Five Ways To Save Money (And Headaches!) When Renting A Car

National is the only way to go for business travelers. Walk straight to the lot, pick what you want and your off.

However, "point-earning" potential kinda sucks. Better off earning rental credits for free days.

I never pick up rental cars at airports for personal travel. It's easier to just go to the hotel and/or a rental office away from the airport to avoid some heft airport charges. On top of that, there is almost no waiting at off-airport sites. One still has to wait for the gate attendant to check the car even if you avoid the reservation check-in queue. For many companies, valet services are included (such as for Hertz Presidential Circle), which avoid all queues above.

Regarding the fuel question: if you have a little time, GasBuddy is great to look for cheap gas. Additionally the taxation of gas seems to differ in some states -> it might be cheaper to fill up in another state if you happen to be close to a border.

Important way to save money and headaches. Do a walk around of your car before you take it off the lot and document/photograph any dings, dents, or scratches. Avoid the dropoff attendant try and bill you for someone else's damage.

Steph:

Excellent article and timely for me. SFO and MCO are both terrible as far as rental cars go.

On multistop vacation right now.

First stop: SFO. One day. Literally booked a vehicle from Enterprise in Burlingame as we were on approach. Had to pay for an Uber to get there since it was last minute, but avoiding the train ride and potential bs and 40% in fees was worth it. In and out in 5 minutes.

Stop 2: Maui. You know it’s going to be bad when the employee where you go to get on the rental car bus tells the line is really long that you’re Screwed. When we got off the bus, there were at least 50 people standing around outside with one employee taking names for a waitlist that allowed you to stand in the rental car line inside. I tell employee I have a Fastbreak reservation and she sends my inside where I’m in and out in 3 minutes. Probably saved a good 45 minutes and my sanity.

Next stop is LAX next week. Have another Fastbreak reservation but also did a Turo valet lot reservation on a big Mercedes SUV for $100 per day all in with their insurance. Anyone have experience with Turo at LAX?

It also pays to play around with the various CDP and PC codes etc. Flyertalk usually has links. 30 mins of playing around with this recently saved me $175 on a weekly rental with Hertz. They don’t seem to check the codes either (eg if you use an Amex code they don’t say “show me your Amex” but YMMV.

Also be aware that Hertz requires you to go to the counter on your first gold rental (you may be able to go to the separate gold counter) on your first rental to validate your CC. At least that’s what happened to me. Going forward having a car waiting for you is well worth the effort of signing up. Also if you dislike the car they assigned to you, in my experience they will usually switch for you if they have other options available.

Also are hertz gold desk usually has plentiful bottled water. Good place to stock up before heading out of the airport.

I think one major money saving tip that could be added here is costco travel. In the last 3 years, I've comparison shopped with kayak and hotwire and . . . and probably 95% of the time costco travel had the best price for rental cars for my personal travel. And I end up getting all the perks --bypass the desk type perks.

Not everyone has a costco membership, but I bet almost anyone has a friend who has one.

Airport locations have tons of extra taxes and fees. If flying into SFO, take the Bart to San Bruno. There is an Avis location at the sears auto repair center there. Doing a quick spot check on Avis.com, it seems a one day rental (no rate codes) for a compact is 111.14 with taxes. The same car type for the same day at the San Bruno location is 51.17 with taxes. Key is to always rent off airport.

In the US for business trips I either rent from National or I use Uber. Having National's highest elite status makes them the only way to go. As for outside the US, good luck!!!! I tried Hertz, Enterprise and Avis and they are all terrible. It gets to a point where the word "guaranteed" means nothing. You have a reservation for a luxury SUV and you are lucky to get an economy car. And the store manager could not care less.

Second @Thomas R’s tip re Costco. I aways start there for a good baseline. Might just be lucky, but I get zero upsell when I pick up a Costco rental car and the numbers are always exactly as quoted on the Costco reservation. Would like to see Steph’s post on CSR rental car benefits. I’ve never figured out how to get any value out of that.

Keep your gas receipt and with Thrifty and make SURE you offer a copy to the person checking the car in. Taking photos around the car is a good one before you leave the facility. This is super important in countries like Israel, Mexico, Ireland, etc. Check the gas tank to make sure it's full before you leave the rental facility. Don't rent from Europcar as they will likely rip you off on the currency conversion even if you specifically pick the local currency to pay and they will NOT refund this ever even if you complain. Be careful what ARCO stations you fill up at as many don't take credit cards (I think the one at Sacramento may have changed this in recent years however). Rent from Dooley in Ireland, Silvercar if you get a decent rate. Rent a manual transmission in most countries to save the up-charge for an automatic (it's time you learned how and why do it in your own car). Don't speed in Delaware or anywhere that has speed cameras.

Saying ‘no’ to the gas option and returning full is a must. I learned the hard way about 10 years ago that all the bs taxes and fees that apply to your base rental - also apply to the fuel purchase.

The offsite location is key. Last year ago we flew to PSP for 5 days. All onsite agencies seemed abnormally high. I checked offsite rates, and guess what? I saved about $150 by using a Hertz located 3 mi from PSP. Yes, it cost $15 in Uber plus 30 min ( my wife and son retrieved our bags and waited for me at arrivals), but to me the cost savings were well worth it.

