manny

We will need to rent a car next week while in Orlando and Ft. Meyers. There always seems to be misc. surprises and charges when I rent a car. My AAA agent and others had nightmare stories about renting a car by internet; hidden charges, low service etc.The agent obviously gains if I rent the car fromhim. The other people with stories also were agents.Having said that, I dont know if I completely trust them- but I also want to get hung-up at the airport because I didnt ariive with a completed, signed contract. Has anybody rented via internet? Do you have good- or bad stories? Please advise, thank you in advance.

manny

In my original message I say ... I want to get hung up in the airport. Obviously I DONT want to get hung up!

Brian in Atlanta

I have rented numerous cars on the internet, though I have only rented directly - through the rental car company's web site, not through a travel web site like Travelocity. I have used Dollar, Thrifty and Hertz in this fashion and never had a problem, even without reconfirming.
There are always extra charges at the rental counter that aren't in the quoted price (taxes, airport surcharges, impact fees, etc.) whether or not you reserve it on the internet. I always assume that these extras will total 20-25% of the daily rate.
Making a reservation over the internet is easy and I can't imagine why I would ever use a travel agent for this again.

Brian in Atlanta

One hitch you may have is if you are dropping the car off at a different airport from where you picked it up. Not all rental car web sites can handle that situation.

Bob Brown

I always check the price on Internet first, if I am able to because some companies don't cooperate webwise.
After I see a good price, I call on the toll free number to conclude the deal.
And always have a confirmation number!
I find that the biggies like Hertz and Avis have competitve prices and their handling of the rental is usually straight foward. I may get 3 or 4 quotes at a specific location before deciding which to take. But there are always those taxes.

Linda

Try www.frommers.com & click on Lowest Fares icon..you will have to register, but you can then check rates for rental agencies w/o making rez...you have the option of saying if you want to drop off different place, etc. Prices are better there than car rental web pages, at least for my destination & size car. You can have a bad experience renting a car in person...most people do not.

Owen O'Neill

Florida in particular (in my experience) has some of the highest rental car add-on fees and surcharges of any state. None of the travel agents or phone reservations systems quote these fees so the internet can't be blamed. The advice regarding doing a telephone confirmation and getting a confirmation number is a good idea. I always do this if I rent a hotel room over the net. Also please note that if you use a large travel agency (one that is national and has bulk purchasing power), it's often possible to get a much better rate on rental cars through them provided you are buying at least one other service from them (e.g. car and hotel or car and airfare). I went to CA a few years ago and Liberty Travel (I'm sure there are other large firms like this) was $8 per ticket higher for the airfare but save me $40 per week on the rental car (and believe me - I'd already shopped around). It's worth getting a quote.

Kathy

A year ago I found the best rate on the Internet. It was cheaper than booking by phone. Last year I found a cheaper rate by calling several car rental agents and asking for their best rate. AAA or AARP discounts are usually the best.