Have something of a business trip tomorrow, and no longer trust my Jetta. My truck would burn 30 gallons of gas for this trip (600miles I estimate); wife needs her Camry and while I will drive farther I don't think she wants to drive the truck (she did not offer that option while she argued with me to not take the Jetta).
So I tried looking at Hertz and their quote was $141. Looks like Enterprise is similar. I need to pick up at 6am and return at 9pm, that won't work, so 2 days of rental. Close to $70/day.
So fine. Talked myself out of a rental. [Truck would cost $96 in gas, a 30mpg rental would be $64, spend $140 to save thirty bucks and wear/tear on my truck? does not compute.] My question: do they get much cheaper if you rent for a week plus? Sometimes the thought is that one can rent a car if they think their jalopy won't make a trip, or if said jalopy down for a few days for a repair. Seems like a week at $70/day would make two car payments! That sort of money would indeed pay reg&ins on a jalopy that is kept strictly for this purpose (main driver down).
Car Rental
- Thread starter supton
- Start date
- Status
Quote:
My question: do they get much cheaper if you rent for a week plus?
Try Hotwire. You have to prepay and can't cancel or change your reservation, so you need to be certain your schedule won't change. You also don't know what company you'll be getting, but it almost always seems to be Hertz or Alamo.
JHZR2
Staff member
Check a rental location away from an airport, as airport fees and surcharges are crazy.
That said, my travel schedule has me renting a car at BWI in the not too distant future, and for a day I'm paying just under $26 (plus taxes and fees) for reference.
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Check a rental location away from an airport, as airport fees and surcharges are crazy.
Originally Posted By: supton
Have something of a business trip tomorrow, and no longer trust my Jetta. My truck would burn 30 gallons of gas for this trip (600miles I estimate); wife needs her Camry and while I will drive farther I don't think she wants to drive the truck (she did not offer that option while she argued with me to not take the Jetta).
So I tried looking at Hertz and their quote was $141. Looks like Enterprise is similar. I need to pick up at 6am and return at 9pm, that won't work, so 2 days of rental. Close to $70/day.
So fine. Talked myself out of a rental. [Truck would cost $96 in gas, a 30mpg rental would be $64, spend $140 to save thirty bucks and wear/tear on my truck? does not compute.] My question: do they get much cheaper if you rent for a week plus? Sometimes the thought is that one can rent a car if they think their jalopy won't make a trip, or if said jalopy down for a few days for a repair. Seems like a week at $70/day would make two car payments! That sort of money would indeed pay reg&ins on a jalopy that is kept strictly for this purpose (main driver down).
Last edited:
Well, I don't think Concord Airport would drive prices up but Manchester-Boston might. I was checking Concord area though. Going down to Manchester wouldn't be out of the question. Too late to price shop anyhow, was planning on taking my Jetta but last night changed the mind--trip is tomorrow.
It's nice that they have coupons but if you rent because your car is broken then can you count on those coupons?
Originally Posted By: rjundi
Does your company have corporate rates or relationships established?
I rented a Sienna recently and it was $280 for the week at corporate rates but the last 2 days were $50/day. It is cheaper by the week.
People I work with rent Prius at corporate rates on their own dime and use for business and make money on mileage reimbursement.
So many things change in the "services" category. You've got to shop around to know what to buy.
Years ago I'd rent cars from Budget for a recurring 730 mile weekend trip.
They had the best rates.
The agent listened and always granted me 1,000 free miles.
I'd return the car full and in spotless condition and always got free upgrades to full sized cars.
At that time it seemed that Enterprise only wanted to rent to people who's cars were in the shop for collision repairs. I remember trying several Enterprise locations.
Don't overlook your AAA or AARP discounts. Every little bit helps.
There's an independent rental company a mile from me which charges "$2 more" but they always have cars and light trucks available. Kira
How unreliable is your jetta that a 600 mile drive is worrisome?
As for the truck, go 65 instead of 70...enjoy the comforts of your own vehicle.
Curious about this jetta though...
Gotta ask? Don't they reimburse you for mileage you incur on your own vehicle??????
I used to travel a lot for work so I kept my 95 Civic with 250k miles. Getting $0.40/mile then getting 38MPG with fuel <$2.0 gallon was money in my pocket.
If I'm not comfortable with the reliability of my vehicles, I either fix them or sell them. Why keep the Jetta if you can't/won't use it?
Originally Posted By: SuzukiGoat
How unreliable is your jetta that a 600 mile drive is worrisome?
As for the truck, go 65 instead of 70...enjoy the comforts of your own vehicle.
Curious about this jetta though...
Originally Posted By: BowNisPar
If I'm not comfortable with the reliability of my vehicles, I either fix them or sell them. Why keep the Jetta if you can't/won't use it?
Originally Posted By: rjundi
Gotta ask? Don't they reimburse you for mileage you incur on your own vehicle??????
I used to travel a lot for work so I kept my 95 Civic with 250k miles. Getting $0.40/mile then getting 38MPG with fuel <$2.0 gallon was money in my pocket.
Originally Posted By: BowNisPar
If I'm not comfortable with the reliability of my vehicles, I either fix them or sell them. Why keep the Jetta if you can't/won't use it?
Nick1994
$100 site donor 2023
I would just spend the $96 and take the truck. 600 miles isn't that bad. Conveinience is a lot nicer than having to deal with renting a car and getting a ride to the car rental place.
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
I would just spend the $96 and take the truck. 600 miles isn't that bad. Conveinience is a lot nicer than having to deal with renting a car and getting a ride to the car rental place.
It's all supply and demand. You can find it all over the map. I've seen the off-airport locations really cheap without airport fees. I've also seen it where there was probably a huge oversupply at airport location and the rate was as low as $7/day (before fees and taxes). Sometimes you can also try to tweak the timing, but it doesn't always work out. I tried once (didn't make the trip) but the rate went way, way down if I would just extend the return date one day. I wasn't sure what would happen if I returned early. I've heard of some that will revert to a higher rate if it's returned early. So you can't really know until you look.
Enterprise has a weekend $9.99 daily special for its non-airport locations. However, that's weekend and
I've also never prepaid for a rental car. I like the flexibility of being able to cancel or taking a better rate if I can find one. The last time I reserved a rental car we got to the destination late and I figured I'd just cancel. I booked through Priceline, but not prepaid. I called Priceline and they said they couldn't cancel since it was hours after the assigned pickup time. I called the rental agency, and they said they couldn't cancel and that I didn't need to worry about it since there was no penalty. I just made a reservation for the next morning and get $14/day at the airport. It did include some airport fees, but the Hertz operating out of our hotel (the only car rental in the neighborhood) wanted $70/day plus fee. My total rental for 1 day was less than $23.
- Status