Anyone still using Auto Europe? We used them maybe 8 years ago for a 1-way weekly rental in northern Spain and they were great. Lowest cost, quality car (A3), and through a real agency (Avis).

@SEAguy: Just to be aware, most of Cotco's car reservations include CDW at no extra cost. That may conflict with the primary insurance from a credit card as Chase says very clear you are supposed to deny those coverage if you want to be covered by the car. Since it comes automatically not sure how that would work in case you need to make a claim.

Does anyone know if booking via 3rd party give you status recognition with Hertz? I used expedia to reserve a car with Hertz. I'm PC for Hertz, so wondering if i can "pick my car" once i arrive at the airport?

Favorite "trick" for rental car refueling is for "FlexFuel" vehicles. Use an app like Gas Buddy to see if E85 is available close to the airport. If it is, fill up with that, as it is both a "legal" fuel and is usually many tens of cents cheaper per gallon.

Of course, don't use E85 in a non-FlexFuel vehicle, because even though you're unlikely to get caught, it both sucks and could net you a hefty damage penalty if you're caught.

@Santastico - if CDW is included, you would not need to file a claim with the credit card company at all, since the coverage would cover damages to the rental car due to a collusion, effectively replacing the coverage provided by the credit card.

I have a question for the experts. I'm going to rent a car in Vienna, Austria for a couple of weeks in September. I used my Chase Ultimate Rewards points to book the rental, the points are going to cover the entire cost of the rental. So technically I'm not going to pay any cash. In this case will my CSR still act as primary rental car coverage? I'll be renting through Alamo. I also understand that there's some insurance already built into all rentals anyway.
Any advice on how I should go about getting insurance will be greatly appreciated.

So why bloggers seems to like Hertz over National when reply (of normal users) actually the opposite.

@Steph
Now I know why those crazy priced station can survive. ALWAYS look at the pump before filling up. I've (rarely but do) seen different sign and pump price.
FYI, I was in FL around that time too. I'm pretty sure the prices was around 2.00-2.20/gal, normal airport markup is 1.5x-2x but yours is badass bad 3x. Sorry to hear about it.

Anyway, SFO with bunch of Infiniti is sad. No matter which one I rented out I never enjoyed driving any of them. Same goes with Nissan. IMHO, American cars are great for rentals because they are very decent in all areas and you don't have to worry much about the major downside of American cars, the nasty maintenance issues.

It would be great to get reliable advice on renting cars in Europe. I’ve been doing it now for 13 years and I haven’t found any bargains.

Not sure why Autoslash isn't mentioned but why keep checking those reservations for a lower price yourself when they'll do it for you? Also great customer service in my experience (despite them only making a referral commission); they've refunded me $100s in Uber rides and extra charges when Priceline has messed up a reservation (they send you to Priceline to book the car/get their commission).

Also, use the Hertz Amex Platinum CDP code to save lots of money and get 4 extra hours of rental time.

I'm with Dylan - the #1 car rental tip these days is autoslash.com.

Thanks for a great post as always, Steph. I recently (in May) started renting cars for my vacations - before, I'd been in places where I didn't really need them - and so there's been a hefty learning curve. Your posts are great for that! A couple things I've learned to maximize time and savings, with the caveat that I"m still a bit of a newbie:

- a lot of car rental locations will pick you up and drop you off, at least with Enterprise, so instead of using an airport location I take a Lyft to my hotel and have them pick me up. Saves me the hassle of an airport location.
-you can book car rentals through cashback portals to get some cash or miles
-this one's pretty obvious, but pay for the gas with a credit card that earns double or triple points on gas. Gas stations also have their own rewards programs, and since google lets you search for gas stations along a route, you can pick the one whose points you'd like to earn.
-Amex often has offers for X amount off a car rental, though sometimes that requires prepaying so you use the offer before it expires.

Costco also usually works well for me, it's rare I can beat the price I find there (the advice of checking multiple times as you get closer still applies).

One thing that I've found hugely useful with Alamo - always use the kiosks. Since Alamo doesn't assign you a car in advance anyways, the whole process can be completed at the kiosks, and while it asks you the normal insurance/etc questions, you just hit no on each and it moves on (unlike the people at the counter). I've usually found the people at the counter to be frustrating, but the people outside (after you use the kiosk) are just there to get you in a car, and they have always been pleasant to deal with.

Sitting on the plane about to leave the US -38 day rental split into 2hires, went through 2 tolls, yep one in each contract -so tolls charge x 2.
Then there is Avis Alaska- where do start- never heard of president circle, downgraded for a one way hire, lied to about availability of upgrade ( one had a flat tire one was booked - both still available on their web site though)
Returned 24 hours early - got a 60 cent refund ( the full value of the hire was swiped at pickup) when I went back to query, I was told about weekly rates, but when I did a web search the identical car was cheaper for a hire ( one day less) I was told that if I wanted they would charge me $500 more based on the day rate. I said I would take the car back again, can’t do the hire was closed. 7 (6 actually) days cost $1500 - the new cost of the car I had - $22,000, be very careful with Avis AK

Use autoslash.com!

