Car Rental
 

I have been checking car rentals from Phoenix Airport from Apr. 30 to May 12 and I am coming up with $400.00 to $450.0 for economy or compact which I think is pretty good. I have coverage for the collission insurance so do not have to pay for that and the same for medical. Just wondering if anyone has any comments or any advice .
Thanks
Warren

Does that rate include taxes? I think you can do better using Priceline. They are showing compact cars for [taxes included] $384 for that time period using Advantage Rental. Thrifty and Dollar at $435. These are their regular rates . I would try doing a name your own price; you should be able to get a better deal at that time of year. I'd try for $15 per day.

Hope this helps...
Debi

Priceline is a good bet but I wouldn't do it now for April, because a Priceline car reservation is completely non-refundable/non-changable. What if your plans change, even slightly, between now and then? I'd reserve a car now with a conventional reservation (easy to cancel, you don't even need to give them a credit card!), then consider a Priceline bid for quite a bit lower than the best rate starting about a month before you depart. I don't think you're going to get a better deal bidding Priceline today than waiting a few months.

Note that the taxes on your rental car at PHX may be higher than quoted online - at least that's what I found when I rented a car there in December.

I thought that sounded a little high and checked Dollar -- and it was $428. I haven't rented a car in Phoenix. Are they kidding? I see it's over $150 in silly fees for renting a car there, so that explains the price.

APT CONC RECOV FEE $30.79
FACILITY CHARGE $54.00
COUNTY STADIUM TAX $11.76
STATE TAX $36.55
VEHICLE LICENSE FEE $18.10

The actual car rate was under $20 a day. I think it may be hard to beat that, assuming that Priceline will still have the same $ 150 in add-ons.

Remind me not to go to Phoenix.

Rental car rates like anything else are based on demand. April is probably spring break season, a busy time in Phoenix (when the weather is still not quite 100), maybe with a convention in town part of the time or whatnot. Go to Phoenix at other times and you can rent cars for a song.

In December when I got stranded in Phoenix thanks to America Airlines (long story), I decided to check last-minute car rental rates from my laptop. $17.49 a day with Thrifty! Figure $32 after tax figured in. FYI, the online rate was about half of the walkup rate if you didn't reserve 5 minutes ahead of time.

The rental car facility at PHX is just amazing. All the rental car companies are housed in a single facility, a huge multi-level parking structure full of cars (in December, it was pretty full of cars, hence the cheap rate). Just endless cars in a single building. The building where the rental car desks are seems huge - feels like a separate airline terminal. Quite post-modern feeling.

Apr. 30 to May 12 is time frame for OP; well past spring break and even spring training.
Debi

Andrew, I'm confused. You seem to be saying that the rates were really cheap in December -- $17.49, but that they'll be high in April. Yet the poster is quoting rates of about $2 a day higher. That's all. Not that much difference.

NeoPatrick, she's seeing $400 to $450 per week. At my daily rate (including all taxes/fees) of $32/day, I would have paid $224 per week, but you almost always get a better rate if you rent by the week. Even so, $224 for a week seems a lot lower than $400 per week, doesn't it? Where did you come up with only $2 per day cheaper?

Doh - 2 weeks, never mind! Maybe $400 for two weeks isn't a bad rate after all!

Andrew the rate I brought up from Dollar for the two weeks was $277 or 138.50 a week -- that's $19.79 a day. Only after the taxes and fees did the total reach $ 428 -- but that's for the full two weeks.

I don't think the poster said anything about $ 450 a week, unless I missed something. It was $400 to $450 for the two weeks including all taxes and fees. No?

I can't speak for PHX, but I've had great deals from Hotwire for airport rental car the last few times. The rate I got from Hotwire is even cheaper than Priceline would accept my bid.

But do check Hotwire a few times a day for a few days. The rates sometimes fluctuate a bit.

FWIW, all my Hotwire rentals so far are Hertz rentals.

Rent a car away from the airport and you can save money. PHX airport charges a huge tax on car rentals to pay for sports facilities, etc.

Yes, the PHX car rental taxes are among the highest in the country.

However, I travel to PHX often to see family, and I've never found it to be a better deal to rent offsite. I know this has been recommended by many posters, but each time I've run the numbers for my particular situation, it never made sense.

By the time you factor in the expense of the shuttle (especially if it's for more than one person) or the taxi, together with the extra hassle, it only came down to maybe a $10-$20 difference over a week's time. Maybe I was just lucky and got good car rental deals.

My suggestion is to start checking every single agency website, using any available coupons/discounts, and book a refundable reservation now. Then keep checking back, and adjust accordingly. If you google car rental discounts, you'll find several websites that list coupon codes, or you can use Costco or Entertainment Book codes.

By the way, I'm guessing from your email address that you're Canadian, and you mention that you have collision coverage. If so, I hope you'll check with whichever rental agency you end up with to make sure your coverage is valid in the U.S. You might also check into "loss of use" coverage. Sometimes your credit card will provide these insurances.

Check the rates renting from Hertz on Indian Springs Road. Some people have saved $150 to $200 by taking a $20 cab ride from the airport to this location. Of course the location is not open late into the night like the airport, so it depends on your arrival hour. And on the return, you can book it to return to the airport at no extra charge usually, so that cab ride hassle is only on pickup.

Hi and thanks everyone. You really did give me some ideas. I will book through an agency without giving my credit card. The rates I had were for 2 weeks but through expedia I had to pay full amount now if I book now and I will not do that since travel time is still 3 1/2 months away.
Thanks again. I do appreciate the info and yes I am from Nova Scotia, Canada.
Warren

Keep checking rates as your dates get closer. We are renting a minivan in Phoenix for a week at the end of February and the rate dropped over $100 yesterday.

Check Budget with discount code X443030. That's the one in Entertainment Book.

You have to have the actual coupon from the Entertainment book to get most car discounts, Budget included. [Look on the back of the coupon.]

Debi

In any event, plug the code in and see what you get. It might be worthwhile to purchase the book. Even if it is a break-even number, that will make all the other coupons free. :-)

I don't think any discount code or special is going to get rid of the over $150 in "special fees" on the rental. I think many are missing the point of why the rental is so high.