Car rentals: package with flight or separate??

[Momcpa]

Now that we are starting to think about a little bit of traveling again, I thought I would put this question out there for all of you seasoned travelers:

When renting a car at your flight's destination, do you think it's better/cheaper to add that with your flight's package 'deal' when booking the flight? Or is it better/cheaper/smoother to book it as a separate transaction from the flight?

We belong to a couple organizations that advertise auto rental discounts. I haven't done a "search" comparison yet to see for myself what I can find. Just thought I would ask what your experiences might have been for your travels. I will be doing a comparison for myself and hope to come back here with my results.

I'm looking for both cheaper and less hassle in making my decision. Thanks.

 

[pjm-7]

I use autoslash.com to search for rental car prices. I do a number of trips where I rent a car one way and a train trip the other.

 

[euro]

I always check both options and I don’t think I have ever found booking through the airline to be the best deal I could find. That said it is never the WORST deal either, so I don’t think you’ll leave that much on the table if you do book through the airline. I just don’t see any advantage other than saving a few clicks when booking.

 

[braumeister]

I always check both options and I don’t think I have ever found booking through the airline to be the best deal I could find. That said it is never the WORST deal either, so I don’t think you’ll leave that much on the table if you do book through the airline. I just don’t see any advantage other than saving a few clicks when booking.

Same here.
OTOH, for cities I have never visited before, I have been very happy with hotel reservations made with the airline's package.

 

[Montecfo]

I use autoslash.com to search for rental car prices. I do a number of trips where I rent a car one way and a train trip the other.

Yes great site for one way rentals. Generally best conventional deals I find are costco travel.

Never rented with plane flight as i usually hack fares or use points.

 

[Bamaman]

I'll sometimes check the rate quoted when referred by the airline's website. Then I'll use that as a baseline to check around on other internet sources.

I have a fleet corporate card with Hertz from back in my MegaCorp days. It's saved me a lot of money in the past. But now that Hertz has had bankruptcy problems, their rental rates have been very high.

We're going to fly into Las Vegas 5/31 and hit some national parks (and Grand Canyon) with the grandkids. I found Fox Rental Car and Thrifty Car Rental to be about half as expensive as Hertz. We'll be booking one of them online.

 

[nphx]

I often use southwest air site to book cars regardless of the airline I use. You can book at airports they don't even fly in to! As soon as I start thinking of dates I place my bet with reservations there- free and easy to unravel and adjust - but as you approach your travel date you will be happy you locked in a rate early.

 

[brett]

It depends on the county and the airline.

We had five different rentals in Greece and Cyprus on our last trip in 2019. Prices were all over the map.

Typically we find autoeurope is the best. Not so this time. We rented one car through Aegean Air. Another direct. One through autoeurope, another through aeroplan. One rental was from a local island based group that had a great reputation, did one ways, and was price competitive.

Not one was easier or more difficult than the other once we had selected.

We have found this to be the usual routine in Europe and in Australia.

In the US and Canada we have had very good rate success with Costco.

IF we are only renting for a few days over a stat I sometime use my retiree corporate rate. It is a set negotiated daily rate. This saved us a fair bit when we needed a car for a few days over Xmas in FLL/MIA several years ago. Must have been a shortage. Quoted rate was an unbelievable $110. Corporate rate a flat $35.

Air and auto may look like one transaction but once you get into the details it is two transactions with two organizations.

 

[Sunset]

I've always done it separately.
Costco was pretty good last yr.

I like the separate booking , because if later I find a much better deal, I can rent the better deal and cancel the first booking without any potential issue with the air travel.

I rarely rent a car, so maybe booking together is not an issue to cancel the car later ?

 

[cbo111]

I've always done it separately.
Costco was pretty good last yr.

I like the separate booking , because if later I find a much better deal, I can rent the better deal and cancel the first booking without any potential issue with the air travel.

I rarely rent a car, so maybe booking together is not an issue to cancel the car later ?

+1 for Costco. They usually seem to be the cheapest option and cost nothing to reserve. I recommend checking the site a few times after you initially book because rates do fluctuate over time due to demand or lack thereof.

 

[brett]

We have rented cars in the US on multiple occasions through Costco.

The Costco rate was more often than not the most competitve. In all but short term holiday periods, the Costco rate was far better than my employer's negotiated rate. Often by a long shot.

What I like about the Costco site is that you can go in and get four side by side quotes from different rental companies, different pick up sites. There can sometimes be a significant difference between them.

In some cities, renting from an airport location is much more expensive than renting in town. We will often pick up in town but drop off at an airport to avoid the surcharges. Another thing we noticed is that we we rent from an in town agent, vs a company store, we are more more likely to get an upgrade simply because there are fewer rentals on the lot.

