Car rentals have gotten so expensive. Does anyone know if it is less expensive to rent away from the airport? any suggestions for where?

You haven't provided much information about when you are going or where you are staying. Try Hotwire.

Last summer we rented a car in Denver and found it MUCH cheaper to pick up the car at a hotel away from the airport. Of course, then you need to factor in the cost of getting to and from the airport and see if you save any real money.

I too am considering renting a car outside the Denver airport due to costs; that means getting from the airport to the downtown hotel. But I notice Enterprise offers delivery. Only problem is that off airport rental facilities seem to be closed on Sundays. Any suggestions on how to get around that?

Hi luv2cthings: arriving denver on a tues, staying somewhere downtown, driving to santa fe, back to denver, staying at an airport hotel a week later.

I saved a ton by renting off airport. I think it was Budget - definitely wasn't Enterprise. We took the Super Shuttle to our hotel the day we arrived. I'd arranged for the rental agency to collect us the following morning and they took us to the car rental depot to do the paperwork. We returned the car to the airport. Paid half of what the same company wanted for a rental at the airport. Did a similar thing in PHX a few months back. Airport taxes are insane.

I suggest looking on Hotwire for your dates and then bidding on Priceline. Since you are renting for a week, you might do very well.

Okay, well Denver is WAY expensive! I need a car for just a little over 24 hours and it's going to cost more than the plane ticket! Going to try Priceline and keep my fingers crossed! Sheesh!

musicfan and suite7, please report back on your rental experience. I am going to DEN at the end of next month and will leave directly from the airport on a road trip. I was stunned at the car rental prices and would be very interested in your experience.

Will do...it's looking more and more like it will be Priceline for me. I am hoping to try for it this weekend; not particularly looking forward to it, though.

We've had very good luck using Priceline for rental cars--they only use the big five agencies, so there's no risk of getting stuck with a beater from Rent-A-Wreck.

Question for anyone w/experience with this...

My Priceline bids continue to get rejected, so in checking their site I noticed their rates for rental cars (NOT the "name your price" part of the site, but the other that lists the actual rental agencies), so I decided to get a little more info and went directly to the company websites for National, which referred me to Enterprise, which referred me to Alamo...all are sold out of cars for that rental period. Sure enough, when I returned to the PL site and tried to rent the cars whose rates I had been shown, they all came back as "N/A."

My question...should I continue to attempt a PL bid or just get a car wherever I can and not worry (within reason) about the cost?

musicfan, although I continue to hope there will be a price break along the way (or you will post great news about a winning bid), I have reserved a car just in case. I share your frustration.

Reserve any car you can get now and keep looking for a better rate. If you reserve through Avis or many other companies, you don't even have to use a credit card to secure your reservation.

Okay, for anyone interested in how this played out, I finally did a successful Priceline bid late this afternoon...$44/day for a "standard" car with Avis. Considering the prices I had seen, and the apparent demand for that time period, I think it's a decent deal so I am pleased. It's probably about a 47% discount, and at least the 29-hour car rental WON'T cost more than the plane ticket!

I had a AAA coupon code for Hertz, but you had to pre-pay in full at the time of booking to get it, and even that was $15/day more. Not a LOT, but something...a psychological victory anyway.

Thanks to everyone for their input.

Glad you got it. It must be the timing. When ARE you going?

Oh, sorry...it's a week from tomorrow, Friday, September 4. I just need the car from Friday at 10 until 3 on Saturday.