades are generally for full-size cars or sportscars... at least in my experience

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

Just another note. Earlier this year we went to Maui. Ended up being 6 of us going so I rented a minivan. Luckily I got a reservation and locked in a low rate. I kept checking and not only had rates gone way up for full size SUVs, but the minivans were not even available. When dh picked up our minivan he was told it was the last one on the lot.

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

Just another note. Earlier this year we went to Maui. Ended up being 6 of us going so I rented a minivan. Luckily I got a reservation and locked in a low rate. I kept checking and not only had rates gone way up for full size SUVs, but the minivans were not even available. When dh picked up our minivan he was told it was the last one on the lot.

That has happened to me in Park City, too. SUV prices just kept going up closer to arrival date, and then weren't available. Granted Park City is a snow destination, but still.

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

That has happened to me in Park City, too. SUV prices just kept going up closer to arrival date, and then weren't available. Granted Park City is a snow destination, but still.

We got the minivan for about $490 for two weeks. By the time of our trip the mid size SUVs were $1200 for the same time period.