Retired1

I am flying into Miami in a couple of weeks. In searching for car rental prices, I accidentally entered the wrong date and ended up finding out something that I wanted to verify with you guys:
On normal week days (not holidays, weekends, etc), it seems as though the longer you wait to rent, the cheaper the rates are. Is that generally true? I wouldn't be comfortable waiting more than 5 days until the trip, but on Feb 3rd I accidentally entered a rental date of something like the 6th and got very low prices on HOTWIRE. (Do you guys still like Hotwire?)
I realize I run the risk of not having a car by waiting, but in a place the size of Miami, surely if the airport rentals are out, I can go off-site (which is generally cheaper anyhow) and find something somewhere. Right? And like I mentioned, would like to have something rented by the 14th which is 6 days from when we leave.
There are only two of us traveling very light. The ultimate destination is the Upper Keys. We are not particular in what we want for a car, so I feel this leaves us open to be able to rent anything within the last week before flight.
What do you all think about this plan to wait to rent the car?

I also found out some things by reading here and THANK YOU, so I want to return the favor with what I have done already to prep for the rental.
1. I got the insurance thru American Express. Wonderful program. A flat fee for each TIME you rent, not each DAY you rent. For a 42 day period. I had it vetted by my insurance agent and he loved it. If you have any Am Ex card, you can enroll in it. Two different levels, the max is around $25 charged one time each time you rent the car. You have to use the Am Ex card to pay for the rental of course and that is what causes the Am Ex insurance to kick in each time you rent. Then it supposedly stops until your next rental.
2. Liability is covered under my own auto insurance / umbrella policy.
3. I am a member of Good Sam (similar to AAA) and added rental/loaner car roadside assistance for a nominal fee. I would imagine AAA would have the same thing available.
Thanks for any help again.

Dukey1

I suspect that for an airport like MIA and also nearby Fort Lauderdale there may very well be a connection with car rental rates and

conventions that might be in the area
cruise ship schedules
time of year

as to whether or not to use your credit card to cover insurance, obviously that depends on whether or not the credit card is the PRIMARY (i.e., after your own) underwriter or the secondary one.

There are actually some people who would prefer that their own insurance company not be involved in any way whatsoever with a possible claim regarding a rental vehicle. I realize that for many the insurance offered by the rental car companies is considered to be a "rip off." I also know that those companies love to charge so-called "loss of use" fees if there is an accident/damage to the vehicle.

It is complicated, admittedly and as usual one answer is not THE answer for everybody.

Dukey1

Sorry, correction to the above..if your CC insurance is PRIMARY (BEFORE your own) vs. secondary (AFTER your own).

Dukey1

And I am sure you already know that renting that same car in downtown MIA is going to be cheaper and it can still be returned to the airport or anywhere else in Florida without a drop off fee.

Retired1

When you enroll in the Am Ex program, it becomes your PRIMARY insurance. Also, to be clear, you are not using your credit card to cover the insurance. You have to actually enroll in the program and in addition to that, use your Am Ex to pay for the car, which starts the coverage. The usual insurance coverage by simply using your credit card is not the same as this.
Thanks for the ideas about conventions, etc. I'm going to risk it one more week and then book, for better or worse! And also thanks for mentioning picking up outside the airport and returning inside....so CLEVER!

doug_stallings

Could I recommend simply reserving a car now to ensure that you have one that can be cancelled without penalty just in case something better does not come along? Then, using Hotwire, you can make another last-minute reservation and get a better deal if one is available. My experience is that rates for cars flucuate and can go both up and down as you approach the date of travel, depending on demand. It's not simply a matter of getting cheaper.

FYI: I am not really seeing that prices are that different on or off the airport, so definitely price this, but it may not be worth the trouble if you want to pick up the car at the airport on arrival.

Retired1

Doug...thank you very much. I'm going to take your advice and book now with someone that won't penalize for cancellation. I too didn't see any remarkable diff in price off site, so I'm def picking up at airport.