Car rental: how do I find the best rate?
 

We want to rent a mini van for a week. We're open to any car rental agency. How can I be sure we're finding the lowest rate? Unlimited miles, 1 driver, USA only, credit card rental insurance, AAA member, on line rental--all these apply.

I use travelocity.com and then book directly with the cheapest company's web site. I'd only go to another reservation website (expedia, etc.) if the rates on travelocity seemed unreasonably high.

try travelzoo--orbitz.com daily or maybe a few times during the day...and web sites for all rental cars...they change daily if not many times during the day.....or hotwire too

Since rental car companies print out so many types of coupons and have so many deals with various companies, you cannot be sure you're finding the lowest rate.

Having said that, start with finding the rates from various sites (as mentioned by the above replies) to see which one or two companies have the best rate for you. Then, you go through flyers or websites of organizations you have membership or affiliations to see if you can find a coupon code for that.

That includes airline FF programs, credit cards, AAA (since you're a paid member), Costco, etc...

Many times those coupons are for week-long rentals, so that may apply to you. But there are exceptions.

For example, I recently booked a car from Hertz. The regular rate from Hertz (and all the travel sites) are the same, and it's only for a 3-day weekend, so many codes don't work. However, from continental.com I see a link for Hertz that eventually gives me 10% off.

But am I sure that's the absolutely cheapest rate I can get? No.

If you can find those coupons, they generally have some pretty good deals. I've discovered that the best way is to just go to each agencies website directly and put in your dates and see how much they are. Some agencies have pretty good rates if you book online. From my experience, Budget and Alamo have the best rates. Enterprise isn't bad. I've never had any luck with Hertz or Avis as far as good rates.

Another tip is try checking the rates at the agency's location at the airport nearest to you. Airport locations generally better rates than neighborhood locations, but not always.

This last time I went to sidestep's search engine and it listed a great, lower than normal rate from Budget. From there it directed me to Budget's website.

Try rentalcodes.com. It appears to be working again. It lists all the major company's promotional codes that you can use on that company's site, sometimes to get a great deal.

-Bill