HOT! $10/Day Weekend Car Rentals from Alamo

Similar to a promotion offered in 2009, Alamo is again renting cars out for just $10/day at participating airport locations in the U.S. and Canada between January 7 and February 8, 2010. Weekend rates begin Thursday's at 9am and end on Monday. There is a requirement to keep the car through at least Saturday night for the discount. Click here for more details & to book.

5 Creative Ideas to Saving on Car Rentals

By Mike Grasso

www.inFLIGHTout.com

Sure we've heard the advice to use websites sites as Kayak which search multiple sites at once, enabling you to easily compare car rental prices. Great recommendation, but if you are a bargain shopper (and who doesn't love a great bargain?), it's only a start. Here are five creative tips to ensure you drive off the lot paying some of the lowest car rental rates available:

• Once you locate the appropriate fare and car rental agency, do a web search for discounts that can be applied to your reservation. Literally hundreds of discount codes are available for use, it’s just a matter of finding the right codes. My favorite site for finding these discounts is fatwallet.com. Be mindful of the terms and conditions with discount codes. For example, if you are using a discount code which nets 25% off to Stanford Alumni, you should be prepared to show your credentials.
• Book early and revisit later. Most car rental agencies in the United States do not require prepayment of rentals. So make your reservation early, then revisit as your rental date nears. This allows you to take advantage of any last minute car rental discounts, but also piece of mind knowing if, instead rates happen to spike up, you still have your original reservation.
• Consider Priceline’s, “name your own price” bidding option. When companies have a surplus of cars on their lot, they turn to Priceline to unload these at discounted prices. I’ve easily saved 40% on identical car rental reservations by using this Priceline feature. Drawbacks: You don’t know which car rental agency you are matched with until your bid is accepted. Also, full prepayment is required, and changes are generally not permitted.
• One more place! Check with Hotwire.com – another favorite of mine. Like Priceline, they do not give you the choice of car rental agencies, but they are upfront about the price of the car rental – often heavily discounted. I’ve found $14.99/day rentals at SFO before.
• Finally, just before you click that purchase button, review your itinerary. If you are flying to Seattle, make sure the quoted car rental is for the airport (assuming that’s where you want to pick up), and not a downtown location. Are your dates and pick-up times correct? Are the discount codes being properly applied to your reservation? Sometimes getting so caught up searching so many sites, it’s easy to overlook the small – yet most important details. Resolving issues early on will help ensure a smoother process when you pick up your car later.

Rent With Dollar, Pay with AMEX, Earn Discount and Travel Magazine

Now through June 30th, receive a 10% discount and 1-year free subscription to Travel and Leisure magazine with a paid Dollar rent-a-car reservation. In order to receive the promo and magazine, you must rent from a Dollar location within the United States and use American Express as your form of payment. Use promo code: AXMG when making your reservation at dollar.com. 

Last Two Months for Alamo $10/Day Car Rental Special

Alamo Car Rental continues to offer amazing $10/day rentals to drivers throughout the United States and Canada. But the final two months of this special are upon us. 

If you have travel plans between now and the end of May 2009, definitely consider the Alamo $10/day car rental special - valid for weekend rentals up to four days in length (pick up as early as Thursday). I've personally used this deal twice, once for a local rental in San Francisco, and for a three day stay in Southern California. Works like a charm! 

How to Bid Better With Priceline

Mike Grasso

If we think back just 10 years ago, our options for finding the best travel deals were fairly limited to travel agents and other good folks "in the know." Fortunately now we have a potpourri of resources, particularly online, that enable us to find a customized travel deals that meets our needs in term of value and taste. One website, a particular favorite of mine, called biddingfortravel.com takes finding great values to the next level. 

As their website states, their primary goal is to promote informed bidding when using Priceline travel products. Many of us are familiar with the popular "name your own price" line pioneered by Priceline many years ago.  Under this method, you can bid for travel (cars, airline tickets, hotels) at a price you feel is reasonable without, at least initially, knowing who the supplier of the travel is. If your bid is accepted, then Priceline congratulates you and confirms the details of your itenerary, including which airline, car rental, or hotel accepted your offer. But how do you know if you over bid? What if that good deal could have been a great deal? This is where biddingfortravel.com comes in. 

Based primarily on user successes with Priceline's bidding system, biddingfortravel.com organizes their site by travel product and region, allowing you to scan recent Priceline bids in order to put in an offer that is likely to get accepted and ensures you don't overbid. So while a rate of $200US for the 5-star Intercontinental De La Ville in Rome would be a bargain (rack rates are over $250), a rate of $154 was accepted by Priceline - as reported on biddingfortravel.com.

Of course if you underbid, Priceline requires you to become more flexible (i.e: larger car, expand hotel search to a different region, etc.) then rebid. If you just want to increase you bid amount, you must wait 24 hours. So a review of the biddingfortravel site before you place a bid helps ensure your offer amount is within reasonable levels. 

$10/Day Car Rentals from Alamo

(Repost) HOT OFFER!

Last week we brought you the Hertz free rental car offer where you receive a free one day car rental - few strings attached. Allegedly you had to pay a few bucks for taxes and fees, but my experience over the weekend resulted in a completely free rental.

Now Alamo has upped the ante by offering $10/day car rentals - up to four days in length, through May 31, 2009. Pickup as early as Thursday, return as late as Monday. For example, I just booked a four day rental for Honolulu, Hawaii, with a total cost of $52, compared to the previous $147 I had reserved. Best of all, like the Hertz offer, pre-payment is not required. This offer is valid in most U.S markets and it's good for both airport and in-city rentals.

Hertz Free Car Rental Offer (Yes, Free)

HOT!  Receive a free weekend day car rental from Hertz. No minimum rental period requirement. You just pay any applicable taxes and fees. Very little fine print on this one! Offer is valid once per month through March 31, 2009 in most U.S markets (excludes Hawai'i, Florida and New York Metro Areas). Some blackout dates may apply. 

Sound too good to be true? That's what I thought too until I priced some cities out:

Orange County: $2.36

San Diego: $2.13

San Francisco: $22.74 ($4.89 downtown!)

Las Vegas: $6.07 

Austin: $11.23

Seattle: $12.24 

Price above is the total cost for a 24-hour rental contract at airport locations, except where noted above. Many car types are eligible for this offer. 

Click here for the offer. 

Advantage Rent A Car To Offer 100% 'Green' Fleet

In a press release Wednesday, Advantage Rent A Car announced they plan on becoming America's first 100% green rental car fleet. "Our single ownership and nimble fleet size provide us the ability to make a commitment to reduce our carbon footprint in the United States," says Denny Hecker, Chairman of Advantage Rent A Car. "Advantage will offer its customers an environmentally friendly rental alternative, while trying to make a difference in the places where our customers live."

Advantage's commitment is to turn 100% of its fleet "green" over the next 24 months subject to manufacturers' assistance and vehicle availability.

Although the company does not currently offer rentals in the San Francisco Bay Area, they do have more than 100 locations throughout the United States.

Avis Rental Cars: 50% off Weekend Internet Rates

I'm usually quite skeptical on "half off" promotions; usually they amount to half off the highest published prices (who pays that?) and result in a discount nothing better than using other discount codes readily available on websites such as fatwallet. But, then I tested this Avis promotion in a couple different markets with much success. Steep discounts resulted, when compared to regular Internet rates and other corporate and group discounts.

The promotion is valid for rentals checked-out no later than June 30th, for weekend rentals of at least 2 days, and at select airport locations only. Click here to check rates.