I have never used Expedia or any other 3rd party booking. I see that the rental car I want is $200 cheaper for the week than through Hertz so I'm tempted to give them a try. My question is are there fees that I'm not seeing that will get tacked on. Rental cars in general have so many added taxes,etc but are there even additional ones not covered in the Expedia price?

what you should do is query on expedia then go to the actual home sites of the car companies it lists as available at the location you are renting.

the car company sites have always met that price and there is no service charge. Many people on this board also recommend priceline, i've never done it but the next time i rent i will.

I have found that consisitantly all the "name" car companies have been goood service provieders. not just hertz, but dollar, budget thrifty avis and alamo. hertz is ALWAYS very expensive.

check out the others. not sure where you are renting. for example, in phoenix, alamo usu. has best price. budget was best for me in denver. avis in kalispell montana. etc.
good luck

try Thrifty if your in florida.just got back to the uk from miami.lovely clean cars and excellent rates

I've booked cars thru Expedia often and agree that I always check the rental company's site to compare prices first. I usually get a lower rate with Expedia and have never had any additional charges at the rental site. My bottom line price has always been what was quoted on Expedia, taxes and extras included.

statia, wow. maybe it's the desdinations i am going to? i check expedia, travelocity and orbitz. I realized that i add an aaa discount code although most times the screen comes up that the discount is not available at that location or some other reason . that's probably what makes the 10 to 20 dollar difference

I do not use Expedia anymore. In two cases, one with plane tickets and one with a hotel reservation, I was unable to get any relief from changes or cancellations, where I would have (easily) if I had booked directly with the airline or the hotel company.
It's just not worth it to save the few dollars that you do.

justme, it could possibly be the destinations. I typically rent with Dollar in Houston and Miami thru Expedia (with no additional discounts) and have always found Expedia to be cheaper than booking direct.

I can also agree with Donna that some of their prices for cars, hotels, and airfare are non-refundable (some, but not all) and I make sure that there is no chance of a change on anything I book with them which is non-refundable. I've honestly only seen hotel rooms as occassionally being pre-paid and non-refundable myself, but I'm sure there are other fares/prices that are non-refundable, as well.

I've had to change a car booking once and didn't have a problem with it just as long as I followed Expedia's guidelines.

Have you tried Priceline?

Thanks for your advice. I haven't tried Priceline (a little afraid of the unknown, as I am with Expedia). I'm looking for a one-way rental of minivan with pick-up in Phoenix and return in Las Vegas. This limits me greatly in car companies which is why I mentioned Hertz. Justme22, I will definitely take your advice and see whether the car company will match the Expedia price.

Thanks for the tips. Yesterday, I booked a 14 day car rental through Enterprise in Anchorage for the exact amount quoted on Expedia.com.