Car rental - general question
 

I am looking into booking car hire for two weeks in Florida. I have started looking at the websites of the usual companies (Dollar, Avis, Hertz etc).

The sites all seem to have the option of inputting a Discount or Promotion Code. I have registered to receive e-mail offers where I can.

I was wondering if these codes really offer genuine discounts from the standard price and how I go about getting one of these codes.

There's more than one way. You might get promotional emails that contain a code, or sometimes you get offers when you book a flight or a hotel. I don't know if there's any way you can go out and "get" a promotional code, but others might know something about it.

Your best rate will be through Hotwire.com or Priceline.com even better than the promotional codes and/or discounts.

Now granted I haven't tried this site, but I bookmarked it after somebody else on this message board said they had good luck with them.

http://www.pcpages.com/rentalcodes/

We also have used smarterliving.com for some discounts.
Hope one of them works for you!

Dave, as far as I know these promotion codes appear in ads, inserts with your credit card bills, from associations like AAA, AARP, credit unions, with fflyer programs etc. I think they can genuinely lower prices, however my experience is Fla. is loaded with options because there are so many rental cos. Have you also looked at Budget, Econocar etc.? Also, I've found if it works for you, renting from a location that's not at an airport can save $ sometimes (because there are airport charges) but you have to factor in cost of cabs or other transport to/from location.

I would try calling 800# of some of the cos. you're considering & speaking to a live person who may be able to lead you to the best discount as opposed to trying to ferret it out yourself online.

Have you tried comparing prices on Expedia vs individual webs?

Look at the sale promotions on the website as well. Those often have a PC listed at the bottom which you have to enter to get that rate online. If you are coming from UK, you may find that some of those promotions exclude you, though.

Many thanks for all the information, this looks really useful.

Ccolor - those websites contain lots of codes and they seem up-to-date so I'll see if they work.

Mclaurie - I'll try Econocar and see what they come up with, I've never heard of them before. And thanks for the "off airport" tip. This time there'll be five of us so for convenience will probably stick with the airport ones unless there's a big difference.

I am picking up the car in Orlando and dropping it off in Miami or Key West so I don't think I can use Priceline/Hotwire.

Before I asked my first question, Dollar looked to be a lot cheaper than the other sites I tried. This was true for my previous trips to the US as well when I hired a car. Is this just chance or are they typically one of the cheaper companies?

Thanks again to you all for your replies.

Dave, I don't have enough experience to be able to answer your last question about Dollar but I think it depends on lots of variables like size of car, drop off charges etc.

I just did a quick search for you on Expedia. I used the dates July 14-28, pick up at Orlando Intl airport, drop off at Miami Intl. Chose a standard size car (for 5 of you-maybe you want bigger?) and the cheapest rate was from THRIFTY at around $173/wk-don't know what insurance that included. Have you tried Thrifty? Well known & as far as I know, reliable. Next cheapest was Avis. Dollar was 3rd or 4th.

Thanks again Mclaurie.

I just tried the US Expedia website (not 100% sure I could use the US one, since there is a UK equivalent but it's enough to give me an idea). I input the dates (09/20-10/04) and selected a Minivan and it came up with Dollar being the best at just over $220, the same as the Dollar website.

I will certainly have a look at Thrifty so thank you for mentioning that one as well.

Maybe Dollar have the best rates for Minivans or something but I don't know much about it to even speculate.

I have had good luck on occasion with www.bnm.com. The site offers direct links to major rental car companies, with discount codes already entered for you. Sometimes they beat Expedia by a LOT, other times, they don't...good luck!

I registered just so I could post this warning: The post dated 6/12/03 by ccolor suggests visiting http://www.pcpages.com/rentalcodes/
The site does have a decent database of codes, but visit ONLY if your computer is properly protected. The site tries to download a file named intdel.exe, which is SPYWARE. At a minimum, you should have ZoneAlarm (free firewall) to prevent transmissions should it download. To prevent download, a download manager (like Download Accelerator) will notify you before download if it is set up properly. This is not a virus, so anti-virus software will probably not protect you. If you aren't protected, do not use that site. The free service may be a ruse just to install their spyware. For more info, search the internet for that filename, and always surf safely. Happy travels.

Thanks for registering to give us good advice !

I crossed that website off my list !

Ooops, so sorry folks! I had never heard the Spyware stuff about the website I suggested, so I certainly do apologize.
I run Ad-aware on my computer monthly to rid us of those pesky critters and consequently keep them to a minimum.
Thanks for jumping in, Sac_CA!