happytrailstoyou

I will rent a car mid-sized car in Atlanta for three weeks in March.

The best airport rates I find are Alamo ($633), Thrifty ($649), Enterprise ($667), and Dollar ($675).

Are all these companies equally reliable? Should I be wary of any of them?

HTTY

Bowsprit

Check for things like unlimited mileage, insurance waivers, tire wear and tear (don't laugh, one of our company reps told us he was charged a tire wear and tear fee based on the miles he had driven! Times are tough.)

Another alternative is to use a Hertz owned company called Advantage. I just filled in a 3 week time period for Atlanta, near the airport, and the prices I got were substantially less than the companies you've found.

https://www.advantage.com/car-rental...e=whatView.jsp

I found lower rates than these by using travelzoo.com and checking on travelocity prices through travelzoo.com.

Bowsprit

But to answer your question: All the companies you've referenced are completely reliable.

Also: Advantage Car rentals may not be available right at the airport but they have shuttles at the airport that can bring you to their nearby site. It's worth it if a short drive saves you 50%.

Aduchamp1

Have you tried rock, paper, scissor?

I have used just about every rental car company but I used Hertz in Atlanta due to the company contract. I do not know about advantage but the #1 Club has always served me well.

Call your credit card company and your insurance agent and find out they cover your CDW and liability. This could save you considerable money.

happytrailstoyou

I like Hertz, too, but for three weeks in March a mid-sized car with my AAA discount is $1110 compared to $633 at Alamo. And, when I searched Advantage, it was about the same as Enterprise.

abram

We've gotten good pices using Priceline, but, recently, in Las Vegas, Advantage was so inexpensive (less than $20 per day inclusive of all taxes and fees) that I didn't bother.

Bowsprit

I just checked the Advantage site and I came up with $150.00 a WEEK for a mid-size car rental for 3 weeks out of Atlanta! That's a substantial savings and quite a difference between the others. May I ask which time frame you're considering? Although I can't imagine a few days would make much difference either way. It certainly wouldn't cost another 400.00 to 500.00 a week! Here's the link I used, I'm sure it's timed out, but you can put in your information. Check to make sure the arrival and departure site is Atlanta. (it initially showed up as Pasadena for some reason).

https://www.advantage.com/car-rental...e=whatView.jsp

kelliebellie

Try using Autoeurope.com. We've gotten great rates from them. Those rental companies you questioned about are all major rental places and will be just fine.

Another good trick is to search for their offices just off the airport premises. You can take a cab for a few miles and go to a different office from the same company and it will have very different prices. A lot of the airports add on a daily fee that can really add up. Over a few days who cares, but for 3 weeks it would definitely be worth looking into.

happytrailstoyou

Bowsprit, The $150.45 a week balloons to $690.76 for three weeks when fees of 62.80, $50.21, $30.87, $94.50, and 1.03 are added to the base.

We require the convenience of picking up and dropping off at the airport location.

HTTY

Gretchen

Look on Hotwire. Get an idea of the fees at the airport. Bid on Priceline. Why did you choose those, in particular.

Gretchen

Made a mistake--disregard. I think you are on the right track.

Bowsprit

HTTY: re. Advantage: I see that the fees ballooned. Sorry I didn't follow it through to the end of the booking. I was under the imprssion (obviously mistaken) that your other estimates were per Week costs rather than totals for a 3 week rental. I assumed this because the cost for other rental car companies for our one week rental in Florida exceeded $600.00 and Advantage offered such a huge savings.

In this case then, I don't think an average of $200.00 a week or about $40.00 a day is too bad of a price and that seems to be what you've received from rental car companies. This seems to be about average. We haven't been able to get a $10.00 a day deal in a long time.

Good luck with everything; Atlanta is a great city.

starrs

One thing to be aware of is that all the rental companies are at the same location. The new rental car center is open and you will take the SkyTrain to the new center. More info here -
http://www.atlanta-airport.com/Renta..._SkyTrain.aspx

When you decide on your rental agency, join their club so you can move to the shorter line at the rental counter.