nina

Hi!

I have been checking rental car prices for 10/18/02-10/21/02 picking up and dropping off at RDU. The rates are very high!

Any suggestions of a reasonable rental car company or a way to get a deal on a rental car?

Any help is appreciated.

Don

You might try the Enterprise Rent-A-Car at 9005 Glenwood Avenue. Using pick-up and dropoff times of noon in my search, they appear to have economy cars available there for as little as $9.99/day (weekend special), and larger cars for $16.99-$24.99/day. This is a lot less than Enterprise's RDU airport location, and also a lot less than what shows up on an Expedia search of other agencies.

Enterprise might even pick you up at the airport, although maybe they won't since they have an airport location. This is the closest Enterprise location to RDU (other than the on-site one), so even paying for a cab each way would likely be much better than paying the astronomical costs of an on-site RDU rental.

Enterprise's Web site is www.enterprise.com. Hope this helps!

ncgrrl

There is a local company called Triangle Rent-a-car. I don't know their rates, phone number, or web address. Gee, how helpful was that. Cabs are very expensive from RDU. A couple of years ago the rates were upped to about $35 one way from RDU into Chapel Hill.

I've had problems with the local Enterprise office (not Raleigh though) and would not recommend them.

Don

For what it's worth, Mapquest indicates the drive from RDU to Enterprise's Glenwood Ave location is 6.43 miles, while the RDU-Chapel Hill (Franklin Street) mileage is 17+ miles. So while a couple of cab rides might be relatively pricey and is a little bit of a hassle, it'd still probably save money over an on-site airport rental. (Expedia showed prices starting at over $40/day, as compared to $16.99 for a similar-sized Glenwood Ave-Enterprise car.)

Don't know the nature of Ncgrrl's problem with the local Enterprise office, but that's certainly worth noting. I've used one here in Washington state several times without any problem.

Anyway, hope this helps...

Gretchen

Bid on Priceline. Go to biddingfortravel.com for recent ideas about what may be a good price but I find that it usually doesn't help too much in out of the way places. I usually go to Hotwire and get their best price (you don't have to take it)--they give you the total price with all taxes and surcharges added in which you may not get on expedia, etc. Then start bidding on Priceline.
All that said, the prices may be up because of a homecoming or special week-end at one or more of 3 different huge universities, all served by RDU.
In that case you are really stuck.

carolina girl

I live exactly eight miles from the airport, and the cab ride is always 25-35 dollars. Depending on traffic. It is so much easier to just rent on site at the airport.