Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Shopping Around For Rental Cars

Karen Triggiani tipped me off to this excellent article by Steven Cole Smith:

Using the websites for the eight agencies doing business in Tulsa, I checked prices, and -- highest to lowest -- here's the results:

NATIONAL (nationalcar.com) offered a Chevrolet Aveo for $100.65 for the 48-hour period I specified.

AVIS (avis.com) had a Aveo for $84.20.

ENTERPRISE (enterprise.com) offered a Aveo for $72.12.

HERTZ (hertz.com), providing a discount for paying in advance by credit card, was asking $70.50 for its Aveo.

ALAMO (alamo.com) had the ubiquitous Aveo for $70.23.

BUDGET (budget.com) had a Hyundai Accent for $68.96 (no Aveo available). The website said you could save money by paying in advance, but on this deal, offered only free photo service or a magazine subscription, no discount.

DOLLAR (dollar.com) and THRIFTY (thrifty.com) -- owned by the same company -- had an identical deal on an Accent or Aveo that offered a 10 percent discount if you paid in advance with an American Express card, which provided the lowest price of all -- $65.97.

The bottom line: By shopping around, you could save as much as $34.68 on the same car, same time period.

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