Priceline Car Rental - a Little Help Please

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

I just tried a $20/day bid - no dice. I will keep trying in that range for the next several days. I might hit it when there's a quick blip in supply!

At $22 the total comes out about $336 - $68 savings over the whole trip. I am not sure I'd want to lock myself in for less savings than that. Biddingfortravel had a recent win at about $26 for a PHX minivan listed - that total would be for more than what I have with my normal reservation.

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

Is there a fair in Buffalo? We're taking the train to Buffalo, then going to Niagara Falls and Toronto for general sightseeing. What should we do in Buffalo?

Listen, what do you think, is it easier to take the train to Buffalo Exchange Place and get the car from a downtown rental place (which is what we're doing right now) and then stay out by the airport, or take the train out to Buffalo Depew, get a cab to the airport and get a car there? The downtown place actually has a better price and they'll pick us up from the train.

I'll PM you. I don't want to muddy this thread too much

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

I went on to the Payless car rental site last night for some odd reason and lo and behold... the price had dropped $12 so I reserved that new price and now have to cancel the one I had.

Is there any benefit to delaying releasing the old reservation? Has anyone played with manipulating supply and demand to get a better last minute rental price?

I am excited to just have the rental price be officially under $400!

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

I don't think there's any downside to releasing the old reservation. But be SURE to get a cancellation number and to print out that cancellation e-mail AND the new confirmation e-mail, and take both with you when you go to pick up the car. I've had some weird things happen when I redid things like that.

BTW, if you see a price drop like that and you call the company, they will usually make the adjustment on your existing reservation so you keep the old confirmation number. A little easier. I do that all the time with hotels.

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

I have been keeping all the reservations and cancellations - just in case. I wasn't thinking to bring them all along, but it's easy enough to do.

If I see another price drop I'll try calling. My one call to the company wasn't very inspiring (to ask a few general questions) but maybe a different rep would be give me a better comfort level!