Discounted Rental Car?
 

Been long time since I had to rent car. Boy are they $$$$ Will be flying into Boston Logan Fri morning in Aug, need medium sedan for 3 nights, leaving Mon afternoon. Going to RI. To us, car is basic transpotation. Want cheapest rental place. Is Priceline any good? Just read Hotwire horror stories. Any other suggestions? Thanks!

I have used Priceline's "Name Your Own Price" for rental cars numerous times without any problems at all. The only things I don't like are having to pay immediately once the bid is accepted, unlike upon return like with a conventional rental and not getting any loyalty points.

That said, it is way too early to do Priceline for an August rental.

If you are a member of Costco, check their rates, also AAA and Southwest.com--I've gotten good prices at all of those. If possible, find a cancellable rate and continue to check for deals or try Priceline as your trip gets closer; if you are flying Southwest, sometimes they will email you a week or two before your flight with a rental car special.

How many are the "us"? Depending on where you are going in Rhode Island, you might do better taking a taxi to the Back Bay or Boston South Amtrak station and taking a Northeast Regional.
Can't you fly to RI from wherever you fly from?

Massachusetts car insurance rates are among the highest in the country. And the costs are passed on to you. Plus, getting rental cars at the airport always means you take a beating because local governments tax h-ll out of those.

Off airport pickup is usually cheaper.
Maybe try Enterprise, who will pick you up, from say South Station on the free silver line from the airport. Their office is a few minutes north in Somerville, just off rte 93.

We've also had good luck using Priceline in multiple locations.

I would not click on that nikkinfleming commercial spam for $1000. You have no idea what will happen when you do. Besides, commercial posts are not permitted here.

Logan car rental fees are as high as any in the country owing to visitors having to pay the cost of the Convention Center and airport improvements.

Costco is best. You will save the annual membership fee with two days rental.

I like the idea of multiple Priceline bids, though Priceline gives you less control. You will have to wait until July, preferably no more than two weeks before your trip, and you don't get to choose the company, though they are as fine as you booking direct, just cheaper.

If you are going to RI and can fly Southwest, I would fly to Providence and not go through Logan at all. If you are coming from NY-NJ, Amtrak works well for RI.

Otherwise, you may just have to bite the bullet.

Do you need a car in Boston? Why?

Take the train to RI and rent the car there.

I just checked Alamo. For 3-day weekend in August from Logan $276; from downtown Boston $244; from Providence $211. All expensive - Alamo gives you 10% off if you register for their program (free) and you can get it a bit cheaper if you prepay.

Problem with renting off-airport. A cab to downtown Boston is going to eat up the savings. Public transit RT for 2 people is about $10. Not worth it to save a few dollars. Public transit RT to Providence would likely negate the savings - and for a 3-day weekend would be a pain. So there do not appear to be any real savings by altering pickup/dropoff site

The most convenient off-aiport rentals are at 270 Atlantic Ave. where there is Avis, Budget, Alamo, and National, I think. It is a short walk from the Aquarium stop on the Blue Line. (Check their hours.)

So you would take the free MBTA shuttle bus from your terminal to Airport Station and ride two stops to Aquarium. Cost will in August will be $2.75 per person.

Costco. I saved a bundle with them last time I rented a car.

We checked airfare from Hartford, Providence & Boston on Southwest, For 2 tickets - $700, $735, and $525. So now you get why were flying to Boston. We are going to a beach hotel not served by public transportation and want to drive to see Newport and have the freedom of coming and going at leisure.

Will look into cancellable reservation (Costco?), Southwest deal or possibly Priceline. Thanks!

If you join the frequent renter program (of virtually any company) they will email you discount coupons.

We rent a car for a month each year in Hawaii. In our experience, car rental prices vary wildly. Check once a week until you get the price you want. On our most recent trip, the first price we found was over $2000 for the month. We kept checking - Costco was often the best price. But in the end a direct rental from Hertz (We are Hertz Gold members) was by far the cheapest - about $600 for the month.

good luck!

FWIW - you can easily take a train to Providence and back and rent a car there. Train goes and comes @ South Station, which has a bus directly to Logan. Consider it.

We will be renting a car in August for a week from Logan. Checking right now on both Expedia and Costco, the prices are very similar. Will probably just bite the bullet rather than monkey around with off site transportation. This is supposed to be a vacation.

Check www.rentalcars.com for Boston. We found a good deal using this website; we have used them before.

An update - I checked with my company's travel dept to see if they had "deals" they extend to employees - its actually on our Associate portal. This one little code with Enterprise is going to save me a whopping 66% off daily rate for car from BOS. Lots of $$ saved!!

Tip for those who might have something similar available to them, worth spending a few key strokes to find this.Often, a large company will extend to other family members as well.

Every cent saved is more dollars for travel!!