MarciaK

I will be traveling from Phoenix to Las Vegas from Oct 4 to Oct 10. Any suggestions on good deals for rental cars? I will need to pick up the car at the airport in Phoenix. How far in advance do I need to do this? I need a full-size car so that my husband's wheel chair will fit in the trunk.
MarciaK

clarkgriswold

Yikes. Phoenix is one of those horrible airports that adds on taxes and fees of 40 percent to the cost of the rental! But I suppose with a wheelchair you wouldn't want to taxi to a downtown rental location.

I would book now with Hertz (discount for AAA or AARP members), and check later for specials.
You can also send an email to [email protected], they will tell you the current lowest rate and will email you later when the rates go down (if they do).

(Actually it's cheaper to fly to Las Vegas & rent there than to rent a car & drive.)

MarciaK

Thanks for the info. We are flying into Phoenix from Florida and already have our tickets, so we can't change that now. BUt, renting a car downtown is not out of the question. Is there really a difference? Are all those taxes just at the airport? If so, do you have any idea how much a taxi trip downtown would run us?
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Marcia

Postal

Just for comparison purposes...I am flying from Florida to Tucson this Thursday and renting a car from Dollar at the airport and returning it in Las Vegas two weeks later. This is a compact car. Airport taxes, drop-off charges, and every other tax you can think of totaled $410 for the full two weeks. I scoured the internet for better deals, but even Hertz with my AAA membership was hundreds more.

highbay

We rented a Ford Explorer through Priceline in Phoenix back in January 2002 for $25 a day. We planned the trip well in advance and started bidding shortly after buying our airline tickets. Patience really did pay off.

clarkgriswold

Priceline doesn't accomodate one-way rentals, does it.

MarciaK, you are dropping the car off in Las Vegas, correct?

MarciaK

Yes, I do have to drop the car at Las Vegas. I was pretty sure Priceline did not do one-way.

clarkgriswold

In Phoenix you will only save about $50 in taxes by renting in the city, once you pay for a cab.

Better idea might be to rent a car for one day only for the one-way trip, dropping it off in Vegas a day later. Then your high one-way rate and tax is only for one day. Return the car to Vegas and then rent something locally for the other 5 days. This will probably save you a good hundred bucks (for the slot machines!).

Also, a mid-size car is usually at a better rate than a full size and has about the same amount of trunk space. Full size cars have good backseat space, but not noticeablly better trunk space. Some websites like Alamo even tell you the square feet of the trunk spaces.

One more thing...Hertz probably has the best one way one day rate from Phoenix to Vegas, especially if you have AAA.

MarciaK

Thanks for all your great help, Clark. We will be spending the week on the road, stopping in Sedona, Grand Canyon, Bryce and Zion before hitting Las Vegas, so we definitely need the car. I do have AAA and noticed that their rate through Hertz is very good. I will probably reserve there since they now have a $20.00 Off special. Do you know if there is any kind of cancellation penalty? I appreciate you letting me know about the trunk space. We really just need the back seat for our suitcases!

Thanks Again!!

joesorce

Hertz does not have a cancellation penalty, but coupons on their website now might not be valid for an October rental.

If I were you I'd book now, but check back in September because rates do change...and they might go down. You can just call with your confirmation number and request a re-booking at the new rate. (Plus if the rates go UP, you will be locked into the lower rate that you booked earlier).

Leona

Phoenix taxes nearly doubled our rental cost last week! We got a good deal through Alamo for a full sized car at $149 for the week; added a 2nd driver & filled it, which totalled about $200. Taxes brought it to $308! They did upgrade us to a premium car, a Maxima.