We found that some airport location reps will do their best to intimidate you into upgrading the vehicle or taking insurance that you might not need. We found this to be especially true with Budget and with Enterprise locations in LAX and John Wayne respectively.

 

[camfused]

Has anyone read anything that says the car rental prices will come down again anytime soon? A month ago, I was looking at a rental for August. It was $40/day. Now when I look, it is $250/day for the same car. This is supply and demand I guess, but geez I am not trying to buy the car, just rent it! I may just cancel the trip, unless prices are expected to come down before August.

 

[EastWest Gal]

I read that rental companies let go of a lot of cars during the pandemic, and that rentals are in short supply. I'm planning a trip across the country in September. I guess I better lock in my car rental needs now.

 

[braumeister]

Has anyone read anything that says the car rental prices will come down again anytime soon?

Just read something in the WSJ that said not to expect either cost or availability to improve any time soon.

The sudden surge in post-vaccination travel is colliding with a relative shortage of rental cars. Rental-car companies sold a huge chunk of their fleets—hundreds of thousands of vehicles—to survive the pandemic. Now they can’t get cars onto their lots fast enough to meet the new demand, especially with car factories stalled by semiconductor shortages.

Travelers report sky-high prices and sold-out dates even in non-beach destinations like Kansas City, Houston and Memphis. Even travelers with reservations complain that they now sometimes show up and, with no cars on the lot, must wait for a car to be returned and cleaned before they can drive off.

 

[jollystomper]

I get a retiree discount for car rentals which makes it better for me to book the rental separately.

 

[camfused]

Just read something in the WSJ that said not to expect either cost or availability to improve any time soon.

Thanks. Just what I was looking for. I guess I'll walk instead.

 

[braumeister]

Just read something in the WSJ that said not to expect either cost or availability to improve any time soon.

Another thing I should have included in my earlier post is that the big reason for sky-high prices is that there are very few cars available to rent. We had a trip planned for this summer to spend a week and we intended to fly and rent a car. All but one of the rental companies at our destination had nothing even available, and the one that did wants $385 a day. That would have been more than we would spend on the airfare and hotel combined, so unless that situation changes in the next month or so, it will be a driving trip instead of flying.

 

[Ronstar]

We always get our car separate from airfare. Next up is our Alaska trip where a suburban for 6 days is running us $1207.

 

[braumeister]

We always get our car separate from airfare. Next up is our Alaska trip where a suburban for 6 days is running us $1207.

That was a case where making a reservation far in advance really paid off for me. We have an SUV reserved for 5 days in Alaska in June for just under $600. It was just an OK deal when I made the reservation but I feel like I won the lottery now.

 

[brett]

When we make a car reservation in advance we check back from time to time to see if prices have decreased or if there are better offers from other vendors.

More often there are better offers. Rental car rates go up and down like a yoyo.

 

[camfused]

Has anyone read anything that says the car rental prices will come down again anytime soon? A month ago, I was looking at a rental for August. It was $40/day. Now when I look, it is $250/day for the same car. This is supply and demand I guess, but geez I am not trying to buy the car, just rent it! I may just cancel the trip, unless prices are expected to come down before August.

FYI, I found a mom and pop place that rents cars at my destination for $79/day. Still not great, but much better. Not sure if I will risk it by going with a small place or not...I have to think about it.

Another source is a Toyota dealer. But, not all do rentals, and none at my destination.

 

[Buckeye]

I always use Costco Travel to rent a car so I always rent separate from my other reservations. When I shop, they are always the lowest price and they add a second driver for free. Their prices are crazy high right now which tell me everyone's prices are very high.

 

[audreyh1]

I always use Costco Travel to rent a car so I always rent separate from my other reservations. When I shop, they are always the lowest price and they add a second driver for free. Their prices are crazy high right now which tell me everyone's prices are very high.

Same here - Costco Travel.

Yes, my last rental in March was a little rich.

 

[Ronstar]

That was a case where making a reservation far in advance really paid off for me. We have an SUV reserved for 5 days in Alaska in June for just under $600. It was just an OK deal when I made the reservation but I feel like I won the lottery now.

$600 is a great deal. We got a quote for a vw atlas for something around $700, but we have 6 people so we need a third row seat and room for luggage behind that. A suburban or expedition is about all that will work for us. And we had a hard time finding one.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

$600 is a great deal. We got a quote for a vw atlas for something around $700, but we have 6 people so we need a third row seat and room for luggage behind that. A suburban or expedition is about all that will work for us. And we had a hard time finding one.

I have a reservation in Anchorage for 8 days next month (full size car) and it's $682.00 all in. I made the reservation about 2 months ago.