When planning to rent a car say in Europe and doing the frequent price check that STEPH mentions in this article, remember to check what the cost is in the local currency not the converted currency rate.

Also there are some really dodgy rental car consolidators out there and should be avoided at all cost. Do a search on Tripadvisor for AUTOEUROPE and you'll see what I mean. I always rent directly from the car company itself.

I almost got ripped off by that station north of MCO once, also. There is a Wawa with normal gas prices about 1/4 mi further north (away from the airport).

I've successfully signed up for frequent renter programs from the back of a long line, then just skipped to the (empty) frequent renter line.

I would like some information on how to avoid paying for a second driver (spouse) when renting a car. Even if just for safety reasons, the rental agencies should allow it - for free!

that one gas station has been fighting the law for years I always here about it living here in Orlando they have always been 2$ above market pricing im not even sure how they get around it but its ridiculous

Avis has gotten ridiculous. The only way to get a good price is to "pre-pay", but if you pre-pay then even if you are at a high membership level (even President level) you still have to stand in line to check in.

At SFO we always prefer SILVERCAR. Reserve on the app for less than most of the national chains... and it's an AUDI.... Click PICK ME UP and the van picks you up at Island 2 and there is no wait when you arrive. AND its an Audi for less than a midsize with most other chains.

I had to rent with a chain because my flight arrived too late. It took FOREVER to return the car. The lines going into the rental car facility on a TUESDAY night at 8pm were crazy. No so with Silvercar.

@Liz Walsh - Avis, Budget, and Enterprise all allow you to add a spouse at no additional cost. Some of the other ones do too, in specific circumstances, but those three are probably your best go-to bet.

Yes, there are about a half-dozen normally priced gas stations within 1 mile of MCO, on both sides of the same road. Just don't stop at the first one.

I once filled up in Cocoa Beach and did not have to re-fill at MCO because the gauge still said "full".

+1 for autoslash.com ! And use always US sites (compared to EU sites) as prices are usually lower!

Thanks Steph

@tom. Do you have the Amex platinum CDP code?

I recently had a few minor scratches from some scraping on the rear and front bumper from my rental car in Canada. Hertz charged me administration charges ($100 CAD) and loss of use. I have good personal auto insurance that pay for the entire cost of repair but my Mastercard (which provides secondary coverage) is willing to pay loss of use and not the administration charge. Is there anyway to get the administration charge waive with Hertz? The cost of repair already seemed really high and on the top of that, they are charging me $100 for administration.

We pick up cars away from the airport - and you almost always can return to the airport with out the extra fees. We use Costco - best prices generally.

@Liz Walsh Hertz doesn't charge for spouse as second driver if you are a member of their #1 Club.

@Donna don't know if there's any special techniques for renting it n Europe. I always use Hertz. Just book and check prices again as we get closer to pickup date then if the prepaid rate is cheapish I lock it in. Just doing a 10-day rental from Manchester UK one way to London Heathrow for $265 prepaid with CSR. This is for a Group C type car. Often we get much better upgrades in the UK - earlier this year we got a Mercedes S350 AMG for about 50 GBP per day.

For US rentals, I always do:
1. Search for a car from off airport location to avoid all those nasty local taxes and fees BUT return it to an airport location
2. Use Autoslash.com to help me find better rates. Sometimes they might even find you airport location that rents for less than off airport one!!
3. Decline all optionals
4. Pay with the United Explorer Card for primary insurance coverage

@T
This is something many people don't know. AVIS Alaska is a franchise location (I think other major agencies are too). Hence, their car is literally "their car" so one way most of the time isn't even bookable especially in/outside of AK.

Anyway President's Circle is from "HERTZ". No surprise AVIS don't recognize or honor it.
Rental Contract should say Day/Week/Month so your rate is accordingly. If 1 week (7 day rental) = 6 days rate then you wouldn't get a refund if you reduce from 7 to 6.

Then the toll part makes me believe you are just trying to complain over mistakes you made from your ignorance to understand the rules. So I don't even think they downgraded you, you just misunderstood the rental agency's car class. i.e. Intermediate = "normal people" compact.

@T Learn from your mistakes.

My company has a contract code with National/Enterprise that is typically 1/2 off the normal rate...I'll never book anywhere else

@eskimo

My bad -Presidents Club ( and PC lady was on the phone to Avis AK

Re tolls - seperate hire in US, same car rented over 30 days = 2 contracts - tolls in same month, need to investigate further

PS been learning from my mistakes for over 60 years

I never knew that a lot of credit card companies will already give you collision insurance for your car. My wife and I have been thinking of going to the coast this weekend, and we want to get a rental car. I will be sure to tell my wife that we should try and check our credit card to see if we already get collision insurance!

I appreciate your tip about paying with a credit card that offers primary collision coverage. I would say that renting a car is a cost-effective mode of transportation in a new area. My wife is going on a trip with her sister, so I'll be sure to help them locate a car rental service in order to make the trip stress-free.