I always hate renting a car in Denver because it's soooo expensive and there never seem to be any "deals". Maybe I'm the last person on the planet to figure it out, but I just saved my sister a ton of money on her rental.

She'll need a minivan for 11 days around Labor Day and didn't realize she would be there at the same time as the Dem convention. Quotes were about $1500. Horrified, I spent several hours working on it for her.

I finally found that the biggest expense is simply picking up the car at the airport. With that in mind I cut the rate in half.

All I did was have her pick up in Lakewood and return at the airport. Cab to Lakewood is about $60. Other outlying pickup locations like Boulder returned similar savings.

The new rental rate: $721---less than half what it would be if she picked up at the airport. There is apparently NO penalty from dropping at the airport, just for picking up. I ran the numbers for p/up and return at the Lakewood location -- it was the same as dropping it at the airport.

This probably only works for longer, more expensive rentals. But I thought I'd pass it along for those who may suffer sticker shock like I did!

Hi JeanneB -

I just discovered this myself when looking online for a Denver rental last week.

Finally booked a car at a rental depot four miles from our hotel - we plan to take the SuperShuttle from the airport to the car depot for about $9 each.

I'll be in Denver for three weeks next month and car rentals were running $1,600-2,000 from DIA.

Booked the same type of car from the same rental company for under $700 from an off-airport site.

Crazy.

Didn't realize you could return at the airport for the same $ though - will have to take a look at that.

I forgot to mention the inexpensive shuttle alternative. They'll have luggage and golf bags so will use a cab or car service.

Funny, it probably won't even cost them any extra time. They avoid waiting for the agency shuttle to take them to stand in line at the airport rental office (remember, it's DNC convention week!). They'll just hop in the first cab and probably be settled in their car no later than if they'd picked up at the airport. AND they'll already be 30 minutes closer to their westward destination.

Now, if only we could find them a hotel near Golden that's not filled up with "super delegates"!

You did a good job at a difficult time, but it really IS the time. I rent cars in Denver often and have usually come up with very acceptable rates by shopping on Hotwire first to get the taxes, etc., and then bidding on PL. There have often been posts about getting the rental in Broomfield, or as you did, in Lakewood. Your instance is obviously worth it, but I have never found it to be worth going off DIA, even with the extra charges.
Between Labor Day and the convention, it is a market for the car rental folks.
And indeed they are on their way to Golden!

My rental is from July 18 - August 11. Something going in then too? (Rates were double at DIA)

Gretchen:
As I said above, I believe this strategy may only pay off in higher cost rentals: longer term or---in my sister's case---larger vehicle. I don't know where the break point would be, but it may not be worth it for a week's rental on a compact.

We're meeting my sis later the next week and only need to rent an economy car for 3 days. I'll p/up and drop off at the airport.

I've gotten a good rate in ski season on a mini-van, and even a 4WD SUV. On a holiday week-end. You just have to start early sometimes.
As for the other poster's question, the beginning of August is the last gasp of summer vacation I think. Last year we were going to Denver and never could get a decent air fare or FF miles for the time we needed. And we have travelled to CO in August other times, and noticed it was peak time for family travel.

For Meln8 Double "what". I looked on Travelocity and got a quick number of $1800 for a full size car. Your rental is for 2 1/2 weeks. What sites have you looked at?

Hi Gretchen -

I looked at several rental car agency sites before booking (Alamo, Thrifty, Avis, Budget, etc). Started with a pick-up/drop off at DIA and got rates from $1,600-2,000+.

After I recovered from shock, I did a search for off-airport locations and got my current rate of $677 (24 day rental, intermediate car) at Budget, which incidentally, quoted $1,600 for the same dates picking up at DIA.

Since I read Jeanne's post, I checked Budget again, picking up at the off airport location in Aurora, and returning to DIA. The difference was only $38!

Just out of curiosity - is Travelocity only valid for US residents? I ask, because I live outside the US and have run into deals for "US residents only" on some booking sites.

I just used Mel's dates for a standard or full size car. Ran them through Carrentals-dot-com, Advantage, and Budget.

Typical cost for airport p/up and return was more than $1600. Picking up in Aurora brought the rate down to under $900. Just about half.

Not to say he couldn't do better. I just did some quick comparisons.

Sorry, didn't see your post before I posted virtually the same information.

Have a nice trip! I'll be out there right behind you....escaping the horrible heat down here on the Gulf Coast. (I just hope the heat is the worst thing we have to worry about this summer! Fingers crossed.)

Actually, he's a she.

Forgot to thank you Jeanne for getting me to look at a DIA drop-off in the first place. Appreciate the tip.

And I'll be escaping the horrible heat and humidity of Indonesia.

Enjoy CO (my home state).

You should use Priceline and bid on your car. People are getting cars for $10 per day in Denver.

First learn how to do it at bidding for travel. People post their winning bids there that they have gotton them on priceline.

I got all of my 3 star hotels for under $60 for my trip to Colorado.

I am waiting to rent my car next month.

Thanks cruiser59 - I'll take a look.

Is this deal only for Denver?

A lot of times, its cheaper to rent from a non-airport site, as the taxes can be significantly higher at many airports.

There was a thread here (quite a while back) with comparison of taxes at various airports.

Never hurts to shop around!

No this deal is for everywhere.

Just a word to the wise. Anything is possible at any given time, but Cruiser is promising a LOT. Sometimes it happens, ans somethimes it doesn't.

Cruiser:

Hope you get your $10 rental car! Note that we were bidding on a minivan AND will be there during the convention.

I've used bidding for travel/priceline before, but it doesn't seem likely there will be any deals offered in Denver that week.

We're still trying to find hotel rooms within a reasonable drive.