Liz5959

I am trying to book a car through Hotwire for next week. I have done this many times at this location (PVD) but....the Hotwire website keeps coming up with a list of all the car rental companies and specific prices. They say they won't bill the rental ahead of time. I have never seen the website do that, and I was so mystified that I called them. I was told that it means there are no discounted rates at that airport during the time I need the car and said to check back.

Anyone else have Hotwire act this way before? Do you think they will release cars before next Sunday? Any insights welcome!

milemarker0

what dates are you looking for, I put in a few and got anywhere from $23 to $16 a day for economy....

Liz5959

looking for this Sunday, Aug 26 and return Wed Aug 29. I got the rates you are seeing too, but they're not the "Discount Rates". When you click on the economy rates, it lets you choose between 8 different companies and it lets you make a cancellable reservation using these somewhat cheaper rates. (Which I did, since I can cancel).

Usually, you search, pick a car size, put in your cc and then it gives you a car company and charges your cc. The rates on there are less expensive than the company website rates, but Hotwire's discount rate is usually cheaper still. I wonder, what if anything, is going on in the Providence/Boston area this weekend that all the cars are booked, so there are none for discount rates?

milemarker0

That is weird....I've never seen that.

I guess I originally put in Sunday to Friday...and that still gives the discount rates. (Although not much of a discount) Might be colleges in the area filling back up... Did you try Priceline?

NeoPatrick

What am I missing? I keep hearing over and over again about these super prices on Hotwire and elsewhere, including the above "The rates on there are less expensive than the company website rates, but Hotwire's discount rate is usually cheaper still."

So as usual I entered for a car in Phoenix for a week in October and get the absolute lowest discount rate of $12.95 a day or a total of $160 plus for the smallest size economy car. But I go to Dollar and with absolutely no discount I get a larger (compact) car for the same period for a total of $150.

I've done this many times and so far I can't seem to beat the prices on Dollar's own website for any rental I try to do, including the "discounters" and the various "secretive" codes. What's more I don't have to prepay anything or worry about cancellation if I book direct with Dollar. Again, what I am I missing here?

NeoPatrick

And by the way, I just entered PVD and your dates on Dollar's site and get a total price of $110 which is cheaper than anything I see on the Hotwire site, including discounted rates. Again, am I missing something here, or are you finding better prices than the Dollar ones?

Liz5959

Well...the $114 I got on Dollar's website is the same as on Hotwire. But, I don't really want Dollar at PVD because it is "offsite" which involves waiting and shuttle buses. And, I had a huge fight with them a few years ago, over trying to add DH as an authorized driver. Agent was rude, unpleasant, tore up my contract...It's just left a bad taste.

PVD has 5 car rental companies that are just a short covered walk from the terminal. I'm picking up this car after driving STL to PVD in my DD's car, and then flying back to STL on wednesday. I just figured it was easier to get a car on site, and I should be pooped by then. I also need bigger than "compact" because I'm moving DD's stuff back into the dorms (stored in my parents attic in Rhode Island and a storage locker in Groton, CT, plus whatever is in her car that we bring from STL plus the dorm fridge we have to buy...).

We did do Hotwire for pvd for 2nd week in July. Got Hertz, standard size car, 9 days, $290. I thought that was pretty good. I'm usually please with Hotwire prices, I've just never seen the option of actually booking a cancellable rate through their site and not having option of discount rates.

rkkwan

If there's no "Hotwire Discount Rate", then I'll go book through the rental company's own website. Like Neo says, Hotwire is likely to be a few bucks more, because of the fees they charge.

NeoPatrick

Maybe I've become overly defensive of Dollar which has become my car rental of choice over the past few years, but I'm particularly interested how one could have a "fight" over adding a driver. All their contracts state clearly there is a charge to do that. Unless they told you that you couldn't add a driver even if you paid the charge, what is there possibly to fight about -- unless you wanted it for free? There are some reasons they are the cheapest around -- not giving away extras might be one of those things.

Liz5959

I was picking DH up at the airport, I had already had the car for a week.We stopped by the Dollar counter to see how much it would be to add him. Agent said it will be $x/day. I said I don't think I will do that, as he tore up the original contract (which I had pulled out for him to see). He then would no longer honor the original contract, even though I was not going to change or add anything. After a lot of back and forth, I made them give me the bill up to that point, gave them the keys and told them where I had parked, and marched over to Avis or Hertz counter. Not the most satisfying encounter with Dollar.

NeoPatrick

Uhhmmm. Reading that story, I'm really confused. You left your luggage in the car that you told him where you parked and handed over your keys? Were you ever able to get your luggage back? Or are you in the habit of removing your luggage and taking it into the car rental agency with you when you are just asking about adding a driver. Or does your husband travel with no luggage?

And since he tore up the contract (for two weeks?) after only one week refusing to honor it, I'm really curious what kind of price he decided to charge you for "up to that point".

Just curious how that works.

Liz5959

Sorry that the story seemed confusing. I had already been in Rhode Island for a week. I went, with empty car, to pick DH up at airport so that he could join the family for the following week. I parked in short term parking lot just across from the terminal.

DH arrives with luggage in hand. I said, "let's stop by Dollar and see how much it would be to add you to the car". Then, the story continues as above. I really can't remember what the "new" price was going to be for the following week, it was way more than the original contract and I now had no proof that the original contract had ever existed. I did lose some Newport bridge tokens left in the car, but not enough $ to really get upset about.

Glad you've had good experiences with Dollar, but I haven't and since there are other options, I tend to use those.

Liz5959

Update....since there were no Hotwire discount rates available for my timeframe, I took Patrick's advice and booked a car through Dollar. I decided it had beens years since my argument with them, they were by far the cheapest, and off-site at PVD is not really that far away, and I was by myself, without much luggage.

Dollar rate: Intermediate car, 3 Days at $22.00 per day. Unlimited mileage. Taxes, Surcharges And Fees:
APT CONC RECOV FEE: $7.88
FACILITY USAGE FEE: $12.75
PEAK SURCHARGE: $12.00
STATE TAX: $7.23
VEHICLE LICENSE FEE: $5.20

Total Estimated Charges: $111.06

Seems like a lot of $ for fees, but I think most car rentals are similar. When the agent handed me the contract, it said $171. The explanation was that if the gas tank wasn't filled up upon return, they would charge the extra $60. But my final bill was the estimated $111.

They did hand me a key and point me to a spot with a Kia. The key didn't start that car so I was given keys to a Mazda 6. I do think that was a bit of an upgrade and at least their confusion about which car was in space 12 and which key went to which car worked out in my favor this time.

So, a fairly good experience, and I will try them again. I don't know if you have a complete convert Patrick, but at least I'm a partial convert

NeoPatrick

Interesting. I suppose anyone who rents cars a lot has had at least one bad experience with everyone. It's not unlike getting a rude manager at a hotel or a room that was not up to par and deciding that the entire chain would be like that.

And yes, those fees are horrible, but certainly the norm. One of my favorite ones here is a charge for battery disposal, because in several years if the car needs a new battery they have to pay a couple dollars to dispose of it. Meanwhile over the years they've collected about $200 or more for that little item. And the likelihood that they will ever replace the battery at all before they sell the car is pretty minimal.
Here in Naples there is a Dollar office at the airport, and one less than a quarter mile away. I usually save $10 or so if I enter the code for the off site agency, thanks to not including those airport fees. But who would know that?

smartcookie

check enterprise.com. they have 50% off specials on rentals fri-mon. some months the special is $10 per day over the weekend. great deal.

joesorce

The fees & surcharges that Dollar adds are not "the norm", they are higher than the norm. I have noticed this several times with them. For instance, I just did a rentalcarsdotcom search for a week in Las Vegas. Alamo offers a car for $147 a week and Dollar offers a price of $129 per week. However, with the fees added in, Dollar ends up being $6 more than Alamo.
I've noticed this many times for other cities as well, is not rare it's a tricky sales tactic.

Liz5959

I had reserved a car through Budget @$46.99/day for 3 days. Their taxes and fees were quoted as $48.55. The taxes and fees at Dollar were $45.06 with the $22/day car.

So, at this time, at this location...the fees were similar. Not that they make me very happy, why am I paying $5.20 for their vehicle license fee? I wonder, on average, how many times a car is rented annually? I'm sure they more than recover their license fee!

NeoPatrick

Gee, joesource, I'm not sure about Dollars fees being more. All I really look at is the bottom line price, and every
time I do that I find it lower than Alamo or anyone else.

I just checked again for my week rental in Phoenix.
Dollar's base was $90.10 plus fees of $60.34 for a total of $150.44
Alamo's base was $158.15 plus fees of $87.42 for a total of $ 245.57.
Both of these were for a compact.

Kind of hard to compare when Dollar is so much less but both have facility fee of $27. Dollar charges $10.10 for airport concession fee, while Alamo charges $ 18.08. Alamo charges a "facilty maintenance fee" of $4.62 which Dollar doesn't charge at all. The other fees are higher with Alamo, but only presumably because they are percentages based on a higher base. Dollar can charge me any fee they want, so long as the end price is less than others. So far it seems to be for me.

By the way, looking at rentalcars.com figures are NOT the same as looking directly at Dollar's site. I have yet to find any of those "discounter" sites that match Dollar's own rates. So who knows what THEY are adding to Dollar's figure.

And just for fun I just did a random check on Alamo and on Dollar for the same week in October for a compact in Las Vegas. Alamo's base was $129 and total was $185.
Dollar's base was $106 and total was $161. As usual this was partly because they have an online special -- they also seem to.
I'd still vote for Dollar.

NeoPatrick

By the way, I just went to rentalcars.com and checked out my Phoenix rental. Their rate for Dollar is $21 more than Dollar's on their own site.

This takes me back to my first post above. Why do people do Hotwire and other websites when they are often higher than dealing direct?

rkkwan

Neo - Again, because often, the "Hotwire Discount Rate" is cheaper than Dollar's or other agents. Not all the time, but often enough.

If you want to stick to your Dollar, fine. But they are not always the cheapest way to rent a car.